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 A
Message From The President
From
Sharon Boller
President, CIASTD
You
Built It. They Came. Now …
So What?
Too often, the focus in our profession is on the design and
delivery of training — not on the design and delivery
of human performance improvement. In spite of the gradual
shift to a discussion of "human performance technology"
and "human performance improvement" too many of
us are still designing and delivering events.
How
can we help affect true change within an organization? What
does it take to have a real, measurable impact on an organization?
In August, I will have the opportunity to present a program
on this very topic. My tentative title is "You Built
It, They Came, Now ... So What?" I believe the most overlooked
aspect of good instructional design is the design of the implementation
process. We're so stressed out getting the project developed
that who has time to think about how we're really going to
make the program or intervention yield results.
Successful
implementation requires much more than figuring out the who,
what, and when of training. Unfortunately, this is how most
people define implementation. Too many folks believe that
implementation is finding space to hold training and getting
people to attend. I call this mode of thinking "sheep
dipping."
Good
implementation strategies are far more complex than a delivery
schedule. Such strategies involve:
- Identifying
stakeholders and their view of success and then crafting
responses to these views.
- Doing
capacity planning (i.e. how much change can the organization
absorb) to ensure that you aren't introducing change that
the organization cannot manage and support.
- Recognizing
people's natural resistance to change and identifying strategies
to help reduce resistance. (Yes — plain old change
management).
- Figuring
out what performance support has to be in place for skill
transfer to occur.
- Gaining
management support (which is much more than the senior VP
writing a newsletter article or sending out an e-mail in
support of the training).
- Successful
implementation of a performance intervention may require
adjustments in the entire performance management system,
the incentive system, or the compensation system.
In
other words, good implementation requires much more time and
thought than many of us give it. Even though we talk a great
game about measuring ROI and assessing outcomes, we still
tend to think of training events or e-learning modules as
THE outcome. We delivered the programming; therefore, we were
successful.
Please
join me in August for a discussion of implementation strategies
and how to create strategies that can help result in real
change. I don't have all the answers because, unfortunately,
implementation is not viewed as a sexy topic — certainly
not as alluring as designing e-learning or distance learning.
Implementation is an under-researched, under-discussed topic
that I hope to expose to some serious scrutiny. Serious scrutiny
by our members — along with honest examination of our
current practices — can go a long way to helping us improve
the results we get from training.
Join
me in August for a presentation of research findings as well
as some interactive activities designed to illustrate some
good, some bad, and some ugly examples of "implementation
strategies."
Sharon
is the founder and president of Bottom-Line Performance, Inc.
She has been in the field of training and development for
more than 15 years and has gained extensive experience in
instructional design and performance consulting.
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New
Members
In
each issue of The Facilitator, we will list members who have
joined or re-joined CIASTD since the previous issue. Since
the last issue of The Facilitator, we have enrolled 14
new members. To see a
list of the new members, click
here. If you are a member of CIASTD, and would like access
to the complete membership list, it is available on our web
site at www.ciastd.com.
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Member
Profile
Meet
Jennifer Cupp
By Judy Hasselkus, CIASTD newsletter committee
As
a regular feature of The Facilitator, "Member Profile"
features a randomly selected member of CIASTD. At every meeting,
we will pick a member from those attending and profile them.
The idea is to help everyone get to know each other better.
In this issue, we are profiling Jennifer Cupp.
Jennifer
Cupp
Training and Development Professional
Rolls-Royce Corporation
Forget
the formal title — just call Jennifer Cupp a "Jack
of all trades." That is how she describes her role in
training and development. As a member of the salary training
group with Rolls-Royce Corporation, Cupp markets e-learning
solutions to Rolls-Royce employees across North America, coordinates
with vendors to provide training to employees, manages projects
such as the purchase of a learning management system, applies
for and administers a state grant, develops PeopleSoft upgrade
training, sets up and tears down classrooms, and occasionally
teaches a course. 
Cupp joined Rolls-Royce three years ago after studying for
a career in elementary education at the University of Evansville.
Early on, Cupp envisioned spending her days working with young
learners in a traditional classroom. Instead, she accepted
a position with Rolls-Royce Corporation as her first job after
graduating from college. Adult learning and performance proved
a good fit for Cupp. She is now pursuing a Master's degree
in Adult Education at IUPUI.
In
her role with Rolls-Royce, Cupp spends most of her time as
a program manager balancing multiple projects. "The biggest
project I am working on is a project to purchase and implement
the Thinq Learning Management System," says Cupp. "An
EDS counterpart and I are heading up a team of people in order
to get through the necessary quality gates for purchasing,
then implementation of the actual system." Cupp also
recently applied for and obtained a state grant for Rolls-Royce
Corporation's training department. She is now in the process
of recording and monitoring the grant. "I've learned
there are a lot of grants out there that might help organizations.
You just have to put a little time into researching and applying
for them," Cupp suggests.
A
member of CIASTD for nearly two and one-half years, Cupp joined
the organization with her colleagues from Rolls-Royce. "Our
training group was fairly new, and I felt it would be useful
for our team to have another resource at our fingertips."
ADVICE
TO PERSONS NEW TO THE FIELD: "If you aren't multi-tasked,
become it! Also, if you are involved with E-learning, get
your IT department in on the action from the start. It is
important to have a system that is compatible and supported."
FAVORITE
BOOK: Evaluating Training Programs by Donald Kirkpatrick
FAVORITE
WEBSITE: www.bobpikegroup.com
FAVORITE
RESOURCE: Colleagues
LITTLE
KNOWN FACT: True to her description as a "Jack of all
trades," Cupp has other, varied interests outside of
training and development. When asked to share one, Cupp offered
this: "I just became a Party Lite consultant in my spare
time, so if anyone needs some candles I am your person to
contact."
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Volunteers
Needed
The communications team of CIASTD is looking for volunteers
to help with publicity and the newsletter. Volunteering is
an excellent way to get more involved with the CIASTD organization
and to meet other training professionals. The newsletter is
looking for writers to help write stories and the Publicity
Committee is looking for people to work on a variety of sub-committees.
Time commitments are minimal (we know everyone is busy!),
and you can be involved at a level that is comfortable for
you. If you are interested, contact the Newsletter Editor,
Jay McNaught (jmcnaught@cinergy.com)
, (317) 838-2151); Publicity Chairperson, Krista Skidmore
(skid11@msn.com, (317)
815-3829) or the VP of Communications, Debbie Featherston
(feathers@iei.net, (317)
595-0315).
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CIASTD
Continues Volunteer Bucks
Do
you wonder what those funny "bucks" are that you
get when you come to CIASTD meetings? Beginning in March 2001,
CIASTD began issuing Volunteer Bucks. Members were able to
use them to purchase great gifts at the CIASTD
Spring Fling Silent Auction. Hang on to those bucks …
you'll be able to use them at a future event!
Members
may earn Volunteer Bucks by doing the following:
Serve
on the Board of Directors $50
Attend Board Meetings $5
Be a Committee Chair $40
Be a Committee Member $20
Attend Committee Meetings $5
Be a Monthly Program Chair $10
Be a Monthly Program Greeter $10
Attend Monthly Program $5
Bring a Guest to Monthly Program $20
Present Monthly Program $50
Attend Fall Forum $30
Submit Article for Newsletter $40
Sponsor New Member $20
Join CIASTD $20
Renew CIASTD Membership $25
Complete HPI Certificate Program $50
The
program will be retroactive to January 1, 2001. Any member
that has met any of the above since January 1, qualifies for
the appropriate Volunteer Bucks. For further information please
call the CIASTD office at (317) 841-1395.
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June
Meeting
If
you will not be attending the National ASTD Conference, then
you will want to join us on June 21, at Ivy Tech State College
to address the hot topics, "What's New, What's Next and
What Works."
The
wrap-up will follow the National ASTD Conference, which will
be held June 2-6 in New Orleans. The Conference & Exposition
is the leading event for everyone involved in linking people,
learning and performance. Participants from more than 80 countries,
keynote industry speakers and leading companies such as Disney,
Hewlett Packard, Nokia, BMW and FedEx will share an enormous
wealth of knowledge, information, innovations and best practices.
Attendees
will share in the wealth as we return to discuss what we learned.
All topics will be open, and you are encouraged to bring your
questions. We will have information for all skill levels and
everyone is invited to share in the discussion. This is a
must attend for anyone seeking to stay on top of the changing
industry.
The
June 21, CIASTD meeting will be 8:30 - 11 a.m., at the Ivy
Tech State College, Fourth Floor Auditorium. (Note: There
will be a Cranberry Juice Cocktail hour from 7:30 - 8:30 a.m.)
Ivy Tech State College is located at 1 West 26th Street near
downtown Indianapolis. Free parking is available behind the
building (enter just north of Fall Creek off Illinois St.).
Click
Here to Register Securely on the Web
CIASTD
May Meeting
 "Star
Wars Episode II: The Clone Wars" debuted the day before,
so it was very appropriate that Brenda Richmond opened her
presentation with a space theme and a title slide proclaiming,
"There's a Vast Universe Out There." The May 17
CIASTD meeting featured a presentation by Brenda titled, "E-Learning
Trends".
The presentation covered a vast array of trends and terminology
surrounding the evolving e-learning discipline. Brenda asked
the question, "What are the internal drivers shaping
e-learning?" She posed the question to the audience and
asked that groups discuss the questions and come up with their
own list. Eventually, a master list was compiled that contained
the following:
- Maintaining
updates
- Time
and timing
- Younger
employees are used to using technology
- It's
the "in" thing … you can impress others with
your use of e-learning
- Budget
and travel
- Flexibility
- JIT
- Able
to easily track results
- Consistency
of instruction
Brenda
said that there are three aspects to consider guaranteeing
success of e-learning:
1.
Meet the learner's needs. Be sure to consider the culture
as well as the computer skills of the learner.
2. Meet the content needs. Certain content lends itself better
to e-learning than other.
3. Meet the context. Will it fit within the technical infrastructure
of the company? Make sure to explore this thoroughly before
building something that technically won't work.
Brenda
said that there are also evolving e-learning standards. The
standards include:
- Aviation
industry CBT Committee (AICC)
- Advance
Distributed Learning Initiative (ADL) - (SCORM is the name
for their standard)
- IMB
Global Learning Consortium
- IEEE
Learning Technology Standards
 Brenda
recommended a good
web site that has a list of the latest
e-learning terminology:
www.learningcircuits.org
Some key terminology to be aware of when discussing e-learning:
- LMS
vs. LCMS—Learning Management System versus Learning
Content Management System
- Electronic
Performance Support System (EPSS)
Brenda
discussed the difference between an event and a non-event.
She discussed the importance of blended solutions where e-learning
is used in conjunction with other learning strategies and
suggested that really all solutions should be approached this
way. Another possibility to consider is synchronous versus
asynchronous e-learning. Synchronous describes learning events
where the participants are involved at the same time. Whereas,
asynchronous describes learning that is not limited to a specific
time. Each has distinct advantages and disadvantages.
"Learning
has always been the responsibility of the learner… we
can't force anything on them. But we can make them responsible
for their own learning" , Brenda says.
Brenda
spent some time discussing the concept of knowledge management.
She emphasized what knowledge management is not:
- It
is not instruction
- It
is not a search agent
She
said that KM creates order out of chaos. It is a tool to push
or pull the information from the appropriate person.
Brenda
Richmond is from 1st Class Solutions. Brenda combines her
20 years of education, technology, and business experience
to provide her perspective on the continual evolution of training
and training technologies. She has been involved in the design
and development of curriculums for e-learning strategies since
1998.
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Training
Tip
By
Kathleen M. Robbins
To
Play or Not to Play
You are a trainer. You have been leading a class for several
hours. You are attentive, energetic, engaged and caring. You
can tell that much of the room is with you. But you sense
restlessness despite your efforts to heighten energy, change
activities and take regular breaks. You wonder what to do.
Try
placing a pile of toys and games in the center of the table
before the training begins. Tell everyone that the toys are
there for them to play with as they want to throughout the
day. And watch. Does the energy stay more contained and focused
as some learners engage with the games throughout the day?
There
are learners who learn by doing. They are called kinesthetic
learners. They can't wait for you to change the energy. They
must expend and express motion when they need to—and
these toys help them when they are restless. If they play
with a toy, they can move without getting up, they can do
something without requiring action, they can think without
talking out loud to those around them or murmuring to themselves.
This
"play" helps them to learn, it helps you to keep
the room focused and engaged and sets the tone for a fun learning
environment. So be creative and Play! Play! Play!
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Indiana
Companies Utilize E-learning
for Employee Training
A
sales representative sits at her computer and opens a program.
Music fades in, then out as the opening screen appears. She
clicks the start button. In many Indiana companies, this scenario
is played out each day. Employees are not playing games. They
are learning.
A
recent opinion survey shows that Indiana companies are adopting
alternative methods for employee training. According to survey
participants, 84 percent indicate e-learning is part of their
organization's training strategy. E-learning is defined as
any training delivered with the use of technology.
Gary
Wise, Director of Learning and Development at Roche Diagnostics
says, "Because we will always need a balance of face-to-face
training, e-learning will play a key role in both pre-classroom
programs as well as post-classroom reinforcement."
E-learning
is categorized as either synchronous or asynchronous. Asynchronous
e-learning is self-paced and accessible at any time, while
synchronous learning includes live, web-based classrooms.
The
survey shows computer-based training delivered by CD-ROM and
web-based training delivered over an organization's intranet
are the most common forms of e-learning. This form of asynchronous
learning fits the learners' schedules and is delivered in
small portions, providing flexibility for employees. Organizations
look to asynchronous learning to reduce the time employees
spend away from the job.
Forty-two
percent of survey participants indicate their organizations
make use of synchronous e-learning or will implement it within
12 months. Learners benefit from synchronous learning by live
collaboration with facilitators and peers, even when separated
by great distances. Wise said, "A virtual classroom will
dramatically reduce costs and facilitate rapid deployment
of critical sales and product information to remote sales
and service teams."
Companies
are implementing e-learning, but how is the workforce reacting?
Ninety-two percent of respondents say they and their coworkers
are somewhat or very receptive toward e-learning. Only five
percent indicate resistance to these training methods.
While
a growing number of Indiana companies utilize e-learning,
traditional training methods are still dominant. Ninety-six
percent of survey participants say that instructor-led classroom
training and paper-based self-study are common in their organizations.
Karen
Zwick, President of 1st Class Solutions, says, "Traditional
training methods continue to provide a great solution in many
situations. E-learning can't do it all. A blend of traditional
and e-learning strategies frequently offers the best approach."
The
survey also shows that companies place a high value on employee
training. Ninety-eight percent of survey respondents indicate
their companies view training as somewhat or very important.
A
majority of companies hire outside vendors to design, develop
and deliver educational solutions. Seventy-nine percent of
respondents indicate their companies outsource. When asked
what they look for in a training vendor, the top five answers
were: knowledge of various industries and technologies, quality
deliverables, reasonable prices, ability to customize training
and the ability to deliver any form of training. Zwick adds,
"Our customers expect us to know or learn their business
and processes. This business knowledge results in decreased
development time and reduced project costs."
1st
Class Solutions conducted the opinion survey titled, "Taking
the Pulse of Corporate Training in Indiana," over a four-month
period. The survey was posted on the 1st Class Solutions'
web site. Invitations to complete the survey were sent to
subscribers of the daily Inside Edge e-newsletter, sponsored
by Gerry Dick's Inside Indiana Business, members of the Human
Resources Association of Central Indiana as well as the Central
Indiana Association of Training and Development. 1st Class
Solutions, in conjunction with St. Elmo Steakhouse, offered
dinner for two to a randomly selected survey participant.
Survey participants include 24 percent training specialists,
19 percent human resource representatives, 12 percent department
heads, 8 percent sales reps and managers, 8 percent IT professionals
and 12 percent miscellaneous. Sixty-two percent of respondents
work in companies larger than 250 employees with 43 percent
working for companies of over 1000 employees.
Founded
in 1995 by Karen Zwick and headquartered in Indianapolis,
1st Class Solutions provides custom educational services to
the Indiana businesses and beyond. The company employs instructional
designers, multimedia programmers, graphic designers and creative
technical writers. 1st Class Solutions designs and develops
instructor-led training, paper-based self-study, CD-ROM and
web-based self-study, live virtual classrooms, electronic
performance support systems as well as a blended approach
of multiple solutions.
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