Are we just getting carried away?
Some readers will be shaking their head wryly and thinking: it's the dot-com bubble all over again. They might be prepared to countenance a little levity in the classroom - perhaps a game during the coffee break or an amusing video - but they are still thinking: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And they certainly don't want the upheaval of changing things only to find they don't work.
This would be a shame as the possibilities are exciting. The horse-and-cart isn't 'broken' but it has been superseded. Our classroom still works - but it's not the answer to everything. We owe it to our customers to investigate the new ideas and if they work better then we should use them.
A clever idea
Many years ago when I was a computer science student we were set a project to demonstrate our understanding of logic programming. Logic programming underpins game theory so we were told to program a particular game. How did we know if we were any good at programming? Was the marking to assess whether we could write elegant code, use obscure mechanisms or format it neatly? That would be the conventional way of assessing a project, whereas the real question was: could we deliver the result?
The desired result was to be able to program a winning game - so each student' program had to beat the others. With ten points for entering the knock-out competition and ten points for each round of the competition you got through, the projects marked themselves - on the only meaningful criteria (though you were unlucky if you met the winning program early on!)
Strength
This is probably the greatest strength of BL. By looking at the desired outcome in terms of fit-for-purpose it is possible to design a course that concentrates on the essentials. If the course is about life-saving then nothing beats jumping in the pool and trying the techniques out. If the course is customer-service then get the phantom caller to ring up and check the student's acquired skills.
For something like selling skills there is always more to learn. There is always someone who does it better and sales' skills can always be polished. Shadowing experts, discussing with colleagues, following research and reading up on new ideas - all of these help deliver the result.
For something like selling skills there is always more to learn. There is always someone who does it better and sales' skills can always be polished. Shadowing experts, discussing with colleagues, following research and reading up on new ideas - all of these help deliver the result.
Doing too much
By concentrating on essentials we find some interesting things happen. Lots of theory may be redundant. How many courses have you been on where you only used 20% of what was covered in the course? By looking at outcomes rather than formal requirements courses can be made more effective. The effect is similar to cataloging a library. Did you know that most of the books in your local library are probably not in the catalogue? A book will only be in the catalogue if someone takes it out. Most books are never taken out so why waste time cataloguing them?
Toolkit
So, rather than say how do we cover content in the classroom we should be saying what do I need to do to get the desired outcome?
Only when we are very clear about the purpose of the training can we look into our toolkit and select the best tools.
1 comment:
Hi Jenny,
I really enjoyed reading this post and the focus on achieving the required outcome, not just ticking the box to say "we have provided the training".
I see BL as pushing the responsibility for learning beyond the L&D - staff relationship to an inclusive one involving all of those in the business.
Broadly, I think BL should encompass Classroom (including virtual), e-learning, reference material (physical and electronic), mentoring and coaching, all with an overriding flavour of continuous improvement and knowledge management.
I don't see how learning organisations can survive without a robust BL approach.
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