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Networking Tips and Tricks

Melissa Reaves — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:00:00 GMT

There are endless opportunities to attend luncheons, mixers and other networking events. While these events are important it's critical to understand that very few opportunities come from attending these events. Whether you're looking for new clients, investors, partners, a new job or to advance your career it's imperative that you understand what networking really is. In this session you'll learn how to build real relationships that lead to real opportunities. Plus networking tips that will increase your effectiveness and accelerate results including how not to be a 'Nasty Networker'.

In preparation for the August monthly event, Real Networking Doesn't Happen at Networking Events, we have taken excerpts from Scott's blog originally posted on January 10, 2009 about 'Nasty Networkers'. To learn more about this event or register, please follow this link.

Don't be a Nasty Networker!

Scott Ingram, Founder

NetworkinAustin.com

Recently I asked my network through LinkedIn: "What are the visible attributes of a 'Nasty Networker?'"

I've boiled the answers down into some common categories ranked by the frequency of their appearance.

Signs of a Nasty Networker

Selfish. Not interested in helping others.
Doesn't ask questions. Talks too much.
Bashes or otherwise acts inappropriately towards competitors.
Uses high pressure and other bad sales techniques.
Abuses contact information. Sends spam and other unwanted communication.
Ignores business card etiquette.
Social climber. Always looking for somebody better to talk to.
Not open.
Naive and needs education (about proper networking).
More interested in the quantity of connections, not their quality.
Disrespectful.

In the end I think that "Nasty Networking" is driven primarily by either naivete or desperation. I saw a quote recently that suggested that the selfish type of taker networking is not networking at all, but rather Needworking. My hope is that by sharing this list we can help the naive/needworkers get onto the path of true networking.

Here are many of the consolidated responses to my question grouped by the categories listed above.

Selfish. Not interested in helping others
"Doesn't try to help at all"
"Selfish and self-interested"
"In short, a 'Nasty Networker' is self centered and disinterested"
"Uses every opportunity to speak (including thank you's and announcements time) to give a sales pitch for themselves"
"refers less than is referred to him/her (it is ALWAYS better to give than it is to receive)"
"Someone who immediately asks 'who does your ....' (phone, insurance, payroll, office supplies...) instead of saying 'who are YOU?' and getting to know you."
"100% self-focused -- demonstrations may include: usurping your time while at an event asking for "free" business advice; never offering anything in exchange"
"Rude, disrespectful, fast-talking, is not interested in a mutually beneficial relationship, totally dis-interested in you or your needs."
"My main beef regarding a nasty networker is one with the belief that it's all about them"

Doesn't ask questions. Talks too much
"Doesn't ask questions"
"Talk don't listen"
"Talking not listening"
"A 'Nasty Networker' keeps their own interests secret, they listen, and want to 'know', to own, and control."
"talks more than listens"
"Poor listeners."
"Vomitous from the mouth"

Bashes or otherwise acts inappropriately towards competitors
"Steals from competitors"
"Bashing or being condescending towards competing companies or products"
"Talks down about their competition"
"Some of the most memorable "nasty" networkers that I've come across made an (unfavorable) impression because they were publicly trashing a competitor"
"A nasty networker is somebody that comes to an event sponsored by another company and stands next to the host the whole night scarfing their contacts."

Uses high pressure and other bad sales techniques
"They launch into their sales pitch as part of introducing themselves."
"Asks for a one-on-one meeting to get to know you, gives you a sales presentation."
"Asks for a meeting because he/she is interested in YOUR business, gives you a sales presentation."
"if there is no relationship there, I'll go to the internet before I'd go to a pushy salesperson!"
"people will ask you questions about your business at a networking function in a way that seems geared specifically to put you on the defensive--these sort of questions are perfectly appropriate at a pitch meeting or the presentation of a proposal, but I'm not sure a networking event is necessarily the best venue"

Abuses contact information. Sends spam and other unwanted communication
"Uses the majority of all communications (personal interactions, e-mail, blog, twitter etc.) to try to sell you something"
"I've had a couple of nasty networkers that asked for my information and promptly signed me up for their weekly newsletters (or worse, their promotional pieces!) without even the 'great to meet you' email follow-up to our initial meeting."
"I find especially annoying those who add you to a distribution list without asking"
"Follows up with email/call that is all about the"

Ignores business card etiquette
"They give you extras of their business cards so you can pass it on to someone who might need their services ... the first time you meet them!"
"Grabbing everyone's cards and then leaving early"
"Networks like a bull in a China shop - runs up to everyone with the intro/handshake/business card routine - never listens or asks about anyone else"
"Only interested in collecting business cards"

Social climber. Always looking for somebody better to talk to
"The person who scans the room looking for for new targets while trying to engage you in some sort of dialogue."
"The 'look past you' networkers just nodding until they can talk to someone else."
"Lack of eye contact. If a person isn't focused on you, they are 'elsewhere'. They are probably looking for better alternatives vs. talking to you."

Not open
"They talk only to people they know at networking events."
"those who aren't willing to invite new people into their ongoing conversations."
"Talk to only people that they know."

Naive - Needs Education
"I trust that all of these attributes will either be retooled by the novice as they mature and learn ethics or they will be weeded out."
"I think most people who are bad networkers are just ignorant and uneducated. I've only met one person in 5 1/2 years at the Chamber who was deliberately hateful."
"I guess the 'Nasty Networker' walks the line of desperation. 'I have to make my numbers now so I am going to impose myself on each and every prospect I run across.'"

Quantity vs. Quality
- is out for quantity versus quality
Quantity verses quality

Disrespectful
I also think networking gets a bad rap from people who are condescending

Happy Networking!

Scott Ingram
NetworkInAustin.com

26-Jul-10 11:00 AM

E-Learning Know How

Melissa Reaves — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:00:00 GMT

E-Learning No How

7 disastrous decisions sure to sink any e-learning implementation

By Mark Simon

You finally did it.

After researching and selecting all the e-learning development tools that you needed to author your first lesson, you’ve rolled up your sleeves and produced an excellent, captivating e-learning course. It really looks great, and, more importantly, it includes all of the fundamental learning methods that you discussed in your instructional design training. You know that learners will absorb the learning concepts you’ve given them, as they sail through the module.

What could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately, the answer is, a lot.

It would be nice to think that a well-designed e-learning lesson will break through any obstacle in its way and will illuminate the light bulbs of all learners who touch it. The reality, however, is that many perfectly good e-learning lessons have wilted and died for reasons that are completely unrelated to the design and content. Here are seven of the most common reasons for e-learning failure and solutions for creating greater success.

1. Fire and forget

Myth. Everyone knows that you have been busy for the last two to three months developing an e-learning course. When you send an email to inform your learners that it’s available, you can assume that all will view the course and be trained.

Reality. You cannot simply send out your “course ready” notification and expect that your audience will have the course completed within the next four to five business days. The real world simply doesn’t work that way. There are a few essential steps that need to be followed so that your course doesn’t collect dust and become virtual shelfware.

· Save the date. Those “save the date” cards may be useless in your social circles, but advance notification goes a long way in business circles. Today’s business calendars are far too busy to announce the course and then expect an organization to make time to take it within the next few days.

· Deadlines. Forget what you’ve heard about the wondrous self-paced, self-controlled nature of e-learning. If you want your learners to complete the course, assign a completion deadline.

· Management support. You would like to think that learners have enough free time and intrinsic motivation to take and complete your e-learning course. However, almost all case studies prove otherwise. Many more people will take and complete the course if they believe that their manager or upper management supports the initiative.

2. Don’t worry about assessments

Myth. E-learning assessments are just like paper-based assessments. You don’t need to worry about them until the course is completed.

Reality. The final assessment serves several purposes. First and foremost, it affirms that the learner has mastered the course material, or, it alerts her that she needs to revisit the course information. It may also be used to track a learner’s professional development or certification requirements. E-learning can make tracking and reporting much easier, but you must plan for that. Do not think of the assessment as a one-time event that simply signifies the end of a course.

With e-learning, you may also want to use the assessment to indicate course completion, and in that case, you must carefully decide

· the difficulty of the assessment (Do you want learners to answer simple questions that confirm general knowledge of the course content or is it critical that the learners have mastery of all course content details?)

· the consequences and remediation steps for assessment failure.

Finally, if you are delivering the course through a learning management system, you may need to choose between building the assessment in your e-learning development tool or your LMS. There are many pros and cons for each method. Make sure to discuss the issue with an LMS administrator and a subject matter expert to ensure that you make the right choice.

3. Ignore the working environment

Myth. You have provided key instructions for the new software tool in your e-learning module, so there’s no need for additional information regarding the learner’s work environment. It would only be “learning clutter.”

Reality. We would like to think that the long hours we devote to building comprehensive training courses produce all the guidance that is needed to help today’s corporate learner. However, studies have clearly shown that our formal training courses do not provide a complete solution. In fact, approximately 80 percent of all learning in a corporate environment is accomplished through informal learning. If we do not mention those informal learning channels, we are severely limiting the effectiveness of our training.

No matter how much you love your excellent e-learning course, you need to be practical when it comes to the workplace environment. When people need information from an e-learning lesson they took in the past, they will not want to log on to an LMS, locate the course, open it, and navigate to the section where that information can be found. That is extremely inefficient, and, in most cases, the learner’s access to the course will likely have expired.

To help your e-learning lesson succeed, make sure that you point your learners to all of the relevant performance support systems and job aids that will help them with their tasks. In addition, provide contact information for personnel who may be able to help—such as your company’s IT help desk representatives. Do not simply give your learners a fish. Teach them how to fish!

4. Forget about the LMS

Myth. Your job is to build the course. There’s no need for you to be concerned about the rollout of the course on your LMS.

Reality. If your e-learning lesson is going to run in an LMS, it is not prudent to assume that it will work perfectly when your capable LMS administrator adds it to the system. You must first determine the publishing settings that work best in your LMS, publish a prototype, and then test it in the LMS to ensure that the lesson runs without freezing up or causing any other adverse events.

If you ignore the influence of the LMS, you are also ignoring one of the most important interfaces for the learner as well as the very first hurdle that she needs to conquer en route to the e-learning course.

To develop a complete e-learning lesson, you must understand the interface and features of your LMS. You should make sure that your email notification provides explicit instructions for starting the lesson and that your lesson contains explicit instructions for features that are integrated into the LMS.

5. Don’t worry about teaching the e-learning interface

Myth. E-learning courses are intuitive, so there’s really no need for you to teach learners about using the e-learning controls.

Reality. Today’s e-learning lessons are light years ahead of the old “page turner” lessons. However, there is not a standard interface, so even an experienced online learner may struggle with your electronic controls.

The forward and back buttons are easy. But today’s courses also have glossaries, file attachments, FAQs, narration scripts, progress quizzes, software simulations, games, interactive exercises, and more. Do you really expect the learner to get the most of the lesson without some guidance?

6. Make it difficult to access the course

Myth. Everyone knows how to access the LMS. There’s no reason that a learner would have trouble figuring out how to access this course and get it started.

Reality. It is paramount to understand that people do not take e-learning courses every week. In computer terms, e-learning lessons are infrequently used applications. And when you only access an application once or twice a year, it is easy to forget the details for navigating to the places where you need to go. So how can you help?

· Be specific. When notifying your learners about the course availability, assume that they have never before taken an e-learning course, and provide any and all details for getting the e-learning lesson started. If possible, provide a hyperlink in the email so that the learner can simply click the link and start the lesson.

· Be consistent. Think hard about the easiest way for learners to access your e-learning lessons, and then resist changing the access method. If a learner accesses a lesson in January and then doesn’t take another lesson until June, she will have a much easier time if the access method is the same.

· Publish smart. If you are offering the course on an LMS, your LMS administrator should publish the course so that it shows up on the learner’s home page. Most LMS systems allow you to either display the course to the learner on their LMS home page or in the course catalogue. Whenever possible, do not make the learner search through a course catalogue for the course.

7. Ignore workstation configurations

Myth. Your e-learning course runs in a web browser, so there is no need to be concerned with the learner’s workstation configuration.

Reality. Since you are an experienced instructional designer, you know that you must carefully review your work from start to finish before it is ready to be released publicly. However, in the e-learning world, doing Q&A checks on your own system simply are not sufficient.

There will often be a variety of workstation configurations for learners. Don’t forget that your business audience may be taking the course from their home offices. Here are some workstation elements that can foil your e-learning lesson:

· Browsers. If your lesson runs inside a web browser, it would be wise to test your e-learning lesson in the latest version of the big three browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape. If you have Mac users, make sure to add Safari to that list.

· Flash. The good news is that, according to the International Data Corporation, 98.8 percent of “mature market” PC users can view Flash 7 and higher. The bad news is that Flash 7 is now several years old, and Flash upgrades occur frequently. If your course development workstation is configured with Flash 10, there is a chance that your e-learning lesson will run fine on your system, but not on others. Test your lesson on all levels of Flash that are in your learner community.

· Screen resolution. Most e-learning development tools default to publishing in a size that works on almost all computer screens. But you may be surprised to see how your lesson appears when you run it on a 14-inch monitor that is displaying at a 640×480 resolution. If possible, test at a variety of resolutions – but don’t panic if you see issues. Simply add a disclaimer at the beginning of the lesson stating that the lesson should be run at a specific resolution.

· Audio. While it is true that the default configuration for PC workstations includes sound cards and some type of internal speakers, a number of IT departments remove them from the system to avoid distractions in the workplace. Check with your IT staff to see if your audience will have any problems in this area, and if the noise is going to be a problem, invest in earphones and hand them out to learners who enroll in e-learning classes.

21-Jun-10 2:00 PM

Austin ASTD Registration Cancellation Policy

Tracie Combs — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 20:00:00 GMT

As we bring new members into our community, it is important to review our program cancellation policy as outlined in our Terms of Service and a reminder is on the order confirmation email after your register. Our current policy is that any attendee who does not cancel their registration to attend a program (Monthly or SIG) prior to 48 hours of the event forfeits their registration fee.

Please feel free to visit our Terms of Service for detailed instructions on canceling a registration.

19-Jun-10 3:00 PM

Austin ASTD and You!

Tracie Combs — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 19:00:00 GMT

Recently it has come to our attention that many in the Austin ASTD community either have an incorrect address or no address listed in their profiles. We would like all of our community to take the time and update their profile information on our website.

We will clear out the database of any users with incomplete addresses after membership renewals in October. For detailed information on accessing and updating your profile, please click here.

Austin ASTD does not sell your information to third parties.

19-Jun-10 2:00 PM

ILE Challenge: Using "Spoons" to Enhance Learning

Nickie Hyde — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Jane "Star" Fisher's article from April 8 about Interactive Learning Events presented a challenge to all of us: post the ILEs that we've used to enhance learning.

One of my favorites is also one of the easiest to use. If you've ever played the card game "Spoons", you know the basic premise. Have plastic spoons on hand (1 per group) and 3 x 5 index cards (3 per person). Have participants sit around tables in groups of 4 to 6.

§On index cards, each person writes review questions based on what we’ve gone over so far (one question per index card). They assign a point value between 1 and 5 for each question (1=easy, 5=very hard).

One spoon is placed in the middle of the table. The reader reads their question aloud. The first person to grab a spoon answers the question. If they're right, they get the points. If wrong, they lose points. §Everyone takes turns being the reader and asking their questions. Each person will have their turn to be the the reader (reader may not grab a spoon).

This activity can be expanded even further. Have each group pick one question (the best, easiest, most challenging, etc.) and challenge other groups to answer it. This will increase competition AND create discussions about the learning between the groups.

The supplies for this activity are minimal - plastic spoons and 3 x 5 cards. If you don't have spoons, use markers, toys, or anything else on hand. I guarantee it will get people talking, thinking, and actively learning.

16-Jun-10 8:00 AM

Congratulations to CPLP Accreditation Recipients

Susan Reed — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 03:00:00 GMT

Please join Austin ASTD in congratulating Kristin Skalko and Pamela Villars for earning their Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) accreditation. Achieving this designation is the result of hard work, dedication and considerable time commitment. Congratulations Kristin and Pamela!

1-Jun-10 10:00 PM

Welcome New Board Member

Susan Reed — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:00:00 GMT

We welcome our newest board member, Birgit Schultz-McDaniel, as Vice-President of Records. Birgit's energy and enthusiasm will be a big part of Austin ASTD growing to its full potential.

Do you have a desire in becoming more involved with Austin ASTD? We are currently looking to train two people who are interested in being on next year's board replacing two board members needing to curtail outside activities in 2011. Both are willing to help you get a headstart with training and assistance.

Our first position is for VP of Programs. Melissa Reaves has done a tremendous job this year, but circumstances are changing and she will not be able to be on the board next year. She will train her replacement AND assist with scheduling the first 6 programs of 2011.

Our second position is for VP of Technology. Tracie Combs is currently our VP of Technology and President-Elect. She is looking for someone to replace her Technology position for 2011 and will be happy to train and work with you the rest of this term, through the end of 2010, so you can be successful next year.

Our Board is a team that knows we must all work together to accomplish our goals and grow our organization. If either position interests you, please contact me at president@austinastd.org

Help us continue to embrace the New Year; The New You; The New Austin ASTD!

1-Jun-10 9:00 PM

Austin ASTD Membership Renewals

Tracie Combs — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:00:00 GMT

We have been receiving a plethora of emails lately in regards to renewing memberships, and we wanted to take some time to update our members on this important matter.

All memberships expire October 31st.
If you are a current member, you do not have to renew until October
Renewals can only be processed in October, and you will receive several emails alerting you to renew.

In addition, we currently have a special discounted rate for new memberships (these memberships expire on 10/31/2010) through October for anyone wishing to experience Austin ASTD.

28-May-10 11:00 AM

Intellectual Property Law - What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

Melissa Reaves — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:00:00 GMT

The term “intellectual property” is often bandied about without full understanding of its meaning or implications. Strictly speaking, intellectual property is any intangible asset that consists of human knowledge and ideas. These assets, including patents, trademarks, and copyrights, have been estimated to comprise 45-to-75 percent of Fortune 500 companies’ wealth; and according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the total value of intellectual property in the United States is more than five trillion dollars.

With statistics like these, it is not surprising that companies are aggressively seeking to protect and expand their intellectual properties, and individuals should be doing the same. Have you ever...

· Cut and paste something off the internet to use in a training session?

· Used a video or song as part of a training program?

· Altered a photo or logo?

· Mirrored someone else's branding (logo, color scheme, catch phrase) just to add a little creative twist?

· Signed a non-compete agreement?

· Unknowingly signed away ownership of your intellectual property to a company or another individual?

· Created an original work and seen it used by others without credit to you?

These are just a few common situations you may encounter. A meaningful understanding of intellectual property will help protect you from liability and maximize your professional potential. During the June 18th program entitled "Intellectual Property Law - What You Don't Know Can Hurt You," you will learn the basic steps to protecting your intellectual property as well as how to avoid pitfalls when making use of others' works. To learn more or to register, please visit this link.

Joshua Jones, Principal

Law Office of Joshua Jones

An Entertainment and Intellectual Property Defense Firm

27-May-10 1:00 PM

Using Cognitive Science to Design Training

Melissa Reaves — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:00:00 GMT

From PowerPoint to online learning modules, job aids to wikis, or even student manuals to online simulations, we have a wide variety of tools and methods at our disposal that support the learning and performance needs of individuals and organizations. However, many workplace learning and performance (WLP) professionals fail to maximize the potential of these tools. By taking into account knowledge of how adults learn and specifically how the adult brain processes information, WLPs can better leverage content to meet desired instructional goals.

In his book "Telling Ain't Training", author Harold Stolovitch identifies three key psychological and physiological factors that affect how learners learn: the senses, the autonomic nervous system, and memory. Working knowledge of these factors is key when employing any method or tool to support learning and performance. Whether it's understanding the importance of frequency and placement of questions in an online learning module or how to best employ text and graphics in a student manual, to get the most out of what you design you have to understand how your learners learn.

On May 21st, Jim (Dr. Mo) Moshinskie, PhD will offer practical advice on how to better design training programs 'that stick' by utilizing knowledge of adult learning and cognitive science. He will begin by discussing the importance of sequencing event and then show and describe cueing events that facilitate knowledge enhancement. Dr. Mo is a Certified Performance Technologist and is a faculty member at Baylor University. He is a knowledgeable speaker with an engaging and hands-on style. Register as soon as possible as seats are likely to go very quickly for this well known speaker.

To learn more or register for this event.

Melissa Reaves, CPLP

VP of Programs

Additional resources on this topic-:

E-Learning and the Science of Instruction by Ruth Colvin Clark and Richard E. Mayer

Telling Ain't Training by Harold D. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps

Efficiency in Learning: Evidence-Based Guidelines to Manage Cognitive Load by Ruth Clark, Frank Nguyen and John Sweller

21-Apr-10 11:00 AM

Partner needed in Health and Safety Training Start Up in Austin

Shelley Crain — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:00:00 GMT

I am looking for someone who would like to become a partial partner in a new training business (full or part time).

I would like to find someone who understands the needs and potentials of training programs, but I really need someone skilled in the networking, marketing, and outreach areas. The business is already registered, an initial contacts database has been built, and the first classes could be ready to go within 4 weeks of booking.

If you have the skills and time to reach out and recruit customers and develop strong working relationships between them and our business, and are wanting to invest in a new, but potentially very strong growth business with little competition in the area...or if you know someone who would be a good candidatefor such a role, please contact me at 512-779-6918 or at shesellscshells@hotmail.comat your earliest convenience to find out more about the planned structure of the business and the classes.

I will be screening interested parties over the next few weeks so the earlier I receive notice of interest the better.

16-Apr-10 6:00 PM

Book Review: Primal Leadership

Jane Fisher — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:00:00 GMT

In April, the Cliff Notes Club enjoyed listening to a book summary of Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee.

It is an enriching book emphasizing the value of creating a positive work environment—full of resonance. Resonance is when a leader elicits positive emotions in those he leads. Its opposite is dissonance, where negative emotions are caused.

It is hard to listen and not recall leaders / managers you have worked with that fit the “leadership styles.” There are six leadership styles, according to the book: Visionary, Coaching, Affiliative, Democratic, Pace-Setting, and Commanding. The first four styles create resonance. The last two create dissonance.

Naturally, the first four styles require good emotional intelligence using the four domain skills of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness or empathy, and relationship management. The book emphasizes that good leadership skills along with the emotional intelligence skills can be learned. It suggests using the five discoveries approach, which is very similar to the performance coaching process.

One of my favorite parts was the information about laughter. Laughter is probably the most powerful emotional trigger to sharing emotions-meaning others naturally join in. It is a powerful persuader. Laughter prevents the fight-or-flight reaction by flooding the brain with chemicals that promote cooperation.

They mentioned how outstanding leaders got the interviewer to laugh with them twice as often as average executives did. This does not mean go into interviews with your best stand-up comedy routine, but allow your sense of humor to express itself appropriately and with sincere feeling behind it.

A really good book!

Next month, we’ll be listening to Unnatural Leadership: Going Against Intuition and Experience to Develop Ten New Leadership Instincts by David L. Dotlich and Peter C. Cairo.

15-Apr-10 9:00 AM

Interactive Learning Events

Jane Fisher — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:00:00 GMT

How many of you prefer to learn by listening or observing? How many of you prefer to be active in your learning? If you find you learn better by being involved and actively doing something in your learning experience, you are in the majority.

There are many ways to help engage learners in the learning. Engagement means there tends to be more motivation and better retention from the learning. Plus as a bonus, engaging the learners often means that you are helping to target the higher cognitive skills from Bloom’s Taxonomy. And since most of our audiences are knowledge workers, we are striving for not robotic repetition, but the ability to transfer concepts and values to novel situations—a higher cognitive skill.

One of the ways I focus on engaging learners is with Interactive Learning Events (ILEs).
This helps me avoid some of the stigmas attached to "games." Training games may be interactive, they may have learning attached to them, but they may also lack relevance or fail to target intended learning. And the word “games” can often receive some ugly assumptions of not being real “learning.”

ILEs come in many shapes and sizes. The main key is that the learner interacts with the learning. This may mean that they interact with onscreen images, fellow learners, or by responding to the new information learned—such as filling out a questionnaire about what they read. The other key is that it is a learning event, meaning that it has a learning purpose that directly supports the course goal and objectives.

For example, most of us are familiar with Icebreakers and Openers. The icebreaker is often at the start of the class/presentation and has the purpose of helping people to become better acquainted. Icebreakers seldom directly support the course goal or objectives. Openers, however, usually do. An opener is a starting activity that directly relates to the course topic. The opener may also be an icebreaker. A good example is the Table Whips we often do at the start of the ASTD presentations, where at each table people share: name, where work, and an experience they have related to that day’s topic.

So to help make this article an ILE and not just an article, please write up an ILE, such as an opener, energizer, or closer, that others could use in designing their own workplace learning events. And if you are brave enough, submit it as an article. Let’s see how many great ideas are out there ready to be shared!

8-Apr-10 12:00 PM

Learning Evaluation: An Overview and Making It a Reality

Melissa Reaves — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Learning and Development function has changed immensely in the past few years. We are challenged more and more in how we can evaluate our impact on the organization. Executives now frequently ask, “What are the key performance indicators?” or “What is the impact of a certain learning program?” Learning professionals are now equipping themselves with the skills to have these business conversations and ultimately illustrate the connections between learning events and business results. The following is a brief overview of some of the methodologies utilized to measure results in the learning and development profession.

The Kirkpatrick Model has been around since 1959, and most every learning professional understands the methodology. However, putting it into practice can prove quite challenging. Almost all learning and development organizations implement evaluations for level 1 (usually an end-of-course questionnaire) and level 2 (an assessment of learning either during or after the course). However, they find obtaining the information for level 3 (actual on-job application) is a challenge and level 4 (impact on business results) is a distant dream. Maybe they talk about what the possible business impact is, but do not make direct correlations. It definitely takes a lot of work to identify what data you need and to implement a system to acquire and analyze it.

Robert Brinkerhoff attempts to understand the business drivers first (level 4), what behaviors need implemented on the job (level 3), what needs learned in the classroom (level 2), and how will that information be accepted (level 1). This approach focuses on understanding the organization’s goals from the beginning and helps relate the learning to those specific drivers. Brinkerhoff also focuses on telling the learning program’s story. Where have people successfully used the techniques and what are they doing? This story approach adds great value making the impact of the learning program visible.

And what about ROI? There is always buzz around what the return is for the investment in learning programs. Jack Phillips addressed this question with his level 5 analysis. Simplistically, learning professionals must strive to understand all Kirkpatrick indicators levels 1-4then, for business impact, guide the management team or the participants to infer how much they believe is attributable to the learning program, how confident they are of this estimate, what the costs were, and finally what the estimated and conservative ROI is. Phillips also emphasizes the need to tell the complete story and gain credibility in discussions with the organization’s leaders.

Luckily, we do not have to do this analysis on every learning program. However, bottom line is that learning professionals are being challenged to measure business impact and therefore must continue to innovate how to illustrate and report results. This may look different from organization to organization and we need to look for what will work with our organization and our audiences. On April 16, we will be sharing our journey at Tokyo Electron. We researched these models and put the theory into practice in our own way. As is often the case, real life is different from theory. However, we learned a great deal and are happy to share our results in hopes that you, too, can perform meaningful, credible evaluation your own organization.

Ron McCune & Beth O’Connor

For further reading:

Brinkerhoff, Robert. Success Case Method: Finding Out Quickly What’s Working and What’s Not. 2003.

Brinkerhoff, Robert. Telling Training’s Story: Evaluation Made Simple, Credible, and Effective. 2006.

Kirkpatrick, Donald L. Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels. 2006.

Phillips, Jack. Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs. 2003.

23-Mar-10 7:00 PM

Did you know that parking is FREE at our programs?

Tracie Combs — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Free parking? There is free parking at the monthly programs?

The answer is YES! Austin ASTD wants our members to have a monthly program that is engaging, entertaining and doesn't cause downtown parking anxiety. If you park in St. David's garage, and present your garage parking ticket to the folks at the registration table, you will receive a validated parking ticket in return.

So once again, we boldly and proudly say, Free Parking for our meetings.

26-Feb-10 5:00 PM

Designing E-learning Outside the Box

Melissa Reaves — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:00:00 GMT

Designing E-learning Outside the Box

By Michael W. Allen

In many ways, designing successful e-learning is a nearly impossible task. The complexity can be overwhelming, with challenges coming from voluminous content that somehow manages to be incomplete, unsympathetic technology, anxious and inattentive learners,

inadequate budgets, subject matter experts who are asked to be designers, and restrictive deadlines.

Many current e-learning solutions are so compromised in the design and development process that, in retrospect, e-learning probably wasn’t the best delivery medium.

Simpler media present fewer design and development challenges, expose fewer design weaknesses, and cost less to develop. Unfortunately, they typically have limited potential. They also can become the most expensive solutions because they waste the learner’s time, fail to develop their skills, and do not improve performance. Any ineffective solution

is expensive, but poorly designed elearning ups the ante in wastefulness.

When organizational leaders sit down to analyze what a prospective performance improvement solution is worth, the resulting numbers often exceed, by dramatic amounts, budgets normally expected for the design, development, and delivery of e-learning solutions. However, the expected return-on-investment can be much more than the necessary cost for a highly successful e-learning solution.

In contrast, when managers develop budgets based on traditional training costs or reasonable investments, funds customarily fall far below what’s actually required to fulfill demands.

So what can workplace learning professionals do differently? Let’s review a few unsuccessful traditions in e-learning design, and propose a plan for e-learning’s future success.

Unsuccessful traditions

We often think too narrowly of our role as instructional designers, confining our work to defining objectives, organizing content, selecting media, determining learning events, and developing performance measures (tests). These tasks become the boxes used to define and structure the components of a learning solution.

But our role as instructional designers isn’t simply to apply design principles and hope for the best; it’s to enable people to perform at higher levels of competency. If learners fail in performance, we have failed them, even if they scored flawlessly on our posttest. We tell ourselves that learners would perform better if only they would complete all of our e-learning modules, if only they did their homework, if only they’d practice more, if only they’d take a chance and apply the new things we’ve taught them. But these are just excuses.

The bottom line is we’ve failed to reach the goal. Designing inside the boxes of an e-learning application, an instructor-led course, or even a blended learning solution is a traditional but narrow view of the design responsibility.

Inside these boxes, designers regularly give little attention to the practicality of learners actually performing on the job what they learned, as well as the level of practice that is necessary to sustain proficiency when performance opportunities might not occur for some time. In addition, designers often fail to address the fact that co-workers might

misunderstand or even disapprove of the new practices being taught. Instead, designers create a string of learning modules; each dependent on the preceding one, each presenting more difficult concepts and tasks to perform, each designed to raise performance to a higher level.

There’s an assumption that the learner is totally inside each box with the designer, committed to and focused on each module and approaching it with energy and enthusiasm.

E-learning designers need to get out more—out of these boxes, that is. There are many variables not typically seen as within the purview of instructional design that can sabotage instructional efforts or enrich them.

Success requires designers to think expansively about the real lives and influences on learners, including what they care about, what they are trying to do, and how they might perceive the learning solution. Then they can design both inside and outside the confines of the typical learning product.

Successful design

Before revamping the list of design responsibilities, we must first define what we mean by successful design.

I do not think e-learning or any other educational program is successful if it results only in high posttest scores. I do not think success is reached if the targeted audience comes only to know things it didn’t before. No one succeeds just by knowing things. Success comes from doing the right thing at the right time.

Success, therefore, is realized only if learners develop and apply appropriate behaviors. Success means learners can recognize real world situations for which they have applicable knowledge or skills and respond effectively.

Successful designs not only impart knowledge, but also the propensity to act. They build the confidence necessary to perform well as well as the skill to perform at an effective pace. But what must practitioners do for e-learning to succeed?

Three learning phases

Inside traditional boxes, instructional design has generally ignored not only what is happening in the lives of learners while they are trying to learn (conflicting role expectations, sick loved ones, fear of standing out or looking foolish, and so on), but also critical conditions and events that occur both prior to learning and subsequently. Designers need to look at the entire process before people can learn.

Pre-instruction phase. Learners are not a blank slate. They may not know much about the content and skills they are trying to learn, but learners approach learning with various levels of confidence, expectations, readiness, habits, and preferences. They have a general disposition in each of these factors, as well as more specific dispositions with respect to the content (or whatever they know of it) and what they may know of e-learning and other instructional techniques involved.

The period preceding instruction is an important time for setting expectations, energizing learners, and preparing them to learn. Helping learners see that the prospective learning is about behavioral change is a good place to start. Don’t assume that learners understand this. Help them look at learning in a different and more useful way. It isn’t about getting a good grade and then going back to business as usual. It’s about changing what they do and when they do it. Learning has a purpose for both them and their organization. It can change things for the better for everyone.

Change is a simple word. It sounds like progress and improvement to organizational leaders who think, “If we’re not improving (which means changing), we’re falling backward.” But change strikes fear in the hearts and minds of many employees who have found a familiar if not effective routine of dealing with performance expectations and don’t want to be

rooted out of their comfort zone.

Neurologists have actually discovered that the brain is wired to avoid change. It senses a sort of pain even when change is being contemplated. To get learners in the mode of

thinking about change use exercises such as asking them to think about how things could be better and then describe how such improvements could occur. This is a first step. Then present specific problems and ask learners to evaluate possible solutions to help them move forward to understand the need for changes.

Eventually, pre-instruction phase activities should require that learners commit to changes they will make. Only then will learners be ready for skill-building exercises. When learners are psychologically unprepared for change, they’re also unprepared for the types of e-learning usually offered.

With unprepared learners, e-learning fails. Designers need to change before they can expect learners to change, and this means dealing seriously with pre-learning preparation.

Instruction phase. Instructional designers need to make changes as well. In this phase, we need to focus on having learners actually perform work-related tasks, not just acquire knowledge and recognize correct answers.

While there is general consensus that learning by doing is better than passive learning, it makes a great difference on what learners are doing during the learning experience.

For example, learners often are taught performance skills, but not the ability to recognize situations that determine which performance skills should be used. Learners need to think about the consequences of alternative behaviors. They need to analyze situations to determine what they should do, then practice both the analysis skills and the performance

until these skills become solid and learners develop needed confidence and eagerness to perform.

Informal learning is always at work among workers. Employees are continually gathering information and forming perspectives that may be helpful or detrimental to their performance—whether it is talking with peers about the behavior of others, experimenting on their own to see what actions yield the greatest accolades or require the least effort, or searching the Internet for alternative ways of working.

To take advantage of informal learning activities and help connect learning to work, programs should challenge learners to use varied avenues of exploration to solve hypothetical problems and develop useful skills and habits for solving problems.

Performance phase. Designers often act like parental turtles, walking off the job when their eggs hatch and leaving their young to fend for themselves. But embryonic skills face a high fatality rate when support terminates at the end of formalized instruction. Just as only one in 100 hatchling turtles survive to maturity, designers leave much to chance if they view what happens to learners after instruction as something that is completely outside their realm of influence.

During the performance phase, designers need to keep in mind that training programs should provide learning experiences for at least two audiences: one set for the target learners and another for their managers. Untrained supervisors, even if they are generally supportive of change, often unwittingly hamper changes because they have not developed mentoring skills, are unfamiliar with new processes being introduced through training, or do not recognize the challenges of change.

In addition, fledgling behaviors can be strengthened when learners have others at the same point in behavior development to compare notes. Facilitating ways learners can talk with each other as they transition learning to actual performance can help.

E-learning applications can help learners find each other online and team up with each other in the preinstruction phase. These teams can continue to bolster performance improvement through learning and long afterward.

Finally, e-learning programs can provide continual opportunities to practice and review new skills. Through increasing intervals, learners can use refresher exercises to keep their skills honed in a way that is rarely possible when traditional learning applications conclude.

Again, because e-learning works in the e-environment, alerting learners to the need for practice and providing various reminders and performance aids at optimally spaced intervals is easy, effective, and inexpensive.

25-Feb-10 6:00 AM

Be Social

Tracie Combs — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:00:00 GMT

Are you a fan of our Facebook Page?
Are you a member of our LinkedIn Group?

If so, we encourage all ASTD network members to share, participate, debate and be active on our forums. Only by hearing from you can we grow to serve the needs of the Austin Workplace Learning Community.

Join Our Facebook Page Here

Join Our LinkedIn Group Here

22-Feb-10 11:00 AM

From Trainer to Workplace Learning and Performance Professional: A Review

Melissa Reaves — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:00:00 GMT

Last Friday, January 15^th, marked the beginning of the A New Year, A New You and A New Austin ASTD initiative with the first lunch program of 2010. Eighty attendees joined our speaker, John Gillis, as he set the stage for our profession’s future where we evolve from being trainers into workplace learning and performance (WLP) professionals. John began the program with a review of our profession, where we’ve been and where we’re going. His analysis of our many roles, multiple responsibilities, and the ever-changing lingo of our profession was eye-opening.

This analysis led to a discussion regarding contemporary understanding of our field, specifically the competencies of a WLP professional as identified by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). John provided context for the competency study and the associated framework (for more information please visit http://www.astd.org/content/research/competency/), and he spent most of the presentation covering the framework’s areas of expertise, which are:

· Designing Learning

· Delivering Training

· Measuring and Evaluation

· Human Performance Improvement

· Facilitating Organizational Change

· Managing the Learning Function

· Coaching

· Career Planning and Talent Management

· Managing Organizational Knowledge

Attendees were given an opportunity to think about their own professional development needs related to these areas of expertise, and attendees were encouraged to set their professional development goals for the year. To assist them in reaching these goals, John outlined how the areas of expertise are directly linked to all of the 2010 monthly programs such as next month’s program, Project Management for Learning and Performance Professionals.

The program was a success and many attendees stayed afterwards to chat and connect with each other. There were others who took the opportunity to visit the committee fair to find out more about the programs and services offered by Austin ASTD. Many chose to get further involved in the WLP community by signing up to volunteer for various committees.

For those members unable to make it to our first event, be on the lookout for a copy of the presentation to be posted to the website. Don’t forget to clear your schedule now for an exciting year of programs as we assist you in keeping your 2010 professional resolutions.

Melissa Reaves

VP of Programs

19-Jan-10 3:00 PM

Project Management and You

Melissa Reaves — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:00:00 GMT

See if you can identify which of the following statements is true.

a. Project management is really people management (“I’m really good with people so I don’t need to learn about project management.”)

b. Since learning and performance initiatives are, by definition, unique, it makes no sense to try to use common processes.

c. Only project leaders need to learn about project management.

If you’re thinking that this may have been a trick question, you’re right. None of these statements is true. In fact, all three of these statements reflect the many myths about project management that often lead learning and performance professionals to just ‘wing it’. After all, we know are craft; we don’t need a process that better enables us to plan, organize, and control our projects.

However, learning and performance initiatives do not take place in a vacuum. They often involve multiple stakeholders (customers), competing timelines, conflicting priorities about resources, and did I forget to mention, the people who have to make it all come together…you. At no time is this more critical as organizations are looking to strategically align business objectives with learning and performance as well as utilize emerging technologies. These changes make it even more important that learning and performance professionals learn a thing or two about project management.

Our February program, Project Management for Learning and Performance Professionals, is designed to assist you in better planning, organizing, and managing your projects, also known as project management. Our speaker, Ken Jones, a certified Project Management Professional will speak to two of the most common project management issues: unrealistic schedules and unreasonable stakeholders (customers). Ken has spent 25 years in the semiconductor industry managing projects in new product development, manufacturing, and marketing, and he is excited to share with us what he and his team have learned about these two issues.

Ken is an engaging and interactive speaker, and his experiences include teaching in the Project Management Professional training course offered by St. Edwards as well as the Austin Project Management Institute where he serves as lead instructor.

Follow this link to learn more and register for this event.

Melissa Reaves, CPLP

2010 VP of Programs

14-Jan-10 11:00 AM

University of Texas Instructional Design Project

Linda Warren — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:00:00 GMT

University of Texas Graduate Instructional Design Project

The UT Advanced Instructional Design class has an exciting opportunity for
Austin organizations and businesses to work with students during the spring
semester.

Dr. Paul Resta of the Instructional Technology program at UT Austin will be
teaching the Advanced Instructional Systems Design (AISD) class this spring.
Debby Kalk is working with him to line up projects. They are looking for
projects for student teams that will give them hands-on instructional design
experience and the opportunity to work with a real client on a real project. All
students are in graduate school and have completed an introductory ISD class. In
this advanced course, they will be learning about project management including
learning to work with a client, SMEs, and a team.

For this project, the students will produce all design documents, such as needs
analysis, task analysis, design doc, and evaluation plan. Depending on the
project, they will produce other components, such as storyboards for an online
course, or an instructor's guide and student materials for an instructor-led
course. In previous semesters, some student teams have done more production
work, such as developing a prototype website. It's also possible that in a
subsequent course, such as the Multimedia course taught by Dr. Min Liu, that
students would produce these storyboards into a final product. However, the
critical requirement is that students do instructional design work.

If you are interested, Debby can advise you on developing a prospectus about the
project. On the first day of class, January 25, the students will review each
prospectus so that they can pick their project preferences and form teams. There
will probably be 3-4 students per team and the teams may include some students
outside of Austin since they are co-delivering this course both at UT Austin and
through the online UT TeleCampus.

If you would like to pursue this terrific opportunity, please get in touch with Debby Kalk at debby@debbykalk.com

A sample prospectus can be found at : http://www.austinastd.org/partner-events/

22-Dec-09 8:00 AM