Developed for Change Agent Network meeting at Allstate. This presentation is aimed at IT professionals tasked with developing systems training.

1. Developing Customized Training
Brown Bag Presentation
Allstate Change Agent Network (CAN)
Feb. 2005
Patricia S. Lewis

2. Change Agent Network
Brown Bag Breakfast
Developing Customized Training
Presented by Patty Lewis
Billing Applications
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 2

3. Outline
 Best Practices  How to develop & deliver training
 How we’re supposed to do it  “Blended” learning
 How we’ve been doing it  How should training be delivered?
 Where to begin?  Who should deliver the training?
 Evaluate the need for training  Know your audience
 Training sponsor  Developing new modules
 Getting buy-in  Taking notes during presentation
 Comments about costs  Updating training modules & plan
 Who's gonna own it?  Keeping records
 Now what?  Evaluating your training program
 “Quick hit” or pilot module  Handouts, References, Resources
 Planning & needs assessment
 Function / process inventory
 Collect existing materials &
map them to processes
 Gap assessment / priorities
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 3

4. Training Best Practices
Source: “Best Training Practices Within the Software Engineering Industry” (CMU/SEI-96-TR-034)
 Characteristics
 Defined training process (e.g., Level 3 KPA – see next slide)
 Formal needs analysis activity
 Availability of wide variety of courses from different sources
 Training by a local, respected organization
 Enablers
 Continuous improvement of training process / quality
 Management involvement and support
 Employee involvement
 Delivery timing (“Just-In-Time”)
 Availability / accessibility of training
 Entry Criteria
 Management support (policies)
 Assignment of resources
 Consensus on scope
 Results of needs analysis
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 4

5. …or, How we’re supposed to do it
 Formal Training Program – CMM Level 3 KPA
 Goals:
1. Training activities are planned.
2. Training is provided.
3. People get the training they need to perform their roles.
 Activities:
1. Develop and maintain a training plan specifying the
organization’s training needs.
2. Training plan is developed and revised according to a
documented procedure.
3. Training is performed according to the plan.
4. Training material is developed and maintained according to
organization standards.
5. Waiver procedure to excuse people from required training.
6. Records of training are maintained.
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 5

6. How we’ve been doing it
 Billing’s training program has been driven by:
 Increasing complexity of system and organization
 Need to establish common, consistent understanding of
basic system functions
 Need to be able to move people around, have “agile”
response to new processes, increases in workload, etc.
 Corporate direction away from use of contingent workers
 Need to transfer knowledge quickly and efficiently
 Need to get new people “up to speed” quickly
 Result: We hyper-focus on content and flexibility
 We need it now
 We need to make changes quickly and frequently
 Each module is reviewed / updated before being presented
 We deliver our 13-session training series twice a year
 Vanilla format, no bells and whistles [see next slide…]
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 6

7. Pure vanilla… better than nothin’!
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 7

8. Where to begin?

9. Evaluate the need for training
“ Training is not always the answer to
business and performance problems. If an
employee does not perform the way we would
like them to, we frequently conclude that they
don't know how. That is not necessarily the
case. Employees may be prevented from
optimal performance because of outdated or
inefficient business practices, policies, or
standards.
”
From “Training Not Always the Answer to Every Business Problem.”
Dana Skiff, Corporate Training Consultants
http://www.enhancedtraining.com/articles2.html
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 9

10. Evaluate the need for training
 Before jumping to conclusions about the need for
training, ask the following types of questions:
 Could employees really do "X" if their lives depended on
it? Do they really know how to do "X" but choose not to
do so for some reason?
 Could using a job aid solve the problem?
 Do individuals have the appropriate resources such as
work stations, work space, software, supplies, etc.?
 Is the problem the result of an existing policy or
procedure?
 Are existing standards reasonable?
 Would improved communications and/or coordination
solve the problem?
 Are the right people in the right jobs?
 Dumb question: Is training already available?
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 10

11. Training sponsor
 Recruit a sponsor for your training program
 It should be AT LEAST one manager who:
 Is respected / influential within the organization
 Helps you get cooperation from other managers and SMEs
 Can push back when something (e.g., change in
management) threatens to derail the training program
 Has historical perspective and long-range vision
 Has experience supporting or driving a training and / or
mentoring program; can tell you what’s been tried before,
what’s worked, what hasn’t, etc.
 Willing to support the program for at least two years, or
until it becomes “institutionalized” and part of the culture
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 11

12. Getting buy-in
 Work with your sponsor to strategize the next
steps to get buy-in
 Determine stakeholders (who to get buy-in from)
 Are they already convinced, or is more research needed?
 Do you need to write a proposal or a business case?
 Do you need to create and present a “pilot” module?
 Anticipate and prepare for discussions about who
will be responsible for creating, updating,
reviewing, approving, managing, and controlling
the training plan
 Be prepared to answer questions or address
concerns about time commitment, costs, etc.
See next slide…
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 12

13. Comments about costs
 Direct costs:
 IBM algorithm: 50 hours of development time per hour of
presentation by course developer
 Computer-aided training may add up to 50% additional
effort; complex media requires 100-200 hours of
development per hour of material
 Instructors’ time, facilities costs, etc.
Source: “Training Guidelines: Creating a Training Plan for a Software Organization” (CMU/SEI-95-TR-007)
 Typical Billing training module developed in <6 hours
 1-2 hours with SME
 2-4 additional hours of my time on follow-up, diagrams…
 Indirect costs probably greater than direct costs
 Time trainees and SMEs spend away from other duties
 Costs should be offset by benefits
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 13

14. Who’s gonna own it?
 There is a difference between “owning” the
content…
 Content might be owned by a team (e.g., Billing Update
Team owns “Update: Premium” and “Update: Cash”)
 SMEs might be responsible for specific modules
 … and driving the updates, delivery, and
development of new training materials
 A successful training plan requires centralized
ownership of the training plan and materials
 Ideally owned by a process-oriented team,
function, or person; e.g., your area’s…
 CMM/SQC/SQA team, Technical Writer, Process Analyst,
Documentation Manager, Education Coordinator, etc.
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 14

15. You’ve got a need, a sponsor, and
a mandate… now what?

16. Do a “quick hit” or pilot module
 Quick hit training – a.k.a. “low-hanging fruit”
 Critical function or process that needs to be trained
 Functional or area overview can be a good place to start
 Walk-through of teams and what they do
 “Sit & Spew” module development technique
 A SME sits in my cube and “spews” about a business
process or system function while I input info to slides
 Best to start with outline developed prior to meeting,
then use meeting time to flesh out content
 Trouble getting access to a SME?
 Ask how many times in the last two years they’ve had to
deliver the same lecture to a new employee
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 16

17. Planning & needs assessment
 Start outlining a formal training plan
 See references at end of this presentation
 Leverage discussions during buy-in and planning
process to start developing list of training needs
 Perform survey or schedule discussion / brainstorming
 “Requirements gathering” process may also
reveal opportunities for further “quick hits”
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 17

18. Function / process inventory
 Create inventory of what your area does
 Refer to your functional / area / teams overview
 Brainstorm with managers & SMEs
 Use spreadsheet so you can sort and filter results
 Business process or system function inventory
 Business process… team organization is often based on
relationships between business processes
 System functions that support the business processes
See next slide…
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 18

19. Example: Business process inventory
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20. Example: System function inventory
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21. Collect & map existing materials
 Functional overviews, diagrams, or other material
that team members might have put together for
another area, a new manager, participants on a
big project, etc.
 Manuals or handbooks of business rules or
procedures
 System documentation – copybooks, module
inventories, system diagrams, table and field
descriptions, etc., make great handouts
 Map existing materials to your business process
or system function inventory
See next slide…
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 21

22. Example: Mapping materials to processes
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 22

23. Gap assessment / training priorities
 Assess team members’ knowledge
 Could be done informally by team managers
 Develop assessment / rating criteria
 Use business process inventory, system function
inventory or both
 Leverage work you’re doing for Competency Model (i.e.,
make terminology consistent, etc.)
 Drill down to detail that Competency Model can’t provide
 Rank results according to highest incidence of
gaps, business criticality (refer to your area’s
Business Resumption Plan), or other criteria
 Goal is to determine:
 Training priorities for the area as a whole
 Who needs what training
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 23

24. How do we develop and deliver
the training?

25. “Blended” learning
 Mix of training types and delivery methods
 See SkillSoft white paper: “Blended Learning Strategies:
Selecting the Best Instructional Method”
 Unfortunately, there’s no “best method” when you need to
do frequent updates, your content is highly detailed and
complex, and you don’t have the resources to maintain a
web site, the time to go through the LRN process, or the
budget to outsource all your training to a vendor
 Examples
 Group learning in classroom setting
 Job shadowing and mentoring
 ”Floating” (trainee “floats around,” attending meetings,
absorbing info “by osmosis,” bringing questions to mentor)
 Routine tasks and simple projects
 Self-directed learning (studying training materials – written
or on-line [LRN] – and system documentation)
 Creating system documentation (define this bunch of codes)
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 25

26. How should training be delivered?
 Evaluate the knowledge to be presented
 Is it best presented in a group situation, or one-on-one?
 Does it focus on business processes, system functions, or
both? (e.g., business rules, transactions, cause-and-
effect relationships, interdependencies, feedback loops)
 Is it best communicated by using “pictures” (a diagram
or a process flow)?
 Is it a task or procedure (a 1-2-3 series of steps)?
 Does it call for a training module, a job aid, or a checklist?
 Should it be demonstrated?
…So, would you prefer PowerPoint, or PowerPoint?
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 26

27. Who should deliver the training?
 SMEs
 Pros: Most in-depth knowledge of the subject
 Cons: Lack of time, inclination, buy-in, presentation skills
 Non-SMEs
 Pros: Development opportunity for up-and-comers;
relieves SMEs of demands on their time
 Cons: May have difficulty answering questions or
clarifying material; may need to do some research to
develop comfort level and familiarity with subject; must
be willing to do whatever it takes to “own” the material
 Talented generalist
 Pros: Same as non-SMEs, plus potentially unique
perspective; may be able to relate to non-specialists
 Cons: Same as non-SMEs; may end up “parroting,” or
relying too much on slides and not on own knowledge
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 27

28. Who is the audience?
 What are their roles?
 Will there be a mix of Developers and non-Developers?
 What common knowledge will they have?
 More variety of background/experience = less detail.
 Consider preparing “Overview” and “Drill-down” modules.
 How many people will there be?
 More people = less detail.
 What are their needs? How will they use the
information you provide?
 Will they be working directly with the system or function
you are explaining, or do they just need to understand
what people mean when they refer to your topic?
 What level of technical detail is appropriate?
See next slide…
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 28

29. Know your audience
“too technical for “The material was “Right amount of detail
majority of audience” presented without for an intro to the subject
“Fuzzies”
getting into the nuts & of accounting, GL, and
“too technical” bolts … which allows billing interconnections.”
us non-programmers to
“Much of it was useful, understand [it].” “Not too much accounting
however a lot of it was detail, or other detail the
far too technical. “Didn’t get bogged audience did not need.”
Should have been more down in details”
business oriented.” “Easy to understand.
Nothing technical.”
“too high level, your “I thought it would “I need clearly worded
audience are technical provide more detailed definitions, data layouts
people therefore they information. But I w/highlighted key-fields,
“Techies”
would benefit from a guess time is limited.” clearly worded business
more technical rules, system limitations
presentation.” “we need to know and requirements in
more about the association with named
“I would like to see the technical interfac[es]; batch and online
diagrams a little more table definitions could processes.”
technical.” have been included.”
“We need … more “Could be more
detail of specific logic extensive. I don’t think
of components.” all the info is there.”
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 29

30. Developing new modules
 Where does your module idea “fit” in relation to other
modules that exist or are in development?
 Gather documentation, references, notes, specs, etc.;
ask managers and other SMEs for input.
 How does your material relate to the existing materials?
Are you expanding? Drilling down? What’s the scope?
 Determine organizational scheme. Hints:
 Chronological (following policy life cycle; transaction flow)
 Spatial (outside to inside) or hierarchical (whole to parts)
 Start outlining. Hints:
 Make a list of business rules and then fill in what the
system does in response to business events / triggers
 “Walk through” a diagram or process flow, noting each step,
including interfaces / hand-offs, etc.
 Work from documents such as module inventories or code
printouts to create system process descriptions
 Fill in details and iteratively refine.
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 30

31. Take notes during the presentation
 Have an observer (not a learner, not the trainer)
take notes on:
 Who presented, who attended, start / end times, other
milestone times, time spent on Q&A
 Content issues
 Corrections and follow-ups to be communicated later
 Presentation issues
 Organization and detail level of the material
 Where digressions happened, and whether they were useful
or not; did questions need to be taken off-line, etc.
 Awkward transitions (directionals needed? reorganize?)
 Develop a diagram, move details to a hand-out, etc.
 Save notes to use during training module updates
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 31

32. Updating training modules & plan
 Update individual modules before each scheduled
presentation
 E.g., during weekly series, update each module during
the week prior to its presentation
 Update handouts, integrate new content, etc.
 Make note of improvements for future releases, ideas for
new modules, etc.
 Update training plan on pre-determined schedule
 E.g., semi-annually or annually to coincide with AMP
update, or prior to planned series of training sessions
 Determine need for new modules – to address high-level
gaps or to provide more detail / drill-down
 Determine need to reorganize / redistribute content
 Determine need to change order in which presented
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 32

33. Keeping records
 Area level (part of / addendum to training plan):
 Who needs, who receives, and who requests training
 Enrollment (meeting acceptance) vs. course completion
(actual attendance)
 Waivers for required training
 Module level:
 Who presented the module
 Who attended presentation
 Start and end times, times at other milestones, average
total time for presentation, time per slide, etc.
 Keep Revision History in “Notes” field on title slide
 Track versioning, releases, SMEs, etc.
 Record the dates module was presented
See next slide…
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 33

34. Phase: APT Best Practices Series
Module No.: 01
Module Title: Developing Customized Training
Version: 1.0
Date Developed: Feb. 25, 2005
Last Updated: Feb. 25, 2005
Date Released: Feb. 25, 2005
SMEs: Patty Lewis
Allstate Insurance Company
Billing Applications | Div. 2424
Training Module
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 34

35. Evaluating your training program
 Results can be difficult to measure
 Has performance of specific job tasks improved?
 If so, is that improvement attributable to the training?
 Objective measures
 Most common: pre-tests and post-tests
 Subjective measures
 Interviews
 Informal surveys / one-on-one feedback
 Employee satisfaction / morale
 Employees appreciate having the training available to
them even if they don’t always take advantage of it
 SMEs like having something to hand to new employees
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 35

36. References & Resources
 SEI references:
 CMM Practices, Level 3 KPA: Training Program
 CMU/SEI-93-TR-25 | http://www.sei.cmu.edu/pub/documents/93.reports/pdf/tr25.93.pdf
 Training Guidelines: Creating a Training Plan
 CMU/SEI-95-TR-007 | http://www.sei.cmu.edu/pub/documents/95.reports/pdf/tr007.95.pdf
 Best Training Practices Within the Software Engineering Industry
 CMU/SEI-96-TR-034 | http://www.sei.cmu.edu/pub/documents/96.reports/pdf/tr034.96.pdf
 Other resources:
 SkillSoft white papers index:
 http://www.skillsoft.com/news/white_papers.asp
 Blended Learning Strategies: Selecting the Best Instructional Method
 http://www.skillsoft.com/news/documents/Blended%20Learning%20Strategies%20WP.pdf
 Eight Key Steps of Blended Learning
 http://www.skillsoft.com/news/white.papers.view.asp?link=/news/whitepapers/documents/
EightSteps_Paper.pdf
Fri., Feb. 25, 2005 Change Agent Network Brown Bag 36

37. End