If You Don't Assess....You Guess

 I was reading and old Forbes article from 2018 you can read it here talking about training in sales and the importance of assessing trainees in order to prepare them to be ready to engage for the sale.  This title of the article stuck with me... if you are not assessing, you are guessing.  This brings me to our current chapter of Slade's book on eLearning, all about Needs Assessments. 

It starts with a Need.  A problem. An issue with performance. A needs assessment is the process of evaluating a performance issue to determine the root cause and offer one or more solutions.  Slade says that most stakeholders believe that everything can be fixed with more training but that is an incorrect way of thinking. Most of the time, training is not the answer.  One thing from this chapter that really stuck with me about performance issues.  When people don't do the things they know they ought to do.  For instance, when we want to lose weight, we know diet and exercise will get us there.  It is not a lack of knowledge or skill that prevents us from achieving our goals, it is usually a lack of time available in our day that derails our efforts.  We can apply this same concept to people at work and their performance.   If we analyze the problem and view them at face value,  we can fix problems without the need for training. Per Slade most performance issues stem from a one or a combination of the lack of knowledge, skill, motivation, or resources. We analyze by asking the following questions of the needs assessment.

I think the most poignant statement I read from this chapter was this:

"The goal of the needs assessment isn't to determine what training is needed. The goal is to determine how to address the the performance issue."

 I can't help but think of needs assessment in terms of student data analysis.  How many times have I approached a student performance issue from this very standpoint..."what training" or extra practice does this student need, rather than missing the entire misconception they are experiencing or something else entirely. I think to often we miss the boat entirely in an effort to "fix" what's broken.

Once your needs assessment is complete and it has been determined that you do in fact need an eLearning course it is time to Plan your Project.  I am surprised that the needs assessment was not an entire chapter by itself.     The project plan is a contract between you and the stakeholders, made to hold everyone accountable and and in agreement with time frames and deliverables.  The chapter goes in to a greater detail as to questions to ask about what learners need to know, what resources are already available, what has and has not been effective, etc.. Good eLearning should contain quality graphic design as well as a variety of communication tools including icons, images and animations. It should enhance learning retention and be user friendly.   

When all is said and done....Assess...Don't Guess.