Entelechy's Newsletter for Trainers, Managers, HR Professionals and Others Responsible for the Performance of Others.

ADDIE: An Overview of The Industry's Design/Development Model

The ADDIE (analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate) instructional design model is a basic model that holds true for any type of learning, including web-based training (WBT). The ADDIE model includes the following phases, steps, and products:

More information about ADDIE can be found in Entelechy's Practical Design and Development Tips eGuide, which has been updated to include an appendix on Bloom's Taxonomy. Check out http://unlockit.com/eguides.htm  for information on this and other eGuides.

Practical Design and Development Tips: Analysis

The purpose of the Analysis stage of ADDIE is to verify the desired performances, the learning tasks, and the appropriate testing strategies.

See Entelechy's Practical Design and Development Tips eGuide 
at http://unlockit.com/eguides.htm for more information about 
ADDIE.

The following tips help make a good model (ADDIE) even more practical and usable. These tips come from Entelechy's Practical Design and Development Tips eGuide.

Conduct a Task Inventory

• If you have reliable SMEs (exemplary performers or managers), have them provide you with the tasks that people need to perform, the skills they need to perform them, and the knowledge that supports their efforts. 
  
  

• Even if you don't have SMEs to rely on, don't go nuts! Watch and document a couple of exemplary performers or talk to a manager. Most of the time, there are certain fairly obvious tasks that exemplary performers do that others don't; focus your attention on those tasks.
  
  

• Another opinion on task inventory: "An accurate and complete task analysis is, in my estimation, the key to effective and efficient training. Weaknesses in the task analysis can result in wasted time, wasted money, and poor worker performance. Task analysis is not the place to cut corners! Training programs that fail, usually have roots in erroneous or "fuzzily-worded" tasks and performance standards."
  
  

• It would certainly be nice to dictate prerequisites, but the real world doesn't usually work that way. Instead you are often working with a predefined audience. However, just because you can't dictate prerequisites doesn't mean that you can't do anything about them. Identify prerequisites (in terms of tasks or qualifications) and suggest ways participants can build their skills before training.
  Compose Objectives
  
  

• DO go nuts here. Spend time on the performance objectives to make sure that everyone agrees that these are the things that are to result from the training. (See Bloom's Taxonomy of Objectives in the appendix for more information.)
  
  

• Make sure to use performance-based objectives - objectives that describe what learners should be able to do after the training. Ideally, on the job.
  
  

• For each objective, figure out exactly HOW you're going to tell whether your learners can demonstrate their achievement of that objective. (See Generate Testing Strategies below.)
  Generate Testing Strategies
  
  

• DO go nuts here, too! In fact, compose the objectives AND the testing strategy at the same time. Sometimes the testing strategy will require that you modify your objectives.
  
  

• Make sure that your testing strategy matches your objectives. If an objective states that "participants should be able to calm an angry customer" then your testing strategy MUST include an opportunity for participants to demonstrate their skills in a fairly realistic environment. Having participants simply recite the four steps to calming a customer is NOT ENOUGH!!!
  
  

• Most jobs have some type of feedback sheet or quality check. These make great checklists for your training. If a checklist DOESN'T exist for the task, ask the manager/client to create one. This becomes your test/performance check. If the checklist doesn't exist and the manager/client won't or can't make one, make one for training and provide it to the manager/client to reinforce skills learned in training (and to win some brownie points).

Calculate Return on Investment

• Again, be realistic. Attributing a potential savings of $5M with a 1-hour time management class would probably be met with some healthy skepticism.
  
  

• Calculate the ROI of options (larger class sizes, WBT versus ILT versus manager-led training).
  
  

• Use Entelechy's Return on Training Investment Calculator to include all costs and possible return. Contact us at info@unlockit.com.

Design Brief

• Make your design brief/document as detailed as you can. It's faster and much easier to implement something once you have already done the major portion of the creative thinking. And, it's faster and of better quality to do the creative thinking at the design document phase. (Joanne Casino, Entelechy)
  
  

• DO NOT shortcut this document or the opportunity to discuss it with your client. Do not analyze or develop more until you've gotten input from the client or stakeholders. Doing so is likely a waste of time.
  
  

• The only exception to the above tip is that you may want to (or have to) provide a development timeline, which, according to ADDIE, is created in the Development phase. Clients and stakeholders typically want to see how long it will take to develop this training.
  
  

• Try to produce items for client sign-off that are part of the final product rather than "review-able stuff" only. That is, the less time you spend creating stuff that is "just for clients to review and sign-off", the better. Usually, this means less project documentation time and more time on final result. Also, it may mean additional, smaller reviews rather than 'really big deal' milestones. Get sign-offs along the way. (Lynne Hayden, Salescape)
  
  

• Don't be afraid to "throw your work over the fence". A fresh eye can save so much time. (Pam Martin, Entelechy)

More information about objectives can be found in Entelechy's Practical Design and Development Tips eGuide, which provides over 100 tips using ADDIE as the basis for our suggestions. Check out http://unlockit.com/eguides.htm  for information on this and other eGuides.

A Conversation with Dr. Henry Mintzberg

Consider the Managerial Style Triangle graphic on the right. The three elements of leadership/management - art, craft, and science - form the points in the triangle. 

From this graphic, we can make a number of conclusions:

• The manager who practices all craft with no science or 
  art is tedious.

• The manager who is all vision and creativity 
  with no experience or analysis is narcissistic.

• The manager who applies only 
  scientific technique without 
  vision or experience is calculating.

• The manager who leads with 
  experience (craft) and vision (art) 
  but without analysis (science) 
  may be disorganized.

• The manager who leads 
  with experience (craft) 
  and analysis (science) 
  but without vision (art) 
  may be dispirited.

• The manager who leads with analysis (science) and vision (art) but without experience (craft) may be disconnected.

• Balance is not necessarily a good thing. Flexibility and versatility are most important. Being able to select and use the managerial/leadership style that is most appropriate for the situation is prized over balance.

Effective managers and leaders can draw from their experience (craft), their analysis (science), and intuition/creativity (art) to provide the best solutions and lead most effectively.

For more information on Linkage Distance Learning/Broadcasts, visit http://www.linkageinc.com/DISL/default.shtml. For help in creating training materials that are "accessible" and "creatively and thoughtfully done", contact me at ttraut@unlockit.com.

MAILING AND PRIVACY INFORMATION

You have received this email because you are in Entelechy's database of people that we've interacted with directly or indirectly or you've signed up for The Key. If you've received this email in error, please click on http://unlockit.com/optout.htm  to be removed immediately from our mailing database with our apologies. (If you have trouble with the opt out link, please reply to this email directly and I'll personally remove your name.)

Send this email to your friends and colleagues who may be involved in training and the performance of others and could benefit from FREE performance tips, tools, and techniques.

Entelechy will not sell, rent, or otherwise provide anyone else your membership information for any reason. Period.

Terence Traut, President of Entelechy "unlocking potential"
ttraut@unlockit.com  
phone: 603-424-1237
fax: 603-424-6361
http://www.unlockit.com