When assessing the need of your training audience, you must do your research. And you must conduct that research using as many research techniques as possible. I will admit, in my own personal experience as a trainer, I have seen the results when the research is lacking or worse, non-existent.
I once was asked to provide system training on a system I knew very well, but the request was immediate with very short notice. An assumption was made by the requester that the system was the same for every user, but that was not the case at all. The training I provided ended up missing the mark completely. If I had been provided the time to survey the audience and conduct at least one interview I would have been able to adapt my training content and delivery to the needs of my audience.
As a trainer I find surveys and interviews, when combined, to be excellent research techniques. Once a survey has been created, it can be administered to a very large audience, especially if you distribute them online. The results can supply you with a large amount of useful data that can be referenced and applied very quickly during the training development process. I will also take survey responses, pull a sample of them, then conduct an interview of those same participants so I can get more insight into their survey response.
Speaking of interviews, those are my favorite and where I have the most fun. I feel this research technique provides the best interaction and often better results as a result (no pun intended).
Research requires thought, from choosing the correct research method to gathering and analyzing the data, but it’s very important you take the time to do it right!
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11. November 2007 at 05:41
I liked the point kevinmhuff made about choosing the correct research method depending on what your are looking to find out about. It makes sense that you need to carefully take the time to gather the needed data so that you can properly prepare for training the learners.
11. November 2007 at 17:18
Picking the right research technique for the rationale of the training can be a crucial step in creating a training proposal and class for an organization. Evaluating data from your research is a great way to determine exactly what type of training is needed and how it needs to be conducted.Using different methods of research for each type of analysis could potentially give you different prospectives as to what exactly is needed to bring the most out of a training for both the employee and the employer.
17. November 2007 at 23:10
So the guy who had built a tool to measure the 80/20 rule, and kept coming to a hundred, what was his response when you pointed out his mistake?
kevinmhuff response: he simply didn’t get it. He continued to argue it needed to add to 100.
15. December 2007 at 16:34
I thought this was a good breakdown of all the research tools, such as, observations, surveys, interviews, test, and experiments. I also liked your breakdown of the 80/20 rule and how one person skewed the information of what he thought just to get to the number 100. I like how you (kevinmhuff) stressed on observations. This is mostly what I have used to collect data. Like you, I like interviews because of the interaction. Surveys are good for gathering larger data. Once you have gathered it you need to field test it. I never thought of combining the interviews and surveys, I think this is a great idea. I really like how you stressed the point that you can’t use the same tool for every situation. Each situation may require a different tool.
16. December 2007 at 22:48
I find that when I do surveys, people feel they can be the most honest. They do not have to give their names and still get to say their peace. Interviews on the other hand, most people will just provide information that they think you would like to hear so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings.
1. February 2008 at 10:20
I used to work in a customer service area and we conducted surveys about our service to our clients alot. I do find surveys (although this is different when you’re surveying trainees vs. clients) to be very telling. Like it was mentioned above, people feel free to be more honest in them because you’re not face to face. But combining them with follow interviews is an interesting research technique. I thought that was very interesting.
2. February 2008 at 18:16
Wal-Mart uses surveys everyday, and 30% of the customers ignore the question that is on the debit reader before they select a language. The other 70% take the time to answer the question and with feedback. It does not give them enough information to rate the individual that is serving them at the checkout. Most of the customers that I have encountered tell me how exceptional I was; most pleasant and fastest checker that they have seen; just all in all a pleasure to have waiting on them. At times, I have to be on the register due to lack of cashiers and I enjoy it very much. The encounter with the customers just make my day.
2. February 2008 at 18:25
I did not realize that observations played such an important part of data because it is something that we do naturally and no other thought is given to it. I like holding open-ended interviews because I want the individual to feel comfortable ~ open up ~ discuss anything and everything. It provides a warm and inviting atmosphere. I interviewed an assistant manager at Wal-Mart for one of my projects and I found it to be a challenge~in a good way. Once generalized questions were asked to break the ice, everything flowed like clock work. It was amazing as to how much information I gathered within a 30 minute time frame (imposed by me). Even though we gather information, it still needs to go through the entire evaluation process to be effective in all areas.
3. February 2008 at 08:35
I’ve actually done mystery shopping before. I took it very seriously because I felt it was extremely important to give the client valuable information. A lot of the material on the questionairres were subjective though. My favorite ones were when I actually rewarded the employee at the time of the shop for doing their job correctly!
17. February 2008 at 21:07
I like the breakdown of the research tools. These podcasts make it 10x’s better to understand. They break it down in their own words and not in text book format.
17. February 2008 at 23:57
I too like surveys I think it is great that the school uses them for classes to get information back on how the class is and the teacher this is a good thing.
HeatherMcCu
5. March 2008 at 12:39
Ugh! This is the part of every class that I hate…theories and research. There are so many and so many ways to get data. To me its absoulely mind boggeling! One way I can relate to gathering data is Secret or Mystery shops. I have these all the time on the job. People come in and act like regular customers. The look to see if we are using the steps of COSP. Each and every step has to be there or we are docked points. We also have to make sure we word the greeting exactly how they taught us during the training (which to me feels a little robotic and mundane). After they leave they submit a survey with all the critera and score us on each topic. They then give a step by step encounter in the comments section at the end of the evaluation. The thing I have found with this sort of data is that it can be skewed. People can’t remember and either out right lie or say nothing at all which can impact the overall score. I have also learned how to spot one of these people. They will not let you check their credit, they ask you a lot of strange questions, and they always ask for my business card at the end of the encounter…they have to know your name. So I myself can ensure that I follow each step in a robotic fashion to ensure I don’t lose any points. So as you can see, gathering the data for research can be useful, but its not always acurate.
19. March 2008 at 13:18
I love surveys and interviews. I work at a bank and recently we added a new survey column to our reciepts so customers can call in and answer a couple questions and then there put in for a drawing which is an incentive to them. Were always hoping every quarter they are good responses considering our pay is based on how well we do too. Conducting these new surveys are very beneficial to us so we can make appropriate changes and give the best customer service per customer!
19. March 2008 at 18:20
I detest surveys and interviews. I don’t use those cards that so many stores offer to get those “valuable” points.
I detest mystery shoppers unless they are there to check out management too. I have never been one, nor have I worked where one of them come into. However, I went into a convenience store, it was packed, the line was long and it was a busy hour for business. When I finally paid for my 7up, I told the kid behind the counter I’d forgot my “rewards card”. He yelled to the lady after me, “Do you have a rewards card?” The shift manager was busy on her cellphone talking with her boyfriend the whole time. What a joke it can turn out to be.
24. March 2008 at 11:53
I think that when I am interviewed I do like most give them what they want to hear and that isn’t always the best. I know that we have surveys in the end of our quarters from school and I enjoy that very much I like to know that it helps provide better techniques for future students.
HtherMcCu