Be More Efficient

If you are a training department of one, or even part of a small department, efficiency in everyday practice is crucial. Successful practitioners in this situation are highly organized and effective time-managers. They have to be.

The pressure to produce is just as great as in large training departments, yet the resources are spread thinner. In a one-person training department, that individual performs all key functions: instructional designer, liaison to SMEs, instructor, coach, mentor, product developer, administrator and secretary. One person cannot perform all of these functions without acquiring a certain amount of skill in time-management.

Being efficient also involves much deliberation on where to focus attention, figuring out where to devote precious time and effort. Because of limited time resources, it's easy to get bogged down and overwhelmed by the minutia of everything that "must be done."

Prioritization is a skill every one-person training department must acquire, develop and hone. Occasionally, this means staying "no" to requests for time and attention. Not everything is an emergency.

Be More Resourceful

Resources are not simply monetary. You could throw all the money at me you can, but that still wouldn't buy me the most precious of commodity: time. Once a one-person training department realizes, sometimes grudgingly, that they simply cannot DO everything themselves, they will begin to look for solutions outside of themselves.

Look into this concept: outsourcing. Say it again...outsourcing. If you can't do it all, why not get people from the outside that can?

Carolyn Balling, Head of Training at eLoan.com, espoused resourcefulness in her presentation at Training 2005. She stated that every one-person training department should find and ally with key individuals in and out of the organization that have the necessary skills and talents to help you complete a project. "If you are not the expert, find one," she said. Gaining trust and advocacy among these key individuals in the organization is a cornerstone to success. Gather information from employees, management and otherwise, regarding their particular challenges. Offer to help. Design, acquire or outsource educational events that address these specific needs. Deliver the goods and you gain some valuable, influential advocates.

If your budget is small, there are many free and low-cost resources out there to facilitate the delivery of high-quality, effective training. Granted, some research is in order, but if the budget doesn't involve purchasing, say, a $25,000 per year for a learning management system (LMS), there are other alternatives. For example, in the LMS arena, there's Moodle, at http://moodle.org, a free, open-source course management system.

An impetus for this writing is my company's need to deliver training effectively for employees utilizing a blended learning approach. Because of our company's size, there is a very limited budget. Through a bit of research, I found a low-cost, online provider that offered a limited learning content management system that suited the blended approach I had devised. This is discussed in depth in the Case Study section of this article.

Be More Selective

As stated previously, the one-person training department's time and resources are limited, yet the demand to deliver meaningful, quality training is just as real as it is for larger departments.

Being selective involves allocating limited time and limited resources wisely, focusing on key organizational needs while building relationships with key people. Regularly assess what items concern these key people and work to address them.

Be a resource; diagnose problems and prescribe possible solutions. Be on the lookout for process and skill gaps throughout the organization. Quickly offer assistance and expertise to help fill them.

Being selective also involves acquiring acute, discriminating skills, knowing when and where to focus effort to achieve maximum results. One of the best ways to quickly assess the need for training is to ask clarifying questions that seek to get to the root cause of an issue.

Inevitably, every training manager or facilitator will be approached by a colleague who has a "training problem." This person would like to implement a sweeping program to address it...yesterday.

The exchange may look like this between Jane, the customer support manager, and Richard, the training manager:

Jane: Richard, my department needs some customer service training.

Richard: Really? Tell me more.

J: We've been getting steadily more and more complaints from customers, especially in the past few months. I don't know what to do! My people are good, but they are not doing well enough. Can you put some training together for me?

R: Has anything changed recently in the department? New procedures, new policies...

J: About a month ago I was asked to take a look at how long we're spending with each customer who calls. I found that the time averaged nearly five minutes! Much too long for a call center of our size. We should be closing a call much sooner. So, I told my people that I would be tracking how long it took them to close each call. The quicker, the better.

R: Jane, I'm not convinced that training is the answer.

J: Really? What do you mean?

R: It might be possible that the performance measurements that are in place may be contributing to the problem. You mentioned that your people are good, but you are getting more and more complaints lately. It could be that the emphasis on closing a call in the least amount of time is contributing to the quality of service your people are delivering. When did you start monitoring your people's time on calls?

J: About six weeks ago.

R: When did the complaints start to increase?

J: About a month ago.

R:You may want to see if the two correlate. Talk to your people. See what their thoughts are, and let me know. I'll be happy to put together some training if you find that quality of service hasn't been affected by the new measurement.

This dialog demonstrates a classic "Aspirin Problem." Here, the call center manager immediately stated that there is a need for training because she is having a specific problem. She diagnosed the problem and came up with a remedy without really understanding the malady. It's like going to the doctor and saying, "Doc, I've got an aspirin problem."

Unfortunately, the call center manager didn't make a thorough enough assessment of her own policies and procedures. In all likelihood, a deeper assessment would have revealed that her problem would best be addressed by a change in performance metrics.

Asking the right questions to get to the heart of an issue is a crucial skill a one-person training department must utilize in practicing selectivity.