Effective training in 3D learning worlds – doing more with less.

If you are thinking of how you and your team will survive current downturn, you are not alone.  Over the last couple of months this became a theme of many conversations I heard and for a good reason.  Training is not going to be immune to this round of belt tightening.  Regardless of the level of your optimism, budget slashing seem to be the inevitable next item on the agenda, or perhaps it already affected you and your organization.  This is exactly the reason why AHG created a new training tool that allows you to cut budget without jeopardizing your work and future growth.  Trying to preserve budgets in current environment is a loosing battle. The better strategy is to concentrate on a solution that saves significant resources while improving training results – KPI’s, time to ready and durability.  Immersive Communication Training System (ICTS) can create uniquely-effective training solutions in 3D learning worlds, such as Second Life.  But this is only half of the story.  The second half is that you do need to hire or involve inside or outside programmers and training designers do not need to have technical background.  You create training simulations using intuitive Graphic User Interface.  If you are capable of using computer mouse to move color rectangles on a screen, clicking them to interconnect rectangles with arrows, then you can create a training simulation as simple as short sales call, or as complex as equipment handling lesson.

Prior to the age of personal computers, professionals would hand-write their notes and then have them typed by typists.  Similar situation still exists in training where instructional professionals design training and have programmers implement it using computer technologies.  It certainly looks like a silver lining of this downturn might be in the 3D learning environments (i.e. Second Life), and technologies, such as ICTS, to get rid of intermediaries.  Doing this might just be the key to preserve and position your team for better future in the times of slashed budgets.

You will find more information on http://www.ahg.com (click on the Immersive Communication Training System button, or click on the direct URL:

http://second-life-training.ahg.com/training_simulations/second_life_immersive_communication_training.htm

)

Virtual Worlds Training for Corporate Executives

Corporations researching virtual worlds as a training platform quickly realize that they lack expertise to fully capitalize on the benefits and avoid costly mistakes.  If they don’t, quite often they become a good candidate for me to talk about during the next seminar “Avoiding Costly Mistakes When Starting Corporate Virtual World Training Program”.   Steve Prentice, VP of Gartner recently noted that early attempts [working with virtual worlds] suffered from a lack of clear objectives and a limited understanding of the demographics, attitudes and expectations of virtual-world communities.  As a clearer understanding of the dynamics of this new media channel develops, Gartner expects this situation to change.  Despite understandable concerns about investment during a time of growing business uncertainty […] the internal deployment of virtual worlds offers most enterprises significant benefits in cost savings and improved productivity. 

To help corporations realize this potential to its fullest, AHG started a series of new courses taught by a team of experts who have real life experience creating, consulting, and supervising successful Second Life / Virtual World programs. We share our expertise in a series of hands-on courses that encompass corporate training, HR, marketing and other activities as related to corporate use of virtual worlds.  AHG offers two separate tracks: Executive and Instructional Designer / Developer. Instructional Designer track provides hands-on training focused on day-to-day development and maintenance of Virtual World projects. After the courses are completed, students are able to design and build Second Life environments, create simple scripts, implement and modify scripts developed by others. They also develop an understanding of human factor issues that affect productivity and quality learning in virtual world environments, techniques to "flatten" learning curve, importance of standards, methodologies, and life cycles in the management of Second Life projects and resources. 

Executive Track courses provide in-depth understanding of virtual worlds from an executive perspective as a tool for the creation of a sustainable competitive advantage. These courses offer up-to-date information on theory behind successful Second Life implementations, practical approaches, promising new developments, successes, and problem areas in other companies’ implementation of virtual worlds in corporate environment.  As an added benefit, AHG shares audio recordings from our Second Life round table where executives of companies such as Accenture, Michelin, Philips and others describe their experience with Second Life projects.

You will find more information on http://www.ahg.com/courses/second_life_courses.htm

Second Life Corporate Training Roundtable Audio Record

Late June, Linden Lab celebrated the fifth anniversary of
Second Life.  The whole week, starting  June 30 was devoted
exclusively to business uses of Second Life.  AHG, Inc. was
asked to run a round-table discussion "Starting Corporate
Training Program in Second Life: Best Practices, Security
Concerns and Future Developments".

An hour and fifteen minutes - long roundtable discussion
was full of insightful information from people who have
implemented Second Life projects on an enterprise level
and now have unique prospective on both advantages and
deficiencies of Second Life and virtual worlds in general.

Panelists included Chief IT Architect of Michelin and
Business Director of Linden Lab,  Senior Analysts from
ThinkBalm and O'Reilly, Accenture Internet Channel Lead
and Business Director of Royal Philips Electronics, computer
and behavioral scientists.  We discussed security issues,
corporate use and growth patterns,  world-wide recruiting
project,  ways Second Life helps in enterprise mission,
and other issues of importance.

The audio record of the event  is now available for
download. If you are interested, you can request audio at
the following page:

http://www.ahg.com/Second_Life/roundtable_reg.htm

During a Recession Is Not the Time to Cut the Training Budget

By Abe WalkingBear

While some guys lose their heads when faced with a tough business environment others stay cool, survive and prosper.

Ok,Ok, the sky is falling so stop running around and instead use that energy and money to survive and to improve on how things are done and on how to prosper from the coming upturn...yes in time the sky will right itself.

Have you ever seen any business consultant's card that didn't claim that   they could lead you to the pot of gold buried under the employees' parking lot?   But here's where it gets funny...they can.

In a book he wrote in the early 60s...1960s not 1860s...Bucky Fuller  writes that humans adapt quickly to change and soon space out the past. Bucky didn't write this but I think that humans have limited RAM, and that many business managers are overloading the RAM they have ...so they stop thinking about things and fall into habits and patterns...no thinking required.  The name of the book? Spaceship Earth.

And to further muddy the water, humans don't operate at their highest  potential when stressed .

I'm tempted to start pointing out specific things a business should do during a hard economic time, but I've done that in other articles.  This article is about new training and new thinking.  The following is from an article I wrote during the last economic downturn.
 
A sales vice president of an international company had referred me to his region's CFO. He encouraged me to contact this woman and explain the scope of my consulting and training services.

After leaving three messages over a two week period, I got a call from the regional A/R Manager, the CFO's subordinate.  I started to explain what I do when the man cut me off.    "We just had the very prestigious firm from the U.K.,  Robem, Blind & Howe, do an evaluation of our business functions and with the exception of a few minor items, they validated our processes" .

On hearing the word "validation" the picture that comes to my mind is finding the right guy to stamp your parking ticket.  Or maybe, if you're lucky enough to still have her, calling your Mom for some kind words and reassurance.  But to pay a consultant to come in and pat you on the back, or wherever, and tell you you're doing good...never.

Get With the Project--or Program, You Mean

By J. LeRoy Ward

Project manager versus program manager. The disciplines sound similar, but there are distinct differences between the two.

Project managers focus on one specific project, while program managers are responsible for a strategic initiative designed to meet a significant organizational objective. In theory, program managers identify and execute multiple projects, and anticipate how they influence one another to achieve the overall business objective.

Successful program managers create consistency for their organizations and implement corporate strategies that lead to positive business results. Individuals taking on this role are able to simultaneously increase the chances of organizational success by implementing large-scale programs while managing key stakeholder relationships. These tasks are not done by chance, but rather are executed by professionals who are well trained and educated in the field of program management.

Businesses with well-structured program management practices usually achieve higher results compared to those lacking a strategic business approach. Program managers ensure their activities are aligned with business objectives, the program's component projects are integrated towards a common goal, and their organization's values are consistently supported throughout every task.

J. LeRoy Ward, executive vice president of ESI International, is responsible for the company's worldwide training programs and international partnerships. He has delivered project management programs to clients in North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, and is a member of the International Project Management Association and the Project Management Institute, where he is a certified Project Management Professional.

Running a V/SL Meeting

As trainers, we know that most of our students need some kind of visual stimulation in order to grasp the concepts we are teaching.  More than verbal instruction, or even words on a PP slide or a whiteboard, Visual Spatial Learners need pictures, diagrams, and flowcharts in order to translate the information into a mental picture.

What happens, though, when we take our presentation skills outside of the classroom?

Take a look at others in your department, or even your boss.  Is her desk buried under mounds of paper?  Is your friend in IT always just in time, or slightly late for appointments?  How about the impeccably dressed HR generalist with the terrible handwriting who always says things like "I see where you're going with this," and "I get the picture."  You probably have more colleauges than you realize that for some concepts and ideas, need to see a picture in order to understand.

The good news is, that if you know how to teach V/SLs effectively, it becomes a simple process to go from teaching visually, to communicating visually with others around you.

I refer of course, to running a truly Visual Spatial meeting.

Meetings are the bane of my existence, because as an overwhelmingly Visual Spatial person, I want to talk about the view from 30,000 feet, and synthesize all of their nit-picking into (what is for me) the obvious win win solution.  Everybody else seems to get bogged down in the minutia, which as a V/SL, aren't even on my radar.  I realize this approach has it's drawbacks (the devil truly is in the details), but I know I do offer a way of looking at things that not alot of people share.  Getting my point across has always been the hard part.

That's where drawing pictures comes in.  I never go to a meeting with anyone without a notebook large enough, that if I drew a diagram on it, the whole room could see it.  I often bring my own whiteboard markers to meetings, knowing that if I need to express something visually, a 10 minute scavenger hunt around the office for a dry erase marker can kill whatever sponteneity the moment may have had.

I used to struggle all the time with trying to get my point across verbally to people who were clearly only hearing every third word.  Now I just say "This concept is best illustrated with a picture," and I draw, doodle, flowchart or mindmap whatever I'm trying to get across.

Result?  Now instead of getting tuned out by 30-40% of my audience, I am communicating more effectively to a larger group of people.  And the ideas that used to seem like they were coming out of left field, seem to make alot more sense when I use 'show and tell', rather than just 'tell'.

Are you comfortable delivering your message to your students in a Visual Spatial way?  Now try it the next time you are arguing with IT for more bandwidth, or trying to convince MarCom to give you more ink in the Annual Report.  You might be surprised by the result.

Jason Allen has been researching learning and personality styles, and how they impact instructional design for over a decade.  He is the Trainer for Myron's Hamilton, Canada sales office.

What's Ahead For 2007

A great source for learning about topics and trends relating to training, is to read journals outside of the training circles in addition to training-focused magazines. A couple of my favorites are The Economist and Business Week. As I read through the recent issue of The Economist, "The World in 2007" I included below some of the perspectives on what is ahead for 2007 that will impact training: ...Meanwhile, the rest of the world - people who may be hearing the words "blog", "wiki", and "podcast" for the first time - will begin to use these new media as they become simple and ubiquitous, just as email became truly simple...people will gradually lose interest in mass media and defect to "personal" media and will also begin to participate as creators.   The Economist, The World in 2007. The Battle For The Best This coming year will see a dramatic escalation of the war for talent... A growing number of companies have been complaining that they are finding it harder to recruit people...The retirement of the baby-boom generation means that companies are about to lose lots of experienced workers...Companies will also have to grapple with the collapse of loyalty...This means that companies will have to invest yet more in various kinds of training...Expect companies to emphasize internal markets and rapid promotion for superstars.   The Economist Don't Bet Against The Internet The lesson is compelling; put simple, intuitive technology in the hands of users and they will create content and share it. The fastest growing parts of the internet all involve direct human interaction.  The Economist As we evolve to learn more about the use of technology in training, those who observe what is happening across the Internet, can learn a great deal in creating learning opportunities and structures within their organizations. And what was amazing to me, was that the best advice for me came from The Economist magazine. Michael McGinnis works in the Learning Services organization of Bose Corporation. His own blog is located at www.trainingonashoestring.com.

A Training Success Story

Based on the success we had with our initial launch of a LMS 3 years ago, and migrating all of training to a blended format, the pull factor has demanded that we make this functionality available across our company. The initial launch was in one of our manufacturing sites. 24/7 operations and the significant growth of automation required that we find new ways to deliver training materials. Within a couple of years we were able to capture virtually every aspect of the manufacturing process in a very visual and step-by-step oriented on-line module. In addition we were now able to manage a wide array of annual certifications in the LMS, ensuring that employees took the required refresher training and documenting progress via reports. Training requirements were posted electronically via our Intranet listing required cross training, certifications, classes and on-line modules, each employee had to take.

With the data we now had available we were able to create a training dashboard which measured; training activity, training actual vs. plan, and level 1-3 metrics. We worked in cooperation with Human Resources to ensure that employees were held accountable for their required training. Every employee was listed on a training matrix which listed their training requirements and status. Employees who did not complete 100% of their requirements were severely penalized on their performance review. We were now holding employees accountable for their required training.

We were receiving kudos from customers, external auditors, employees and management. However, once we placed in the Training Top 100, was when the rest of the company realized what we had accomplished. We are now educating other training departments on the concept of blended learning and setting them up on the LMS. We upgraded the license of our LMS to a "multi-portal" system so that we had the option of setting up training departments with their own instance of a LMS or were integrated in with existing portals. In all the cost of the LMS system (Xtention LMS) is under $50K, which was significantly under the cost of other systems.

As I reflect back on our journey over the past few years and the results it has achieved, it reminds me of the the importance of starting small, proving a concept and then letting the rest of the company pull you further into this direction. Pushing training does not work in my experience. In every case, we set out to resolve a challenge or issue, becoming performance consultants vs. instructors. With the availability of inexpensive technology to enhance our capability of developing and delivering training materials, we were able to cover so much more ground than we had ever accomplished in the past. Our productivity increased exponentially.

There are so many tidbits that can be picked up by reviewing this and other blogs. Your peers have discovered a lot of ideas that can help your training department become more effective. So much of what I have been able to accomplish was in large part a result of becoming the learner myself.

Michael McGinnis works in the Learning Services Organization of Bose. His own blog is located at www.trainingonashoestring.com.

Earning A Seat At The Table

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone from the training sector complain that senior management doesn't get it or doesn't support training, I would be a rich man. I must admit that for a long time, this was my major complaint as well. This however changed when I was asked, "Who owns this problem?" This challenging question should stop anyone complaining and help them to humbly realize that training owns this problem. It is only when training can take ownership for this that they can begin to earn a seat at the table along with senior management, helping them to understand how training can truly be a resource to help them achieve their strategic initiatives, and that human development needs to be a strategic initiative.

Once training takes ownership of this issue, the next step is to learn the language of the business. At a recent training session I heard one of the training managers struggle and finally admit that they had no understanding of the products their company makes. How can one establish any level of respect  with management unless they are able to understand their business model and the products they make? It is strongly recommended that you walk a mile in their shoes, working in line and staff operations, and truly learn the business. Another great way of learning about the industry you are in is using the Internet, with sites such as msn.com to learn about the trends in the industry, analyst projections and even your own company results if it is publicly traded. Consider the following challenge as a way to measure your progress in this area. How well can you hold your own if you were to meet up with any one of your company vice presidents in a conversation about their department, the challenges they are currently facing and the overall state of the company?

One of the biggest training needs that exists, is educating senior management on the value of training. Without being successful with this, all of your other training may only have minimal impact and overall training can be perceived as non-value added. However, training management must first understand what it means to be a strategic resource or partner. Every business has limited resources and some form of business plan or strategy to identify what it needs to do to prosper in a globally competitive environment. You need to know this plan and be able to translate it into the required competencies. Training and Human Resources should collectively take ownership of ensuring that the human element of the business has the needed skills and knowledge to achieve the plan and make the company successful. HR recruits the right individuals, you train them and give them the "stamp of approval" that they are competent, and then HR creates the appropriate talent management system to ensure that employees are performing to expectation. This method also implies that HR and Training work hand-in-hand.

One of my key lessons learned in leading training functions successfully over the past 15 years is that the way you can measure your success is when you have established high levels of respect and credibility across the organization. In today's world, these translate to job security and career growth. The journey to the table is a challenging and difficult journey, but worth it once you are there. You then can help shape the future of the company and ensure that training flourishes and is successful. Or, you can discover that despite all of your efforts, the leadership of the company is not interested, which suggests that it is time to pack your bags and move along. However, my experience has been that skeptics make the best believers, and our job is to make them believers.

How do you manage training?

We all (hopefully) love what we do: training, as in "working with people." And many of us hate the routine that we have to do: organizing and managing classes, registering students, preparation and ordering training materials, dealing with last minute changes, providing technical support to remote students and ten thousands other items that can make a class an utterly failure if not addressed accurately and efficiently.

Learning management systems claim to solve all of these problems, but they are expensive and come with a steep learning curve. Small and medium-size companies stay away from LMSes. Hiring somebody to write smaller and customized to your specific needs software might be a good solution, but it is not cheap and time/effort consuming as well.