If constant change is the new normal, what then is the strategy that you can adopt to cope within a world of rapid change? The answer is Change Management. Change Management is a structured approach to change that not only updates systems but prepares and retrains employees with the goal of reaching a higher level of efficiency and success. Adapting to remain relevant and competitive in a dynamic global market is inevitable. In today’s fast-paced world, effective Change Management increases the success of organizational change and project initiatives by applying a structured framework of methods, tools and processes, managing the change from a current state to a future state. Regardless of the scale of change, applying a framework increases the probability of staying on schedule and budget, resulting in higher benefit realization and ROI. For this blog, I will focus on the use of social media as a strategy to facilitate and manage change for business transformation—to stay competitive and survive in increasingly harder business climates. Use of Social Media The points listed below facilitate better and faster Change Management strategies through social media: Involve and Engage Employees Social media facilitates free flow of information in multiple directions. Short nuggets of information are easily shared via microblogging to engage employees in the change program. This is a convenient and active way of soliciting feedback on change related issues. Build a Collaborative Culture The use of social media gives a big boost to creating a more collaborative environment for change initiative. Social networking and collaboration are extremely effective ways that are rapidly bringing employees to comply with the changes as well as to share their experiences. Generate Ideas An open format to receive suggestions and feedback through social technologies provides a popular mechanism that has visibility throughout the organization. Establish an Effective Two-way Communication Social media helps to effectively communicate the company’s change initiative. The effort to identify and address ‘pain points’, is accelerated through a cooperative communication process. Create Engaging Learning Experiences To foster an effective platform for relaying personal learning experiences related to the change effort, social media is a great avenue. Employees can use a variety of effective platforms, some of which include personal training videos on YouTube and hosting live web meetings to engage in change related discussions. Share Through a Knowledge Network Social mediums such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Yammer may be used as Knowledge Networks to share information related to change within the organization, as opposed to receiving information through more formal and traditional training methods. Assess Progress Regularly and Effectively Social media tools provide for an active means to measure progress. The tools help to conveniently gather immediate feedback on the level of understanding and acceptance of the change initiative within the organization. Social media should not be your only avenue for promoting change management, but it can be one of the most effective. The key is to give employees a voice in change management and to show the company’s active participation in overcoming any challenges faced in the new change. It is time to face it, change is inevitable and although it will probably result in a net gain over time, it will create problems for you and your colleagues in the short term. But, by embracing the change, you can be in a better position to mitigate any of the harmful side effects, which only magnify the positive results. About the author: Brenda Fernandes is a content quality analyst with InfoPro Learning, Inc. With over 15 years of experience, Brenda is an avid learning strategist with content development, instructional design and business analysis as her core areas of expertise. Brenda is a keen practitioner of harnessing the power of learning content to impactemployee performance. The post Change Management Strategy: Use Social Media appeared first on .

Gaming technology is improving at breakneck speed and alongside, amping up the fun factor too. But, is L&D using this advance in technology to make L&D engaging and enjoyable for learners? Gamification is the process of applying gaming designs and concepts to learning or training scenarios in order to make them more engaging and entertaining for the learner. Gamification is generally considered the type of game experience where the learner competes with other learners, as opposed to competing with the embedded technology (such as in simulations.) When is Gamification Effective? Karl M. Kapp is an author and thought leader on Gamification. According to Kapp, Gamification is effective when it is used to encourage learners to progress through content, motivate action, influence behavior, and drive innovation. Kapp suggests the following ideas on when to use Gamification effectively: To encourage learners through challenges and goals. When motivating learners to move through instruction and to accomplish goals. By properly influencing behavior when placing game elements into a curriculum. In driving innovation by developing experiences that promote innovative thinking. For building necessary skills via earning points, badges, and completing a story. A way to foster knowledge acquisition through repetition. When is Gamification Ineffective? Yes, games are engaging, challenging, support learning in the workplace, and are a source of fun for all ages. They have much to offer in terms of motivation, engagement and the development of capability. But, watch-out to ensure that the positive effects of gamification are not overruled. Use the following points to help you do a reality check, to ensure that games do not hamper the learning process. Is your game authentic?Life is not a game. Points, badges and leaderboards may be critical elements of game mechanics, but they have little or no impact on real life. For example, Firefighters don’t save people from burning buildings for 200 digital hats. Choose authentic games. Does your game reinforce the wrong mindset?Work-based games can have an undesirable influence on your employees. Competing against each other may introduce streaks of unhealthy competition. Maybe, forcing a game demotivates?Forcing learners to play a game may demotivate them instead of motivating them to learn. This may lead to an undesirable performance on the job. Play a game to only "win"?The purpose of the game will be to drive learning. But for some learners, the focus will be on "winning" rather than on learning. That does not drive home anything. Game-based learning has much to offer in L&D, as long as it promotes an engaging learning experience and is not a waste of time. In the long run, L&D teams need to be able to measure a tangible return on investment that will justify the need to gamify. Takeaway: Can gamification impact the business and provide ways to effectively align it with business goals to further drive sales productivity? It sure can! About the author: Brenda Fernandes is a content quality analyst with InfoPro Learning, Inc. With over 15 years of experience, Brenda is an avid learning strategist with content development, instructional design and business analysis as her core areas of expertise. Brenda is a keen practitioner of harnessing the power of learning content to impact employee performance. The post Gamification: Effective or Ineffective? appeared first on .

Formal Training Status Quo Many instructional design professionals that I have consulted with here at InfoPro Learning are still shackled to the idea that formal training should last hours at a time, and should be instructor-led. Oftentimes it is not the instructional designers themselves who have a preference towards formal training technique - it is their executive sponsors, the C-suite at their companies, who think of training as an afterthought and expect corporate training to resemble their experiences in higher education. However, as corporate learning and talent management continues to mature as a business discipline, our assumptions about how best to deliver training to employees are being challenged. Enter: Microlearning Microlearning is an exciting methodology that learning professionals should consider adding to their training portfolios. Microlearning content comprises short instructional videos that focus on specific topics, and ideally, these videos can be accessed by learners just-in-time so they can be leveraged as performance support tools rather than formal training tools. Microlearning is not meant to replace formal training content, but it can supplement formal training, and it can serve to bolster employee performance on-the-job, at the moment of need. Instructional designers should treat microlearning with a "less is more" mentality, and resist making the content too long or putting in too much information. Keep it Short The "-micro" in microlearning refers to shortened duration of microlearning content as opposed to traditionally-conceived self-paced e-learning. As a general rule of thumb, microlearning content is less than five minutes long in total duration. The primary benefit of keeping the content so short is that learners can access the content on-the-job quickly, learn what they need to learn, and move on - which is very powerful for performance support delivery. Another, more overlooked benefit is learning engagement - learners are much more likely to use training content that is short compared to hour-long, 30-minute, or even 15-minute long courses. Microlearning Libraries and Modularization Since individual microlearning libraries are short, it is a best practice to scope out a complete microlearning library of content with individual modules that are mapped out to key curricular subjects. For example, let’s say that you are creating a microlearning curriculum for your company’s line of products targeted toward your salespeople and product resellers. Rather than having one microlearning module for each of your company’s five products, you should plan to create several specific modules that explain the features and benefits of each individual product. If microlearning content is modularized in an appropriate fashion, learners can access the exact knowledge they need to perform on the job in their moments of need. For example, rather than having a learner open up a 30-minute long course on how to use Microsoft Excel 2013, it would be better to have a learner open up a short course that teaches him how to create macros in Excel, if that is what he is trying to learn. With proper modularization, learners can expect to access training content in the context of what they are trying to achieve on the job. Microlearning Roadmap InfoPro Learning has been employing the microlearning instructional design strategy for many years now with our clients, and in 2014 this trend has become even more prevalent, with a whopping 35% of all of our client projects involving the creation of microlearning content. If you are interested in applying microlearning technique to your company’s training portfolio, our learning strategists are ready and waiting to help! ********************** Although my attention span is short, my list of clients certainly isn’t! Through InfoPro Learning, I consult with companies to foster "learning for performance," to empower the workforce through our corporate training professional services. Feel free to contact us if you want your employees to outperform too! About the author: Kyle is a highly dynamic strategic account management professional with a well-tuned view on solving customer challenges with custom IT solutions. Kyle possesses top-notch abilities to close strong deals and deliver outstanding service to customers with complex needs. Follow me on LinkedIn @KyleMiller8 The post Microlearning Instructional Design: Less Is More appeared first on .

Some estimates show the learning industry to be in excess of $150 billion and growing. It clearly shows that there is a huge demand for learning content and solutions across the board. The question, however, is whether we are able to derive the desired value from the investment. There is mounting realization that it must provide ROI and that the investment should lead to improvements in business performance. The organizations seeking learning solution and those providing it seem and claim to be focused on the crystal ball. Arguably, there has never been a perfect standard measurement system that could be used across the board to demonstrate that it always worked as desired. Given the subjectivity and difficulty of measurement involved, it will perhaps never be. However, the value will increase and business performance will improve manifolds as a result of learning/training intervention. It will be beneficial to take a holistic view of the situation and drive the initiative and intervention as a continuous change management process rather than by saying, "Because your people need to be trained quickly and cost effectively, you should invest in eLearning, use an LMS, implement mobile learning, and have a collaboration tool in place—one or a combination of these." Understand the beast Ideally, in every organization, people need to perform certain tasks/roles at various levels to achieve targets and business outcomes. People who perform those tasks and roles have the required skills. There is a review mechanism to ascertain how people performed in terms of outcomes. Performance review against targets, for a person as well as external factors, suggests improvement areas to address any performance gaps. Typically, a lot of training/learning comes into play at this stage. Organizations either build or buy solutions to address performance gaps. The above ‘routine’ happens with varying degrees of success depending on how well we execute each step and more. However, due to shifting business priorities and other dynamics, tasks to be performed change and the roles also go through transformation. As a result, some of the roles become redundant, some need redefinition, while some skills don’t remain relevant and some others need to be acquired to solve the changing business challenges. Since reviews happen on the target vs. achievement of the work done in the past, it often doesn’t always lead to the kind of clear-cut improvement in areas that must be addressed to meet the changing needs. In the process, some of the internal and external interventions often become dated. This is happening now at a much quicker pace than ever before, and organizations with shifting priorities need better alignment of resources. Know that it keeps evolving to pose new challenges The business situation changes often without people realizing it up front. Interestingly, the problem areas to be addressed also don’t stay the same as they are driven by the changing context, most often through control of the organization and hence, most often not on the radar. So the problems identified and solutions implemented at a point in time, don’t stay perpetually meaningful. The new problems could well present themselves in a completely different garb the next time around. Hence, even if an ideal situation exists, (which is never the case), with respect to what improvement areas are required for people assessed at variously stipulated times, it is not always necessary that the interventions are in line with the changing context and effective too. Picture this A glaring example of this changing context creating gaping holes without anybody continually realizing it is the skills situation in the US, in the changing business, technology, and globalization scenario.  Source: OECD (2013), Time for the U.S. to Reskill?: What the Survey of Adult Skills Says, OECD Skills Studies, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264204904-en Source: OECD (2013), Time for the U.S. to Reskill?: What the Survey of Adult Skills Says, OECD Skills Studies, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264204904-en Per the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) survey of 2013, the US was ranked at the 7th position in literacy and 11th in numeracy skills among the top 13 countries. The US ranks below Korea and is only just ahead of Poland, Spain, and Italy. One in six US adults has low literacy skills. Approximately one in three has poor numeracy skills against an average of one in five across countries. (See Figures 2.1 & 2.2) If this can happen in one of the most developed economies of the world, we can well imagine the situation in other places (both companies and institutions). Make it a part of your change management process Thus, standalone and fringe solutions of eLearning, ILT, mobile learning, and collaboration platforms etc., or a combination of these is perhaps not the complete answer. Learning and skill enhancement should rather be seen as part of a larger continuous change management process instead of dollops of learning content and learning technology solutions. This holistic approach to constantly analyze the ever-evolving business scenario and putting in place continuous improvement mechanisms as part of the larger change management process can only bring about qualitative and quantitative improvements in performance and create a much desired ROI. So, now is the time to MODERNIZE and keep at it! About the author: S M Nafay Kumail is Director—Learning Strategies at InfoPro Learning Inc. Nafay is co-author of ‘e-Learning an Expression of the Knowledge Economy’ (McGraw-Hill 2002) and a regular commentator on learning, knowledge management, and new media trends. The post Learning and Training: Managed Through Transformation and Change appeared first on .

Disengagement—we’ve all experienced it. After a few years (or even months) on the job, monotony and habituation inevitably set in. Suddenly what was once inspiring becomes numbingly dull. Enthusiasm is all too readily replaced with complacency, and in the business world, the result is decreased productivity and a vulnerable bottom line. So what can we do about it? In recent years, more and more organizations have turned to gamification to combat day-to-day doldrums and put an end to disengagement. You’ve heard the success stories, but wouldn’t it be nice to become one of them? The Dos and Don’ts of Gamification DO Take advantage of intrinsic motivators. One key to successful gamification, according to Gabe Zichermann, author of The Gamification Revolution and founder of Dopamine, is to remember that it’s not all about winning. In fact, Zichermann asserts that most people aren’t strictly or particularly "winning-oriented," but rather, "rewarded through a feeling that they control their own destiny." The task then is to create an environment that satisfies this craving by way of clearly illustrated progress, invigorating competition, the creation of challenges, and a tangible sense of accomplishment. DON’T Rely on novelty and hype. According to Brian Burke, research vice president at Gartner, one of the deadliest mistakes a business can make is to place too much emphasis on "obvious game mechanics, such as points, badges, and leader boards" and not enough on "more subtle and more important game design elements, such balancing competition and collaboration, or defining a meaningful game economy." DO Know your audience. What works for one learner, won’t always work for another—and the same goes for employees. Rich Hein, Senior Managing Editor for CIO.com points to Target and Omnicare as two examples of businesses that have successfully incorporated gamification, but in two very different ways. Target stores, Hein explains, "have implemented a little game cashiers play when checking people out." The object is to scan customer items in the optimum amount of time. Depending on his/her success or failure, the cashier is shown a red or green light and an updated overall score. With the introduction of the game, Target was able to increase employee engagement, and therefore productivity. Hein goes on to explain however, that when Omnicare introduced a similar model, their productivity actually plummeted. At Omnicare, the culture and the employees themselves are vastly different than at Target, and thus require different strategies for success. Whereas a scoring system satisfied Target’s need, creating challenges and recognition-oriented rewards proved more successful for Omnicare. DON’T Assume that games are juvenile. On the contrary, the right game with the right design can be utterly transformative. According to a recent study, the average adult learner recalls roughly 20% of what they hear and only about 10% of what they read. But when learners are given the opportunity to "do the job themselves" that number skyrockets to 90%, "even if only as a simulation." DO Zero in on key business objectives. In the same way that you must consider your audience’s motivations, your own bottom line should be given equal attention. What is your business going to accomplish through gamification? According to Brian Burke, the answer will most certainly be: Changes in behavior The development of skills Increased innovation All of the above Without a clear set of objectives in mind, businesses run the risk of "simply slapping meaningless badges on activities and creating applications that are simply not engaging for the target audience," and thereby miss the mark completely from an investment standpoint. Above all, experts agree that the biggest misstep in any gamification initiative is poor design—and alongside every success story, there is a tale of equally impressive failure. If you are considering gamification to combat disengagement in your business, remember the dos and don’ts to ensure your place among the successful. About the author: Nolan spends the majority of his time performing marketing research in the L&D industry to help understand the most common and pressing challenges of the industry.  He uses this information to help formulate cutting-edge learning solutions that are designed to maximize business performance and return on investment. The post Use Gamification to Combat Disengagement at Work appeared first on .

These days, asking someone to leave their mobile device at the door is like suggesting that a fish go a day without water. Whether it’s our phones, tablets, laptops or watches, most of us feel as dependent on our devices as we do air. It doesn’t matter if we are out to dinner, on top of a mountain or in a meeting—we can’t help but wonder what we’re missing on the screens tucked away in our pockets and briefcases. It makes sense then that progressive employers the world over are embracing—and even capitalizing on—today’s device-dependent culture by implementing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) initiatives in the workplace. Because with the promise of increased productivity, lowered costs, and happier employees, why not? Well, there are a few reasons… First of all, BYOD policies are likely to represent a massive headache for your IT department. With compatibility issues to tackle on top of looming security risks, BYOD may not be all it’s cracked up to be. Particularly in an eLearning environment with mobile learning, these factors threaten business communication and have the potential to disrupt training operations in a big way. So before your business takes the BYOD plunge, consider these pros and cons. PRO People like using their own devices—even for work-related tasks and learning. The only thing employees love more than being able to use mobile devices at work is being able to use their own devices. There is something about using your own phone, tablet, or laptop that is simply more comfortable and, studies have shown, more efficient. BYOD policies often mean more time for work to be completed and less time spent fiddling with unfamiliar, company-issued devices. CON With any number of different devices being used in the workplace, compatibility becomes an issue. BYOD companies have to be prepared to support a huge range of devices and platforms. Depending on the size of your business, it’s possible that no two employees will be using the same type, model or version of a device at any given time. Your systems will need to run smoothly on a variety of platforms, taking into consideration everything from variations in screen size to an individual employee’s browser of choice. As if keeping up with today’s devices wasn’t a challenge enough, there’s also the future to consider. Because even the most popular device can end up having the shelf-life of a mayfly, you’ll need to be prepared to tweak it all over again in a year or two. PRO Employees pay for their own devices. This one is simple. BYOD means transferring the cost of purchasing, maintaining and replacing devices from the employer to the employee. And that means more money—a lot more—in your pocket. Need I say more? CON BYOD policies invite major security risks. In a recent interview for CLOmedia, Rebecca M. Abrahams, chief communications officer for Ziklag Systems LLC, a mobile security technology company, pointed out that for any business, protecting sensitive information is a crucial priority. "This means you worry about people getting a hold of your company emails, reading your text messages or listening in on conversations, especially if important board meetings or strategy sessions can be compromised." With BYOD, this becomes an even greater concern, because of the inevitable mix of work and play. When your employee goes home for the day—or leaves the company for good—your information, unfortunately, goes with them. Like our love for all things backlit and palm-sized, the BYOD trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. But is it right for your business? About the author: Nolan spends the majority of his time performing marketing research in the L&D industry to help understand the most common and pressing challenges of the industry.  He uses this information to help formulate cutting-edge learning solutions that are designed to maximize business performance and return on investment. The post Is BYOD Right for Your Business? appeared first on .

I have been pondering on the topic-Performance Improvement. My thoughts have taken shape in this blog and I hope reading it will be worthwhile. Read on… The prolonged practice of creating conventional training made me feel like I was part of a bucket brigade, passing buckets for someone else to put out the fire-writing my own decline into obsolescence. But, for me conventional training is now passé. As L&D professionals, we all wish to explore something new, innovative, and challenging. For those reasons, it greatly motivates me to witness this transition from a conventional training mindset to that of a performance improvement mindset. More often than not, organizations seeking to solve a performance issue resort to Training as a solution without analyzing the nature of the problem. In most cases, training alone does not help to overcome the issue. Here’s where Performance Improvement, also referred to as Human Performance Improvement (HPI), comes into play. Performance Improvement is not a solution but a methodology for identifying the appropriate solution and setting up systems to ensure "good", "worthy", and "desired" performance. This change in mindset towards corporate learning has been the single-most exciting phase of my career because it is resulting in measurable performance improvements and training that people actually WANT to take. Quite often the opportunity for Performance Improvement comes in the form of a request for training from the customer. Sometimes, it comes from organizations, inclining towards upskilling the staff. At other times, the need for training may stem within organizations introducing a new role or looking to address a specific performance issue in a specific group/department. Performance Improvement in a nutshell . . . Performance Improvement targets a whole range of problems; Lack of motivation to learn Inadequate feedback Poor business processes Management issues These are not problems that can be tackled by training alone. Training can be a contributing factor only when the problem is caused by lack of knowledge or skill. To effectively address the problem, we must first consider the organization’s business goal and then analyze the existing performance system-expected to be aligned with the goal. Next, we begin by defining the desired outcome by gathering relevant data, analyzing the gap in the existing system, identifying and implementing a refined performance model and measuring its effectiveness. Overwhelming! Isn’t it? Let’s break it down into parts. How do I gather relevant data? As learning partners/consultants, your goal is to identify the major performance issue by means of ‘relevant data’. This data can be captured by interviewing key decision makers, SMEs and/or representative stakeholders. More often than not, you hit the nail on the head at one meeting and sometimes, though not too often, it takes more than three. Next, you summarize, review, and verify your findings with the key decision makers to get a buy-in/consensus on the desired outcome from the client and other stakeholders. This data will also help you identify the actual ‘performance state’ of the employees. How do I define desired performance? Take note of the desired performance statements agreed-upon during your meetings. Convert those statements into measurable outcomes by attaching to it, a quality, quantity, time, or cost indicator. Now, our primary goal is in identifying the current state of the "desired performance", map it against the expected state to identify the gap (gap analysis) and recommend an intervention that would enable the organization in making the best use of its resources and technology to perform at its full potential. Next, you create an evaluation plan to identify the gap between the current and expected state of "desired performance". Our solution typically starts to take shape when analyzing this gap. It is on the basis of this evaluation that you identify actual performance and design interventions to overcome these problems. How do I design interventions? You must ensure that you have identified the performance gaps BEFORE designing the interventions! The most critical information that contributes to designing any intervention is identifying the root cause for the "performance gap" (root cause analysis). There are several tools available for root cause analysis-fishbone diagram, Pareto Chart, Scatter Diagram and many more. The result sometimes could be overwhelming, so, be prepared to uncover numerous root causes. Next, you eliminate the causes that need not be addressed-again, you will need the expertise of your SMEs, stakeholders, and key decision makers. The key here is to map these root causes against the problems/performance factors suggested earlier (lack of motivation, hiring of a wrong person for the job, poor feedback, and so on). Once you have the list of primary causes at your disposal, you are in a better position to decide on the interventions. The interventions should address the root causes closest to the performance factors. Next, you design your interventions for each root cause. For example, if there is a need to address the knowledge and skill of the staff then you suggest a training intervention. But, this is not a one-man job, you need a team of specialists, seasoned professionals of the field and of course the key decision makers and stakeholders on the client side. Depending on the expanse of the interventions, you may need to gather more data from your SMEs, stakeholders, or relevant functions/departments of the organization. You may be expected to create a design for each intervention and get the client’s buy-in on it. After which, you implement these interventions and evaluate its results, to conclude if the "desired performance" is met. Evaluation is not an independent phase or the last phase of the Performance Improvement methodology, it is a repetitive practice. You will be expected to evaluate the effectiveness of each activity/solution/intervention at regular intervals during each lifecycle for Performance Improvement. There are several Performance Improvement tools and models that can be used to enhance performance. Here are some of the "highly recommended" Performance Improvement Models that can help you design your solution/interventions. The ATD HPI Model The ATD HPI (Human Performance Improvement) model is one of the highly recommended models for successful performance interventions. It is a results-based, systematic process used to identify performance problems; analyze root causes; select, design, and manage performance solutions in the workplace; measure results; and continually improve performance within an organization. Here’s a snapshot: Gilbert’s Behavior Engineering Model (BEM) for Performance Analysis In 1978, Thomas Gilbert published Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance which described the Behavior Engineering Model (BEM) for performance analysis. Thomas Gilbert is considered as the father of performance technology. His methodology focuses on the variables in the work environment that must be modified or changed to provide performance support. He suggests, "For any given accomplishment, a deficiency in performance always has as its immediate cause a deficiency in a behavior repertory (P), or in the environment that supports the repertory (E), or in both. But its immediate cause will be found in a deficiency of the management system (M)." Aligned with the theory, he proposes the following approach for creating a solution that would help design sustainable performance: Determining worthy (desired) performance. Determining the Potential for Improving Performance (PIP). Diagnosing possible influences on behavior. According to Gilbert, to design an intervention that can help achieve "worthy" performance, we must identify the influences on behavior. Gilbert states that behavior is the product of the personal characteristics of an individual (repertory) and the environment where behaviors occur. Within each of these aspects of behavior there are conditions that can be examined for deficiencies and ultimately manipulated to improve performance. These six conditions of behavior, numbered according to Gilbert’s suggested sequence for analysis, are outlined in the table below: Data Instruments Incentives Knowledge Capacity Motives Some tips to help you along the way! Here are some additional points that you must consider when setting-up systems/processes to ensure performance improvement. Ensure that everyone is on the same page. When introducing an intervention to overcome or solve a problem, you must ensure that everyone involved is either a witness to the factors causing the problem or is at least aware of its existence. Align the business goals with the objectives of the performance improvement initiative. Recognize the fact that these models only help you collect data/facts. It is your responsibility to review and analyze the data to identify the critical problems/root cause(s). Define specific, measurable and achievable solutions to effectively evaluate the success of the interventions. Expect that the implementation of these interventions may result in a change that you may not have considered in your solution. Therefore, always consider the consequences of each intervention you suggest. About the author:  Harsha is an L&D professional with 9 years of experience in the industry. She is committed to supporting your strategic business objectives by enhancing organizational performance and employee engagement through the design, development, and implementation of effective learning strategies and solutions. Harsha has expertise in designing and executing high performing training initiatives and employee development programs that ensure employee performance, competency development, and employee engagement to achieve strategically aligned business objectives. The post Tips for Managing Performance Improvement appeared first on .

Note from InfoPro Learning: We are not affiliated with Xyleme and did not receive any compensation for this article. Our team uses various L&D technologies and we encourage open and honest reviews to provide better insight to our customers, colleagues, and peers in the industry. "Content is king." We have heard this phrase time and again. Considering the dynamic business environment, content is one of the biggest assets that many companies strive to manage. With continuously evolving technology, we have a fleet of powerful content authoring and publishing tools at our disposal. These powerful tools help us to manage, reuse, and repurpose content in an Agile way. One of the many tools that we use is the Xyleme Learning Content Management System (LCMS) for rapid content development and reuse. Xyleme LCMS (Xyleme) is an efficient single-source LCMS that provides the flexibility to work cohesively with our geographically dispersed team of instructional designers, subject matter experts, and customers. Xyleme not only eases the pace for content development, but also reduces the development time and effort. It is the most effective tool to create sharable, reusable, dynamic, and measurable content. How does the Xyleme LCMS enable Agile content development? With our project management and execution process going Agile, it is important to ensure agility in the way we develop our content. Let us explore how Xyleme helps to marry our project management methodology with our content development process. Quick and Easy: Agile literally means to be able to move quickly and easily. Xyleme is a 100% XML Rich Content Editor, which helps create content faster than ever before. More importantly, the pre-defined templates help to reduce the overall development time. Incremental and Iterative: Agile focuses on incremental development in fixed iterations, also referred to as sprints. The idea is to have multiple cycles of Plan-Do-Check-Act before a release. Xyleme allows us to create content incrementally because it has an open structure. This enables the addition of components to our courses anytime and with ease. Collaborative: Agile encourages daily interaction and collaboration between members involved in the process. Xyleme fosters communication and collaboration between instructional designers, subject matter experts, and reviewers to ensure that the content is current at all times. Our Project Management team also uses Xyleme for planning and tracking the training development projects using workflows and task planners. The Project Management team utilizes Xyleme reports for enhancing project visibility, mitigating risks, ensuring impactful reviews, and so on. These reports are periodically shared with our customers ensure transparency. With Xyleme, we are flexible… we are fluid… we are Agile! How is Xyleme an instructional designer’s best friend? The Instructional Design team at InfoPro Learning uses Xyleme to create content for several customers and listed below are the benefits we reap. Store all the training content and assets. Xyleme helps to store all the training content and assets under one roof for ready retrieval and reuse. Create training content in different formats from one source. Xyleme supports single-source publishing, wherein multiple outputs can be produced from one source (one source many outputs). This essentially means that instructional designers can create content once and publish it to various modalities such as instructor-led training, web-based training, virtual classroom training, mLearning nuggets, eBooks, and many others formats, including responsive design outputs. Reuse content by utilizing the shared document and media library. Xyleme offers a shared document and media library. Instructional designers can reuse content, images, and audio/sound effects from the library by dragging and dropping them into a course. This helps speed-up the overall development process and maintain consistency across modules/courses. Create personalized learning for multiple target groups. A very useful feature of Xyleme is content metadata. Xyleme enables the addition of metadata or design data to content at the most granular level. This information can be used to publish multiple versions of the same course for different user profiles and helps to make the content searchable. Build interactive content with a wide variety of templates. Xyleme includes a wide range of predefined templates that the instructional designers can use to create content easily, without concern regarding formatting or aspects of functionality. The use of standardized templates also helps to maintain a consistent look and feel across modules and courses. We can create custom templates, if required. Track content review in the published output. The Review engine in Xyleme is a game-changer for our instructional design reviewers and subject matter experts because they can review the same piece of content simultaneously. Xyleme sends separate instances of the same piece of content to different reviewers and all they need to do is click the link and add comments. Once content is released for review, it is no longer editable, so no changes can be made to it until the review is complete. Easily reorganize content within a course. Xyleme helps us restructure content within a course by dragging and dropping the required elements to appropriate locations. This helps to keep the structure fluid and make changes quickly and easily. Leverage legacy content to create new content. Xyleme provides an amazing import functionality, which allows importing content from multiple formats like, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, HTML, and make it available for use. It also saves media elements from these formats into the media library. Maintain versions of content and output. Xyleme provides advanced versioning functionality. As instructional designers, all we need to do is check-in and check-out the learning objects to maintain versions. Once a version is saved, it can be opened, viewed, compared with other versions, or rolled back to a previous version. So, if content is king, Xyleme is undoubtedly one of the safest abodes for the king. If you are wondering whether Xyleme is the right solution for your training requirements, please reach out to us. Our team has used virtually every LCMS on the market today and since we refuse compensation from the providers, we can provide a truly unbiased perspective. About the author:  Vaishali is a dynamic and enthusiastic L&D professional with expertise in training design and development. Vaishali is committed to devising solutions and strategies for better learner retention and engagement. She is also keen on employing processes, methods, and tools for enhancing profitability and meeting strategic business objectives. Follow me on Twitter @Vaishalidashora The post Learning Content Development: The Agile Way With Xyleme appeared first on .

Filed under: App Generation, Carroll Reflections, Carroll University, Commencement, Curious David, Personal Learning Environments, Screencasting, Statistics and Experimental Design, teaching statistics Tagged: Carroll Alumni, Carroll University USA, ScreenCasting, Teaching Statistics

I see that Carroll University’s theme this year is "Change." Here are some possible avenues to explore: Petitioning Change Climate Change Social Change Language Change LGBTU Creating Change Change Through Charitable Contributions Champions of Change Playing for Change Quotations Behavior Change  Filed under: Curious David Tagged: Carroll University, Change, Curious David, Education