As instructional designers we are constantly being bombarded with new technologies and new trends. It’s difficult to distinguish which are fads, and which are worthy of our investments of time and resources. The safest, and often most expedient course of action is to continue to focus on the delivery technology we know is NOT a fad, the traditional classroom. After all we’ve been using the traditional classroom forever, how can we possibly go wrong teaching in a classroom in front of an audience? As new technologies, like the virtual classroom, eLearning, and social media, are introduced, we continue to play it safe by trying to make these technology experiences replicate the classroom.

Microlearning is a new kind of training for the digital age. This playbook offers strategies for applying this methodology to your own curriculum - a positive step in gaining back lost productivity and finding affordable, effective training for a more digitally capable workforce.

Bringing a new product to market? One of the hidden success factors of a product launch is your sales force, and by extension your customers. Do they have the right skills and knowledge to make your launch successful? This white paper will show you how a curriculum of learning solutions can be used as part of a product launch to solve common business problems.

To make technical and compliance elearning engaging, it needs to focus on the learners’ point of view. Thus, it must be short, immediately useful and employ episodic events and stories to help learners absorb and recall knowledge quickly.

Although variations of the flipped ideology have been around for years, Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams are considered pioneers of the movement since their adoption of the flipped classroom in 2007.       The idea of the flipped classroom is simple: take what's typically done in the classroom (lecture, direct instruction) and provide that for students to view at home, or outside of class, in the form of a video.  

It is not uncommon for learners' jobs to depend on their ability to master the critical information delivered to them via training. Imagine you must design and deliver a learning solution that addresses a critical business need. What would your approach be? Every day, stakeholders and designers make choices that sabotage corporate learning efforts... and result in wasted dollars that produce no result. If learners take a course, will they remember what they learned? In this white paper, you will discover four learning strategies that maximize long-term retention. Then, you'll learn about four additional strategies that maximize the learning from a single training event.

More than 200M adults in the US are part of the digital workforce, yet only 1-in-10 rate themselves as very proficient with the digital tools they use every day at work.  Training has not kept pace with technology, and workers, businesses and the entire economy are paying the price. Digital products and topics are rapidly proliferating and evolving, and yet there is virtually no professional development focused on these 21st century skills. For instance, organizations are using Dropbox and Box for file storage and sharing, Twitter and Facebook to connect with customers, and Google Docs and Analytics to run their businesses. These tools serve essential functions but they can only improve productivity with the right training. This paper will help you develop an action plan to assess and remedy the digital skills gaps in your business.  

"If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think." David Ogilvy David Ogilvy, the famous marketing and sales executive, said it this way, "If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think." Nelson Mandela said it like this: "If you talk to [people] in a language [they] understand, that goes to [their] heads. If you talk to [them] in [their] language, that goes to [their] heart." The ability to communicate—whether to persuade or just to understand—goes beyond using words well; it requires the ability to use words in a way that has meaning for those with whom you are speaking. The ability to talk with someone in his or her native language isn’t just about them understanding you; it’s about you understanding them—their experiences, their thinking, their beliefs, and their values. While definitions lie in words, meaning lies in the people who use them.

Looking ahead in 2014 and beyond, constant change will be the new normal for talent management professionals. Market forces and other external trends continue to reverberate in the industry, among them:   A rapidly evolving, complex regulatory environment Economic turbulence, uncertain growth, and financial markets that behave unpredictably, with implications for budgeting and talent acquisition Disruptive technologies applied to HR, such as predictive analytics and social technology, combined with techniques for ensuring the privacy and security of employee data A diverse workforce, which occasionally includes three or even four generations in the same workplace, as some Baby Boomers delay or work into retirement. At the same time, the temporary workforce swells—up to 2.7 million in 2013, more than three-quarters of a million higher since 2009 Geographically distributed workforces and "road warriors" make it difficult to administer policies, processes and procedures Problems attracting skilled workers, particularly in professional services, technology, engineering, medicine, and other specialized industries A talent management software market that has consolidated, giving professionals a more integrated set of solutions to choose from

What do we mean by agility? It’s how powerfully your organization can react to changes in the marketplace, recognize and close employee skill gaps, and align the right people in the right places to handle any pivots in business strategy. How can you make your organization more agile? There are several critical things you must do.  

There’s no question, big data is a hot topic, to stay competitive in today’s market, organizations have to leverage Big Data.  Harvard Business Review dedicated an entire issue (October 2012) to the topic. A new book, Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work and Think (Mayer-Schonberger & Cukier, 2013), explains the issue in detail. This whitepaper illustrates how Metrics that Matter® (MTM) is a Big Data solution and how MTM aligns to these industry standards and widely accepted Big Data definitions.  

New technology promises to take e-Learning out of the traditional, classroom-based paradigm and into a true "digital native" context. These new e-Learning tools will allow employees to engage in more active and realistic training activities, and they will incorporate emerging social learning and informal learning methods. Download this white paper to discover the implications of these next-generation e-Learning trends and answer these Three Fundamental questions: What unique traits set today's cutting-edge e-Learning tools apart from their predecessors? What are some specific examples of next-generation e-Learning tools? How can these tools increase e-Learning ROI and enterprise productivity?  

Research shows that mobile learning results in better retention than other training models. Discover why training organizations use mobile devices to embrace online learning content. Among the many benefits, mobile devices enable learning from anywhere a user can connect to the Internet—in turn, allowing a more flexible training schedule.  

Will your employees flourish in 2014? If you have a big budget there’s no problem launching a host of great HR programs. If not, here are some simple things you can do for employees in the coming year. Pick the ones that best suit your organization.

It’s a debate that’s raging throughout the digital content world, from content marketers to eLearning professionals: "What is the ideal online medium for conveying my message?" The contenders? A flurry of tactics, ranging from ebooks to white papers to webinars to blogs to infographics to social media. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Each has gained favor in segments of the marketing and eLearning worlds. Conscious of the weaknesses of these alternatives, content creators continue to seek new and more effective media for their messages. Ask them to describe an ideal medium, and you’ll hear something like this: It would be up-to-date, like a live webinar It would be multisensory, like a video It would be navigable, like a white paper or e-book It would be actionable and trackable, like a landing page It would be interactive, like a website It would be sharable, like a social update It would be deeply engaging, like a video game It would be searchable and discoverable, like a blog It would be simple to follow, like a slideshow

Engagement, the employee’s commitment to their organization and their willingness to perform beyond expectations, has become a focus area for management. Engagement is more than mere job satisfaction; fully engaged employees are motivated and dedicated to making the organization a success. At the most simplistic level engaged employees lead to happy, loyal customers and repeat business. Importantly engagement also leads to improvement in retention levels. In short, it impacts the bottom line. Dale Carnegie Training asked MSW Research to undertake a benchmark nationwide, cross industry study of 1500 employees to explore engagement in the workplace. The study discovered that although there are multiple factors affecting engagement, the personal relationships between a manager and his or her direct reports is the most influential. 

Where are you as you read this - home, office, taxicab? What kind of device are you using - mobile, laptop, printed version? The fact that there are so many possible answers to those questions is an indication of how our work lives - and indeed our private lives as well - have become increasingly mobile, global, networked and virtual. Download this white paper for the latest numbers, trends and insights into how they can be used to leverage virtual learning environments to meet today's critical talent needs.

Educational evolution over the last ten years has resulted in a dramatic shift in the way we learn, a trend that will surely gain momentum in the next ten years. As technology continues to evolve, the traditional higher education model—one centered around brick-and-mortar schools—will find it challenging to keep up with, and address, today’s business needs.  

This paper is a case study based on a highly successful virtual team: ours! The team here at InSync Training grew organically and created its own best practices as we grew because it was the right thing to do for our customers. Our team is proud of the way we work - and that we have the most functional working relationships most of us have ever experienced. I am proud to share this story with you.  

Successful sales organizations weather tough times with thoughtful initiatives, skilled salespeople, and healthy client relationships. Are We There Yet? If not, it sure feels like it. Housing is so bad that your mortgage is upside down. Credit is so tight that you can't borrow a garden hoe. The dollar is so weak that a pint in London sets you back a day's pay. So, is it a "technical recession"? Who cares, really, because for reasons of their own, customers and prospects are sitting on their checkbooks. And what's the impact on you of this excruciating state of suspended compensation?   Sales cycles longer than the River Nile. Client conversations that move smoothly from price, to price, and finally on to price. Formerly friendly clients who won't give you an Altoid. And, of course, the invasion of the tirekickers.   You say you've done everything obvious and nothing works? Maybe it's time to narrow your focus.

Sales Enablement: How do we do it? The phrase sales enablement has become a standard term in the language of those who support sales performance. There are currently 37 LinkedIn groups with this phrase in their titles. There are software companies, products, consultancies, and all kinds of online resources that include sales enablement in their names, descriptions, or value propositions. It's a great descriptive phrase for marketing products and services, but, like many such catch phrases, means different things to different people. This free white paper from Dr. Carl Binder, originator of The Six Boxes®, will help your sales leadership team understand and implement these concepts and - yes - enable your sales team to perform at its highest potential.

A Letter from the Author Dear friends and colleagues: The gamification of corporate learning has become a hot topic of discussion over the past year in industry publications and blogs, and certainly among talent development professionals. Why is there so much interest? Of course, everyone will have their own point of view on that question. Mine is this: despite the allure of traditional elearning from a cost and ease-of-deployment perspective, numerous organizations’ workforces have not consumed that training with much gusto. There seems to be a lot of consensus in the industry that most traditional elearning provides only modest learner engagement. That’s a big problem for talent development professionals and the workforces we serve. We know engagement is a critical success factor in skill development, and without it very little performance improvement is likely to result from the training. Most of you who are currently thinking about game-based elearning are doing so to address the engagement issue. But what about the learning results? What about the comparative performance impact of game-based elearning versus the traditional elearning most organizations deploy today? In this white paper, we will explore those questions, and provide a rationale that I believe many of you can use to benchmark the impact of game-based learning in your organization. Bryan L. Austin Chief Game Changer

All of the assumptions in our "Common-Sense" article are based upon a well-tested psychological principle, such as Maslow's heirarchy of needs, the Yerkes-Dodson law, psychology's law of effect, the Hawthorne effect, Herzbergs's two-factor theory, and even a few well-tested hypotheses of our own. But don't let the names intimidate you. These are simple, verifiable, ideas—the kind of assumptions you make everyday about the people you supervise. Each of the concepts we discuss is an example of what we call tested common sense assumptions made about human nature that have been empirically verified through psychological research or through actual application in the "real world" of the workplace.

While most organizations have articulated some form of a sales strategy, research has determined that 35 - 40% of organizations do a poor job communicating the strategy and goals in a way that makes them meaningful and understandable to others in the organization. In fact, for many organizations, the link between sales strategy goals and salesforce execution is often missing. Logical steps can be taken to ensure that execution actually supports the sales strategy. "When all is said and done, too often, much is said and little is done." — Anonymous Sales executives must coordinate a myriad of important factors to successfully reach their desired market. To name a few, they must have a product or service that meets customer needs and quality standards, is competitively priced, and has adequate distribution. Unfortunately, the sales executive has little direct control over most of these. The sales executive does, however, control how effectively the organization’s salesforce "touches" and influences the customer. The sales executive can ensure that the field salesforce has all the capabilities and resources to sell to potential buyers. How can this be done? This article addresses areas in which disconnects may occur. It gives an overview of our sales leadership model and addresses seven questions that reflect the model, which can result in a profound strengthening of sales leadership by linking sales strategy to sales results. 1.) How do you create a clear link between the overall organizational strategy and the sales organization’s specific sales strategy? 2.) How do you make sure the sales strategy is known and understood throughout the salesforce? 3.) How do you ensure the salesforce has the capabilities required to execute the sales strategy? 4.) How do you make sure the sales strategy forms the foundation for planning and focusing sales resources at thefield level? 5.) How do you make sure the sales organization’s leadership policies and practices support the effective execution of mission-critical sales behaviors? 6.) How do you ensure your salespeople understand how their sales practices and behaviors make possible the achievement of the organization’s sales strategy? 7.) What mechanism can you put in place to track progress towards sales goals that will ensure accountability for, and adherence to, sales practices and behaviors?