With so many learning experiences, techniques and devices to choose from, the course designer can be like a gourmet cook, carefully choosing just the right combination to achieve the desired results. There is no excuse for the overuse of lecture as the primary and often only technique.

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

earning organizations are facing a technology wake-up call as they realize that most of their content doesn't translate well, if at all, to mobile devices. The typical reaction is to initiate one-off projects for converting desktop courses, applications, and their Flash based components, per the specs of every major device platform.

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.

When you ask an SME, "What should learners learn from the content?", the response is usually "all" or "everything". This is the OLD RELIGION where the data is "compressed and dumped" for learners to learn. This is costly and detrimental to the performance of workers.

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?

We all use a variety of thinking styles in our daily lives, but we tend to favor some and rarely use others-and that hurts our ability to make good decisions. Taking a thinking assessment can help you find the right balance, so you can make the best choices, in life and at work.

A recent report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development found that evaluation was a top priority among learning and development (L&D) professionals (Personnel Today staff, 2012). Despite this fact, calculating return on investment (ROI) on development programs is still rarely done; a McKinsey Quarterly report found that only 8 percent of organizations actually evaluate the value of L&D initiatives (Palmer, 2010). And too often, those who do track ROI rarely go beyond asking for feedback from participants immediately after the event.

One advantage of the virtual classroom is the potential for global reach. Participants no longer need to fly long distances to attend a class; instead, we can bring the classroom to them! However, when incorporating international participants into your virtual training classes, it’s important to design sessions with global audiences in mind.

For the first time ever, Chief Learning Officers (CLOs) are faced with the challenge of meeting the needs of four generations in the workplace. As more professionals from Generation Y join the work force, it is now more important for trainers, human resources personnel and C-level management to continually understand generational differences and adapt strategies for retention. Understanding generational differences in the workplace and in training styles is the key to great leadership, higher retention rates, happier employees, and an efficient workforce.

On one hand, we say we honor evaluation, that we are eager for evidence and data. On the other hand, most reported practice is far from enthusiastic about metrics. Today’s economic climate has increased accountability in organizations and required training and performance professionals to look in a data-driven way at their influence. At the same time, technology-delivered training, learning management systems and a host of tools has increased possibilities for data collection. Are organizations using these tools? And if so, to what ends?

Looking to implement a cloud-based LMS, but not sure how to start?   Here are some great sample questions to ask every vendor.   They will help you choose the product that meets your requirements for mobile and blended learning, reporting, analytics, and more, so that it is implemented quickly and cost-effectively, and integrates with the technology that you already use.

As enterprise organizations expand to support a globally dispersed employee base, developing effective learning environments that can be delivered anywhere, anytime becomes a significant challenge. Implementing learning management systems and basic online learning tools has fallen short in providing an engaging learning experience that ensures the effectiveness of enterprise training programs.

Coaching is a unique development solution because it allows the individual, to customize the solution to best suit their individual needs; and, a customized solution may be more likely to facilitate success. In the past, we could provide nearly any coaching solution, and measure the success of that solution based upon participant’s self-reports of satisfaction.

The metaphor of "The Lazy Trainer" reminds us that the less we teach, the more learners have the chance to learn for themselves. Unfortunately, a significant number of trainers and designers are paranoid. They lack faith or trust that the learners can provide or discover the "right answers and content." This limits the possibilities for effective learning, driven by learners. Companies are also deprived of the opportunity to reduce costs while increasing the speed of training.

Do your firm’s employees need to work together across internal boundaries, regions, functions and businesses? This question has taken on added urgency in today’s increasingly matrixed organizations where employees of all levels must now rely more heavily on their ability to influence others to achieve their own business objectives.

Research has shown the powerful impact stories have on learning. Current trends also demonstrate that learners want to learn at their own pace and at the most convenient time possible.

Jolts are quick and powerful learning activities designed to jump-start your sessions in less than 5 minutes and provide an emotional impact resulting in surprise and discovery. Your participants will sit-up, listen, learn, and gain instant insights into your training topics. In this session, Thiagi and Tracy will share their favorite jolts and debriefing activities that are especially designed and adapted for the use in webinars.

There’s a lot of buzz about using social and collaboration tools to dramatically boost learning results. What does such an approach mean for your investment in LMS?

A renewed focus on innovation in business means a lot more training is needed. One of the things that might not be top of mind in designing an innovation training program is intuition skills. Yet, if everyone had intuition smarts, innovation would be a cinch.

Understanding the results your learning programs have on your organization’s top and bottom line can ensure greater success of your learning initiatives. Having the right tools in place to track and analyze in real-time is key.

Captivate 6 was released this summer and what a release it is! Joe Ganci, who has used Captivate for many years, will take you through a fun and revealing look at all the new and great features of Captivate 6.

Making the decision to exhibit at a conference is difficult these days. The cost of exhibiting continues to increase. Exhibit budgets are often difficult to justify. Top executives and financial executives are demanding more accountability. In some cases, executives are suggesting that if you cannot show the value of exhibiting, you should skip the conference.

You’re juggling a million things but you know it’s important to have some strategic time and learn new things. How can you facilitate brief sessions with your staff to keep learning and strategy alive?