AchieveGlobal's blog

DEBATE: Doesn ’t it make sense for people to learn leadership, sales, and service skills by communicating with each other, face-to-face, in a classroom environment?

by Todd Beck Yes, it does make sense to match the medium with the message. I read in a Wall Street Journal survey related to business schools that about 80% of corporate recruiters—businesspeople like you—said that online programs are not as effective in developing skills as classroom programs. In fact, nearly 40% of recruiters rated online programs as "not at all effective." Josh Bersin’s 2008 research on elearning found that less than 2% of you were training customer service skills mostly online. Only 4% for interpersonal skills, and a whopping 0% were doing sales training completely online. That’s intuitive from a learning perspective—we learn interpersonal behaviors by seeing and doing. eLearning’s virtual reality apparently just isn’t real enough for most learners. Speaking of virtual reality, you can watch this video where Jack's avatar gets pwn3d by Todd's avatar as we continue this debate on AchieveGlobal Island in Second Life.

DEBATE: With shrinking training budgets, what is the best way to invest in human capital development?

by Todd Beck In tough times, the smart thing to do is to focus on return on investment, not just how to lower the investment. Because whatever the economy, you get what you pay for. You know, it’s interesting that in 2008 MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) raised its classroom tuition a full 4.1%. And almost every other university and community college out there is raising tuition for classroom instruction. But MIT offers absolutely free the elearning equivalent of classroom instruction, including lectures and study materials via the Internet. That’s validation that the return on classroom investment is seen as going up, while the return on elearning investment has continued to decline.  In a soft economy, you need to decide if you want to invest to survive or invest to thrive. Classroom is still very much a smart investment. Enjoying the debate? Check out this video where Jack and I battle in real-time but in Second Life on AchieveGlobal Island.

DEBATE: With shrinking training budgets, what is the best way to invest in human capital development?

By Jack McDaniel The best way to maximize an investment in human capital development is through leveraging technology-based learning. Not only do you get consistent quality of training – especially since elearning 2.0 has made possible exciting new instructional design tools and techniques – but you also get the performance support tools necessary to reinforce learners as they change their behavior. We all know that coaching and reinforcement are critical to assimilating skills, yet budgets usually cut the funding in this area. If we teach the learner where to go for coaching and reinforcement, and if those tools are available just-in-time, then technology gives us a win-win situation. Learners have access to the same materials that they experienced during the initial learning and learners know where to get them – anytime, anywhere – all at a reduced cost to the organization. The organization can then use part of the dollars saved in employee travel costs – and lost opportunities because they’re out of the office – and invest that in a blend of live virtual and self-paced coaching and reinforcement programs. I'll leave you with a recent quote from an executive with a Fortune 500 company:

“We would prefer to have training reach 100% of our population and be 50% effective, than to only offer training to the 20% that we could afford to cover face-to-face. And we do not feel that the newer elearning is less effective than traditional classroom, so the choice is a no-brainer.”

If you're excited about the possibilities elearning 2.0 can bring to your organization, watch me pummel Todd mercilessly and with pithy elocution in this video  as we debate the issue on AchieveGlobal Island in Second Life.

Is classroom on life support? YES!

By Jack McDaniel Technology is here to stay, it just keeps improving, and we eagerly embrace that. How many of us are comfortable without access to email or our cell phones? We’re all proud to be part of the “frenzy of fascination” that Todd mentioned. Technology is helpful. We conduct business in new ways, more efficiently. Perhaps more importantly, the upcoming generation of businesspeople are demanding that they communicate, work, and learn leveraging the techniques and technologies that they’ve grown accustomed to. They embrace collaborative environments, virtual classrooms, self-study elearning and knowledge-based systems like EPSS. The Sloan Consortium annual learning benchmarking reports that more than 90% of all post-secondary institutions in the US currently offer some variety of elearning, and that online enrollments are increasing at a rate of more than 18% per year, compared with traditional enrollments at a rate of 4%. Schools that do not currently offer on-line capabilities are considered sub-par. As humans we’re wired to be social, and social communication – including learning – is being shifted to online modes, freeing us from the constraints of formal face-to-face classrooms. Simply put, we’d no more accept a steady diet of classroom learning than we would accept giving up our email, cell phones, Facebook, or LinkedIn accounts. So yes, face-to-face classroom training is on as much life support as Pong or rotary dial telephones. NOTE: Is elearning vs. classroom a debate happening in your organization? If so, watch this video in whichTodd and I battle it out on AchieveGlobal Island in Second Life.

Is classroom on life support? NO!

By Todd Beck This is a hot topic in the 21st century, and yet has been argued for decades--maybe since back when radio started broadcasting educational content. Today's threat is the internet and virtual instructors, so people keep asking: Is classroom on life support? To find the answer, I will take on Jack McDaniel (AchieveGlobal's Media Projects Director) in a no-holds-barred, deathmatch cage fight--well, more of a structured debate with some trash talk thrown in. Jack has deep experience with writing, instructional design, and Web development. He'll claim classroom is dead. I will take the position that classroom is alive and well. After brief remarks from each side, we'll answer a series of questions. Who will win? Stay tuned. Here's my opening position: I love technology. I research technology. I’m one of those people who friends and neighbors come to for advice and help with technology. Heck, I work on my computer all day and then go home and play on my computer all night. But the other day I took one of those assessments where it measures where you are personally on the change adoption continuum. And as you listen to me speak today it will be no surprise that the assessment showed that, when it comes to change, I’m a pragmatist. A solid focus on what’s practical—what will generate the highest return on investment. And I don’t apologize for that. You and I are businesspeople. We get paid to generate business results. So when I think of behavior change, and I look at everything that impacts the likelihood that an employee will complete training, will commit to new behaviors, and will apply new behaviors on the job, I see classroom as the long-standing champion that has been and might forever be the most effective way humans learn. Elliott Masie recently wrote that “there is a frenzy of fascination and way too much hype” about technology. “And, much of this frenzy does not map back to the requirements of learning development and design.”  (Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - August 29, 2007) People are people, so why should it be that you and I should be physically wired to benefit from classroom learning for thousands of years, and then suddenly during this “frenzy of fascination” somehow have our basic learning preferences change? Classroom is how humans learn. Classroom is not on life support. Classroom is life support. ....Jack--it's your turn. Bring it on!

Candid Feedback

By Chris Blauth Eleven years ago my wife and I began reading ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ to our daughter at bedtime.  This classic tale is concise and easy to read, yet has profound meaning.  You’re no doubt familiar with the essence of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale: Out of town tricksters grab the attention of a vain emperor with a penchant for fine garments and promise to make him a regal suit made from unmatched cloth.  This cloth, however, is invisible to those who are unfit for the emperor’s office or otherwise stupid.  Neither the emperor nor his equally vain ministers is able to ‘see’ the cloth, but rather than admit this fact and suffer ridicule from others everyone claims to see the fabric and extol its grandeur.  In short, the ministers, and later the town folk, attest to what the emperor wants to hear, not what he needs to hear.  That is, until the day he saunters through the streets of his capital and a child bravely exclaims, ‘Look, the Emperor has nothing on at all!”  By this time, of course, the swindlers have fled with the emperor’s money, never to be seen again.  Communicating unwanted or unpopular news is never easy—whether it’s 1837, the year Andersen’s tale was first published, or today.  It’s even more challenging when leaders engender—either through explicit or implicit actions—environments in which communication is stifled or barren.  Perhaps you’re keenly aware of the results after asking copious clarifying questions when change is announced, or after providing constructive feedback once change is underway.  Immediately or over time the messenger is ‘wounded’ or even worse ‘shot’.  When this occurs everyone in the organization recognizes that anyone who dares to question the case for change or comment on how to make the change more successful will ultimately suffer mild or severe consequences.  As a result, associates share only ‘safe’ or ‘politically correct’ information with their manager.  Clearly, this is not the kind of atmosphere that empowers people to support and drive change. Recently, my colleagues and I at AchieveGlobal pinpointed that organizations—and the individuals within them—succeed at change when they demonstrate ten practices—critical how to’s that differentiate between success and mediocrity.  One of these practices, Encourage candid feedback, produces endless benefits in the form of improved information accuracy, increased quality of idea generation, and accelerated decision making.  In this type of environment, you’ll find managers who:    • Welcome all questions and constructive suggestions. • Encourage people to ask clarifying and challenging questions that put pressure on change strategies and plans. • Show sincere interest in learning what people know, think, and feel about changes being implemented. • Acknowledge and praise people for their candor. This kind of climate yields a shared understanding in people of what’s changing and why it’s important.  Even better, it helps management discern what people know and how to interpret what they’ve heard, which in turn helps them target their messages and refine their plans.  To date, my wife and I have read ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ countless times to all three of our children.  In fact, it’s still a favorite of my youngest who’s six.  As I’ve read it recently, though, I often muse, “How many organizations have cultures in which managers and non-managers alike tell their superiors what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear?”  What do you think?  I invite you to respond either here or at chris.blauth@achieveglobal.com. 

Execution ' Uber Allen ' - A Thousand Action Steps

By Mike Smith A friendly cynic recently gave me his perspective on ‘Project Management'. Execution ‘Uber Allen' he said.......a thousand action steps! What he meant was do we really need all this process and action stuff?My answer....'well that depends?' It depends on whether you want to achieve your goals or not! At the end of the day all organizational initiatives whether they be new product introductions, organizational restructures or training and development initiatives, need to get RESULTS. Now the type of results may vary widely depending on industry sector, departmental and organizational goals but the fact remains we must see an impact from our hard work. If you don't have a robust implementation process and team of skilled individuals trained in executing (Project Management) the chances you'll achieve the results you are looking for are minimal. There is only one way to ensure the success of a complex and comprehensive initiative and that is to manage it well. Project management may not be your strength but you had better find resources that fit that mould and give them the responsibility for delivery. Without those action steps (the right ones of course) I wouldn't bet my mortgage on the results.