We’ve written before on the importance of standardizing training requests. But without an organized, proven process that aligns with the goals of the business, training requests remain haphazard and arbitrary. L&D need to find a way to structure their forms to facilitate an easy transition from training request to course design. But standardizing training requests delivers another unforeseen benefit: it jumpstarts the course design process. If a new methodology or system can do double duty, we are all for it.
So, let’s take a look at how the implementation of a process to analyze training requests can help L&D leaders do what they truly love—instructional design.
The ADDIE framework
First, a quick review of instructional design: ADDIE is one of the most popular, tried-and-true instructional systems design frameworks, so many training designers and training developers use to develop courses.
The five phases of ADDIE—Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation—together represent a dynamic, flexible guideline for building effective training experiences and performance support tools. The tools to build, host, and deliver learning experiences may change, but ADDIE remains a solid, go-to framework.
It’s the first stage of ADDIE—Analysis—on which the training intake process has the most influence.
As we’ve written before, the training intake process should require a lot of thinking on the part of employees. Apart from the basics (Who is the training for? Are there resources that currently exist?), employees should be challenged to think long and hard about their request. Moreover, they should provide L&D with answers to questions addressing how the requested training will impact the business.
Such deeper questions might include:
What skills or competencies will be learned?
What will be the business outcome of this training?
How will you measure the effectiveness of this training?
Surprise! The answers to such questions form part of the Analysis phase of ADDIE.
Of course, it is important that employees always think strategically about every business request, but employees may not be aware that their answers to such questions are in effect, helping L&D do its job better, saving time having to seek answers later on.
The Analysis phase of ADDIE should give designers a full picture of the entire scope of the training development project. Information provided by employees in a training request form helps streamline the process.
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Use training request forms to gain insights
To make this work most effectively, L&D leaders need to do things:
(1) Take time to develop questions on the form that they feel will deliver the greatest insights. This might require some trial and error; additionally, there might be some variation in answers depending on the department (i.e., compliance). The answers to questions on a training request form will not completely replace the efforts of the ADDIE Analysis stage, but sufficient information greatly supports the L&D team’s efforts.
(2) Provide employees with thorough instructions or sample answers. This is important, as employees may not have experience articulating a training request. Indeed, you may need to create a short tutorial or training on how to fill out the form. This is worth the effort because receiving the most complete information from employees can save time evaluating whether a course should be pursued.
With a well-thought-out training intake process, and with employees ready to provide answers to the harder questions, the instructional design process starts early. A smooth transition from training request to course design benefits everyone in the organization.
Interested in learning more about the strategic value of
overhauling your training intake processes? Check out this free ebook!
