“How do you develop training when you know nothing about … [INSERT TOPIC HERE]?” We get that question all the time after more than 20 years of designing custom courses on everything from selling printers to green building methods and order management systems.
Process Steps
Here is a process to efficiently learn an unfamiliar topic:
1. Do a brief, high-level review of resource documents and Websites provided. Skim them to familiarize yourself with basic ideas and terms, but don’t try to understand them in detail. There may be a lot of duplication and old versions, so it can be difficult to figure out which documents are the most current. Make a list of all the documents, so you will be ready discuss them with the subject matter experts.
2. Meet with subject matter experts (SMEs). Have the SMEs explain the topic to you. Ask a lot of questions (see suggested questions below).
- Get a live demo of systems, products, or tools that relate to the topic.
- Walk through the resource documents and Websites that were provided. Ask which ones are most important and current. Clarify anything you saw but did not understand.
- Ask about other resources that could help you (I often find SMEs have some helpful resources that had not been provided).
- Ask if there are other people you should talk to.
- Try to meet with SMEs in person, rather than by phone.
3. Read the written and online documents carefully. Now, you should have enough background to carefully analyze them.
4. Interview and/or observe people who represent your target audience. If there are people already doing the job or using the products and processes that are the topic of your training, ask them:
- What challenges they face.
- What base knowledge they already have.
- How they approach the job, or use the product or process.
(See suggested questions below.)
5. Develop a preliminary instructional design document or course outline. Synthesize what you have learned into a document that outlines learning objectives, learning strategy, and content.
6. Have a second session with the SMEs. Review the preliminary design document you have created, ask more questions, clarify information you have read. You may have to do this by e-mail, but a live discussion is always better.
Time and budget constraints may force you to cut this process short (especially steps 4 and 6), but can work for almost any project.
Questions for SMEs
Subject matter experts are the usually the best resource for learning an unfamiliar subject. You can ask them questions, probe, and clarify. Written materials, on the other hand, are often incomplete, out of date, or poorly organized—especially when a job, product, or process is new.
But working with SMEs can be challenging. They may have difficulty looking at the topic from the perspective of a beginner and may focus too much on advanced subtleties. I have heard subject matter experts say things like, “Every part of the process is equally important. You have to teach them all.” In other words, they are saying there is no way to simplify for beginners by separating basic steps from advanced considerations.
Here are questions that can help you get the most useful information from subject matter experts:
- What makes this [process, product, or job] unique?
- What are its benefits?
- How did people do the job before?
- Who are the typical users or customers?
- What skills or knowledge can we assume they already have?
- Which tasks must be done all the time and which are done infrequently?
- What common questions do people ask you about this?
- What common mistakes do people make? How can they be prevented?
- What is the hardest thing for a new person to do?
- What regional differences are there in the way the job or process is done?
- Ask for stories of how the process or product is used and when it provides the most value. Stories can help you develop relevant examples and case studies.
Ask SMEs to outline a typical “day in the life” or “week in the life” of someone doing the new job or using the new product or process. Understanding the work flow will help you emphasize the right points in your training.
Target Audience Interviews
To develop effective training, you need to understand your target audience. Their needs and concerns may be very different from those of the client or subject matter experts. So, whenever possible, try to interview and/or observe representative end-users in person. If that’s not feasible, a few short phone interviews can provide a lot of useful information.
Who should you talk to? We have found that people who have been in a job (or using a process) for six months to a year are best. They have enough experience to do the work effectively (even if they had to figure it out the hard way), but are new enough that they remember their early challenges. Beginners with less six months experience are often too overwhelmed to realize what would help them the most. However, observing beginners new to the job or process can help you see their challenges firsthand.
Ask questions such as:
- What were the most challenging parts of your initial learning curve?
- Looking back, what do you wish you had been taught right away?
- What references or job aids do you use?
- What references or job aids would help you the most?
- Describe a typical day in your life (or week, or month).
At first, any new topic may look unique, but all bodies of knowledge have an underlying structure. Following the process described here can help you identify the core information you need to design effective training.
Eric von Schrader is an instructional designer with more than 20 years’ experience designing custom training solutions, including classroom training, e-learning, and performance support. He is a partner at Cantilever Instruction+Design, www.cantilever-instruction.com , and can be reached at eric@cantilever-instruction.com.
