page 10
Getting
Results: Improving Process and People Performance
by Gregory Finnegan
Organizations accomplish worthwhile goals when they appropriately organize process and people. There is a natural progression within performance technology to make links between core process analysis and improvement and people performance analysis and improvement.
Initial application of performance technology helps the new performance technologist develop skill in improving task-level human performance and simple work group processes. Over time, the performance technologist develops skill at analyzing and improving more complicated processes. This skill progression from developing people performance improvement to developing major core process improvement makes the performance technologist very valuable to an organization. The process engineer and the performance engineer share the common need to know the extent that inappropriate reconciliation, accountability, and feedback within major organizational processes adversely affect organization performance.
This article highlights additional skills used by process engineers that work well within the performance analysis model. Case studies and examples from the health care industry show how to add to skills of the people performance analyst through what is truly a focus on business process analysis.
page 22
Public Relations for
Performance Technologists
by Lisa Yelon and Stephen Yelon
Public relations (PR) is handling your name or company's presence in the media. Performance technologists (PT) can use PR to receive acknowledgment for what they do, increase business, bring their group's name to mind for a particular intervention, or establish a positive attitude about what they do. In short, PR can help PTs become well known. Use these seven steps to launch a publicity campaign: Find a suitable project and a reason to publicize. After securing agreement from your agency and client decide on the target audience and the scope of the publicity. Write a press release and create a press kit. Contact journalists by phone and by sending materials, and then follow up.
page 27
Will CBT
Produce the Results You Need? A Case Study
by Steven V. Benson
This case study explains how one company implemented computer-based training (CBT) for newly hired employees throughout the country. First, the company produced a business plan that convinced others that CBT was a good alternative, as well as a questionnaire that helped the company select a qualified vendor to produce the program. The program included both CBT and a course management system. CBT’s multimedia-rich content used text, graphics, videos, and simulations to reach a wide variety of learning styles. Lessons were limited to 10–20 minutes in length, so training could fit into a busy schedule. Every lesson was followed by a quiz that verified that the learner understood the lesson. The course management system allowed tracking of employees’ training activities and provided training documentation and reports. The company can now see individual training, work group summaries, and special categories of training. CBT provided an efficient and economical alternative to other kinds of training.
page 35
From
Binders to Browsers: Converting Classroom Training to the Web
by Shonn R. Colbrunn and Darlene M. Van Tiem, PhD
As organizations continue to adopt the web as a training delivery medium,
many classroom courses will be converted to web-based training (WBT). For course
conversion to be successful, the organization needs to exhibit cultural and
technological readiness, and the classroom course must be appropriate for
conversion. When beginning a conversion project, it is important to attain
sponsorship and build the right project team. As a classroom course is being
converted to WBT, design strategies related to converting text, graphics, and
exercises should be considered. Finally, a number of time-saving suggestions
will contribute to a successful course-conversion project.
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