Table of Contents

Three Magic Questions to Ask in order to Map Out a Learning Program

Some meetings could benefit from a highly structured agenda and facilitation plan. Other meetings can be kept focused and productive with three simple questions.

3-questions

Today’s the day.

The new employee orientation at my organization has been in existence for a while now, but everyone seems to be in agreement that it needs a fairly significant overhaul.

A little later today, I’ll be meeting with a variety of colleagues in order to talk about this overhaul. As we jump into this conversation, I’ll be using the following three questions – which can be used for most training programs (not just new employee orientation) – to lend some structure to this dialogue:  

  1. What would happen if we didn’t bother having a new hire orientation program? This question is an essential place for our conversation to begin. There’s been some questions as to whether new employee orientation holds any value at all. Our staff is driven and our teams are leanly staffed (meaning that managers want their new hires at their desks and contributing as soon as possible). If we don’t have a good answer for this question, our meeting about new hire orientation should probably be a short one!
  2. How will we know our new hire orientation program is successful? I have a friend who calls this “the money question.” It’s easy to say: “Let’s have a training program.” But if you don’t know what success will look like, how will you ever know that your investment in the initiative has paid off? Ideally, the answer(s) to this question will have both qualitative and quantitative measures.
  3. What do we need to do in order to get to “success” for this program? The order in which these questions are asked and answered matters. Without an answer to the Question #1 (why bother?), the conversation need not go any further. Without an answer to Question #2 (“the money question”), you can’t be sure what you’re trying to achieve. Once you know what you’d like to achieve, and only once you know what you’d like to achieve, then you can jump into question #3 (how do we get there?). I have a lot of creative ideas floating around in my mind, but they’re going to need to somehow fit into a strategy that will support “the money question”, otherwise my creative ideas become superfluous.

I like to keep it simple, and three guiding questions will help to keep today’s conversation simple and focused.

What am I missing? Are there other questions you would be asking if you were in my shoes?


Going to the Online Learning Conference this week? Don’t forget to check out Mike Taylor and I as we present some ideas that marketing and advertising experts use and that training professionals should steal. We’ll take the stage on Wednesday at 8:15am!

Articles Similar to Three Magic Questions to Ask in order to Map Out a Learning Program

by endurance, we conquer
Rachel Niles

Ernest Shackleton, Problem Solver

“By Endurance, We Conquer.” This was the motto of the family of early 20th century explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton. So when it came time for him to name his ship

Social Media
Brian Washburn

Is it possible to learn from other people via social media?

It’s pretty easy to find thought leaders in our field by scrolling through Twitter or LinkedIn. Lately, it seems like people are increasingly wanting to be heard, and doing a lot less hearing. This week’s podcast guest, Lauren Hug, has some thoughts about this.

updating training materials
Brian Washburn

Updating Training Materials That Seem Good Enough

Sometimes we’re asked to review and improve a training program that seems perfectly fine as it is. Taking a look at the fundamentals on which the program is built may offer some clues about possible ways to improve something that, on the surface, didn’t look like it needed to be touched.

Try again
Elearning Interactions
Lindsay Garcia

Using Elearning To Help Learners Experience An Unfamiliar Environment

Elite instructional designers don’t complain or get thrown off when they have the perfect activity, only to have an SME review it and say: Can we just add one more little thing (that will make you change the entire activity)? Today’s post offers a case study about how an ID team remained flexible until everyone was happy.

Subscribe to Get Updates from Endurance Learning

Brian Washburn, Author

Brian Washburn
CEO & Chief Ideas Guy

Enter your information below and we’ll send you the latest updates from our blog. Thanks for following!

Let's Talk Training!

Brian Washburn

Brian Washburn
CEO & Chief Ideas Guy

Enter your information below and we’ll get back to you soon.

Download the Feedback Lesson Plan

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the lesson plan as a PDF.

feedback lesson plan
MS Word Job Aid Template

Download the Microsoft Word Job Aid Template

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the Word version of this template.

Download the Free Lesson Plan Template!

Enter your email below and we’ll send you a Word document that you can start using today!

training materials checklist

Download the Training Materials Checklist

Enter your email below and we’ll send you the PDF of the Training Materials Checklist.

Subscribe to Endurance Learning for updates

Get regular updates from the Endurance Learning team.