Learning Points In The Evaluation Process

Identification Of Learning Needs

Sometimes it is all too easy for developers to offer a standard solution to a presented business problem, particularly where the developer thinks that cost is likely to be the main decision criterion.

By investing a little extra time at this stage the developer can ensure that they have a clear picture of what the real problem is, rather than take at face value the initial reported business problem. Often this requires spending some time learning about what is currently working well with a business area, rather than focus on the reported what is not working well. For example the reported ‘ I need to send all of my team on a creativity course so that they become more creative’ after some further diagnostics, may transpire to be a case of the team are very creative but are not allowed the space to demonstrate this, or the reward system doesn’t reinforce creativity. In either of these cases the solution would be quite different to running a creativity course.

Focusing on evaluation at the needs identification stage can thus help ensure that the right intervention gets planned at the outset. For those in the organisation interested in Return on Investment this means minimising the chances of unnecessary expenditure. Sadly this type of information often doesn’t get reported.

Engaging different stakeholders in a discussion about evaluation at the outset can help them broaden their perspective on the overall measures that need to be used to assess the programme’s success. One leading practitioner in the field of e-learning, for example, encourages her clients to consider measures such as ‘time to competency’ or ‘time to market’, rather than applying more traditional Return on Investment criteria^[5].

^[5]D. Raths, Measure of Success. www.onlinelearningmag.com