Mirror the Real World to Get Real Training Results

Effective instructional design principle #1: Training should reflect the real world. This includes on-the-job performance expectations, culture, speed, responsibilities, pressures, distractions, and unpredictability. You do not learn to ride a bike by reading a book, looking at it, or watching professional bike races. You practice in your driveway, get feedback from a trusted and experienced person, and learn by doing. Most training courses are designed to cover over 25 competencies.

The mistake being made is that the instructional designer is assuming that all information and skills are equally important to that person, in that role, in that company. Regardless of the business and learning objectives, we find that a handful of key scenarios cover the majority of critical on-the-job needs that will create the greatest impact.

So next time you are designing a learning solution where you need to change behavior and performance:

1. Scenario-Based: Organize it in terms of the top five scenarios or challenges from the field and forget the rest
   
   
2. Internal Best Practices: Focus the approach on how proficient practitioners succeed in your company in your culture and then apply external best practices as needed
   
   
3. Job Aids: Provide simple and relevant job aids for each scenario that can be accessed online
   
   
4. Experiential Activities: Stay away from death by PowerPoint. Rely on cases, simulations, and role-plays to engage participants in “their real world”
   
   
5. Performance Tests: Have participants prove that they can succeed in each scenario before they leave your workshop