How many times has this happened to you? Another division in your organization has contacted your department todevelop training on a project they’ve been working on for months. They plan toroll out the project next month, so this seems like the right time to requesttraining. Maybe they’ve even decided on the form the training should take, suchas an online course.
On the positive side, a last-minute training request means that yourstakeholders are thinking about their training needs. They’re just not thinkingabout those needs early enough in the process, and are unaware of how anearlier start would offer everyone a better chance to establish a shared visionof the training needs and the possibilities. Scenarios like this one are thereason so many training departments wish they had a seat at the table whenprojects are under development.
The building blocks
Forming strategic partnerships is a function we often expect managementto perform. And while management support is critically important, there’s generallyroom at every level of an organization to build towards strategic partnerships.If your training group wants to partner with other areas in the organization,one way to accomplish that goal is to imagine what conditions would exist ifthe partnerships were already established, and any member of the partnershipwere able to bring ideas to the table.
Hereare a few ways your team can begin to build those conditions, without steppingon anyone’s toes:
- Express curiosityabout the work other groups are doing. Most people like to talk about whatthey’re doing. You can ask them casually during a conversation in the cafeteria,or you can make a five-minute call to the project groups directly and ask for aquick description of their projects. You may be tempted, but don’t offer anysolutions during this conversation unless you’re asked. The goal of thisconversation is to express your interest, and to remind the other person thatthe training team exists and is willing to support their efforts. If an actionitem comes out of the conversation, make sure your next step is taken throughthe proper channels for your organization.
- Keeptrack of the initiatives going on in other areas of the organization. Asyou have the conversations with the project groups, it’s helpful to track thoseprojects in a central location, a dashboard where anyone on the training teamcan see all of the initiatives your team has heard about. Then make it a pointto talk about those efforts in team meetings and brainstorm ways your teammight contribute to the projects. It’s also worth considering whether anyone onthe team has a particularly strong relationship with anyone on the projects.
- Keep aneye on what you and your team have to offer. Some of the services thetraining team can offer might not fall into traditional training roles. If theproject involves new software development, for example, your group might offerto run through test scripts. Doing so gives the trainers early exposure to thepurpose and function of the software, and provides instant value for thesoftware development team as well.
- Offerresources that will assist other departments to create better training contenton their own. Some project teams want to create their own training assetswithout the full involvement of the training staff. In that case, as a goodstrategic partner, your department’s role is to offer the best support andadvice you can. If your department has an internal Web site, you can maketemplates available for PowerPoint presentations or rapid development tools,offer tips on how to make good audio and video recordings, provide informationon which media are best for different types of training content, or compare howwell different authoring tools interact with your LMS. Make it known that otherareas can call you with questions, and they may end up using more of yourservices than they anticipated.
- Finally,keep an eye on the goals you and the project teams have in common. Yourteam and the project team both have the common goal of supporting the project,so you have a great place to start building a partnership. You both have avested interest in developing training that meets the needs of the project andthe learners, and both reputations stand to gain or lose based on the qualityof that training. If you keep that in mind as you frame conversations with yourproject teams, it’ll go a long way to building the relationship and making yournext joint effort smoother.
The value of hindsight
None of these steps can ensure that you’llnever get another eleventh-hour training request. The next time it happens,though, take some time after meeting the challenge to think about how your teammight have anticipated the demand, and how you could actively seek opportunitiesto partner with that project group in the future. It could lead to moreopportunities for your department, better quality work products from projectteams, and better internal relationships within the organization.
