Marc My Words: Using Training to Support Performance Support

We’re often told that performance support can be used inlieu of training. True enough, but training and performance support are notalways conflicting. Sometimes one can enhance the other. If you are aninstructional designer considering using performance support to augment yourlearning solutions, and you should be, let’s move past what it is … assumingyou know that, and consider six scenarios where training might be helpful infostering performance support adoption and use.

1. Training to support new performance support

Performance support tools are not always as intuitivelyobvious to use as they should be, especially to novice users. Some training maybe needed before people can use the tool effectively. If this is yourchallenge, first consider building learning resources right into the performancesupport tool itself. If that’s not feasible, investigate exactly where thetraining is needed. Based on your findings, you might want to consider short,on-demand eLearning modules specifically designed around the tool, along withpractice during any related classroom sessions.

2. Use performance support before coming to training

Sometimes, users must be able to use performance supportbefore coming to training, as it will be a significant part of the classroomwork. In this case, first determine whether users already know how to use thetool; you don’t want to waste your efforts on a problem that’s not there. Ifthey don’t know how to use it, develop pre-course assignments specificallyfocused on using the tool so that learners will be ready to go when they get toclass. Throughout the class, especially when they arrive and before they leave,exercise application of the tool to assure proficiency … and be sure to usereal-world applications.

3. Use performance support immediately upon returning to theworkplace

If users are required to immediately use the tool back onthe job, follow the same suggestions as in #2 above, but, if necessary, createjob aids or other usability resources for using the tool in the workplace andintroduce them in the course. You can also provide for user certification inthe use of the tool, especially if the performance is critical.

4. Users can’t figure out how to use new performance support inthe workplace

In this scenario, it is probably unlikely that you can bringworkers back into the classroom to alleviate this or to teach work-arounds tothe problem. However, if the tool was originally introduced in the course, youmight be dealing with ineffective instruction, so reexamine what you are doingin the training. On the other hand, the tool itself may be the issue. Examineit to see whether a redesign is in order. If users are having problems, and ifthose problems are similar across the user base, what needs to be done shouldbe apparent. You may also want to look at the job aids and other resources thataccompany the tool in the workplace; perhaps they can be improved. Finally, besure to look at how actual work processes (the workflow) and the tool interact;there may be a disconnect there.

5. Users are forgetting how to use the performance supportsolution

Forgetting how to use a tool might be the result of areduced need to use it. Perhaps the user has moved past a dependency on thetool. In such cases, you probably don’t have to do anything. On the other hand,sometimes the tool is used infrequently, but when it is used, it’s critical. Peoplecan forget something, even if it’s important, if they don’t use it often. Ifforgetting how to use the tool has serious performance consequences, you needto take action. Here you might introduce (or reintroduce) short, on-demandeLearning modules specifically around the tool, improve your job aids and othersupport for the tool (improving the support for the performance support), and,simultaneously perhaps, build and deploy a communication plan that reacquaintsusers with the importance of the tools.

6. Build new performance support solutions to replace some training

While instructional designers must be aware of the firstfive scenarios above, it is this sixth scenario—using performance supportinstead of training—that provides both a unique and challenging opportunity. Decisionsto replace training with performance support should not be taken lightly. It isimportant to first determine where such a strategy best fits. Not all trainingcan or should be replaced by performance support, so where you target such achange is critical. Once this is done and verified, you will have someimportant steps to take, including making a build-or-buy decision; constructingand testing prototypes; assuring that the solution fits into the workflow; redesigningthe remaining training, both classroom and online; and deploying a changemanagement and communication plan to help learners and users adjust to this newapproach.

Rethinking training

Performancesupport is not the harbinger of the end of training. Those who suggest this arenot considering the synergies these two approaches bring to the world oflearning and performance. But performance support does compel us to rethink howwe use training and suggests that combining the two can often be more effectiveand much more cost-efficient. And for those of us who have experiencedresistance to performance support, integrating it smartly into a trainingprogram is a great first step to getting it noticed, without ruffling too manyfeathers.