Designing Learning Sunday #2 - Needs Based Assessement?!
- Instructor Dave
- Oct 18, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 13, 2020
Last time, in Designing Learning Sunday, where we take an everyday approach to Learning and Development, and Instructional Design, we talked about determining if the training initiative you had was training or if it was coaching?
This week in Designing Learning Sunday we will talk about the next step in designing your learning – the Needs-Based Assessment.
Sometimes referred to as a Needs-Based Analysis, a needs-based assessment contains some of the most important information you will need to design your learning. But let’s talk about what a Needs-Based Assessment/Analysis (NBA) is and what it is supposed to do. You might be asking yourself "What is it? Why do I need it?", well, we'll show ya.
Our NBA, at its core, is a series of questions asked, or steps taken to gain more information and greater clarity regarding the expectations of the training material you have been asked to design.
The questions you ask will vary from project to project. The NBA should, at the minimum, answer the following questions;
What is the training supposed to accomplish? Who is the training for? Who is asking for it? What resources are available?
What is required to make this training possible? How is this different from what they are doing now? What are the gaps that exist? When does this need to be completed? What does success look like? What follow-up is required?
We will dive deeper into what kind of information we need from each answer, but in the meantime, these questions will provide us with what we need to know to get started, or if we have enough information to get started. Before we go too far into it, let's take another look at this NBA process. The questions we ask are designed to gain specific information or to guide us to a point where we can determine how to proceed on our own.
Please allow me to restate, these questions are a guide, and can be swapped out with questions of your choosing. All we ask is that you try to get to the same conclusion with your questions.
We have established that we need to ask a series of questions to get more information that will help us later design more effective learning. But, why is this important? Well, to be completely honest, not every business completes an NBA. That is not to say that it is required and they are wrong for not completing one, or that they are not important. It is simply to say that each business has its own process. Whether they are required or not, they have always been a huge help in the creation of learning material because they answer questions that would later come up in the middle of the design or development, or even during instruction. You will experience times when the party asking for training does not have all of the answers we need at the moment they ask for training. Maybe the client does not have all of the required information, or something will change, or they could still be defining the process and they are waiting for something to be finalized before it can be shared. That is okay! It is part of our responsibility to maintain communication and the ability to ask the requestor for additional information so we can deliver the best product for them.
The more information we have the better prepared we can be, right?
Right!
When compiling the questions for your NBA, really think about what you would like to know so that you can prepare and make the training as effective as possible. Come with as many questions as you can, but please make sure that they are thought out and aligned to the processes of your company or organization.
When delivering your NBA you have a few options, each of which can be applied based on your current needs, or company/organizational process.
Email You can share your bank of questions via email, and have your client respond to them – Be sure to set an expected response date so you can get started. (this is the most challenging approach, you may not get the information you need or in a timely manner)
Focus Group/Meeting You can host a focus group, or share your questions during a meeting – This can elicit different responses from participants, and create pathways and realizations that were unexpected and unplanned, leading to more information or clarity. (most effective for product training or process changes and is more formal than an interview or observation)
Survey You can share via survey – Sending out a survey will gather many opinions and perspective (we have not found this to be exceptionally effective, but it was a practice that was widely used within a former role)
Interview/Observation You can interview/observe expected participants – Interviewing or observing learners in current roles can be an effective strategy to use, especially if you are looking to improve a process and need to compare it to the current performance measurement. (quite effective when conducting process or procedure training)
Initial Meeting You can share your questions during the initial meeting – Come to your initial meeting prepared with a bank of questions ready to go, usually, the client or requestor will have answers available at that time. If not set a time to follow up on your questions either via conversation or email, but be sure to set a time so you can get started. (this is our recommended approach)
No matter your approach, use the NBA as a guide in determining what kind of training is needed and the most effective way to approach it. Your assessment/analysis will help you decide if the training needs to be in a classroom, e-learning, one-on-one, collaborative, or if it needs to be something as simple as an informational graphic or a handout. If you need more information, do not be afraid to ask for it.
An NBA is one of your most valuable tools when designing learning, and if you can get into the habit of using them, they will pay off during your design process. These were just a few examples of what you can ask when completing your NBA, as always, be sure to follow the practices of your company or organization.
We have attached a basic example of what our NBA looks like when we meet with a client. Click on this link to access it, or download it from the link at the bottom of the post.
Next time, we will talk about what to do with the data found in the questions we have asked when we start talking about our Design Document. If you have any questions or want more information, reach out to us, we’re always here to help.
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