“If you can’t measure it, how do you know there’s a problem?” - this is a quote from one of my favourite people in the world. And he’s right.
(There are always exceptions, of course. And that’s ok too.)
Trigger warning: this blog is short on “how”. It would be a monster if I tried to take on all that at once, sorry.
Delivery as success = failure
The only thing worse than failing is not knowing. Without measuring your projects, you’re guessing. Guessing progress, guessing what is going well or not. And without measurement it’s much harder to spot patterns or proactively plan for success.
Clarify your problem (see previous blog), identify success measures and then benchmark. More on the latter two below…
Measurement 101
I’m not going to get into ROI, ROE, direct vs indirect etc... Maybe that’s for a later blog.
Qualitative data vs quantitive data? No how about: qual & quan.
My view view on measurement isn’t a = b. There’s no shortcut to showing value. And rarely a single measure.
Identify success measures
We’re back at workshopping basics here. Find a wall, and write every damn thing you can think of that would be an outcome the programme you want to design.
which ones exist? Which ones don’t? Can you get the data that exists? Can you create that doesn’t? Do you even need some of these?
So many questions. Because: you need to create a map of data that shows change over time. That’s how you can define success.
You might need to add in some pre-assessment work. You might need managers & teams to pre-select confidence levels or perceived skill level. If those relate to the outcomes you need, then you should figure out a way to measure them.
Benchmark
Yep - straightforward. Take a measurement before you try any testing. So you know what ‘normal’ looks like. Then you can compare over time. It’s magic. It’s not perfect. It might also be hard getting hold of the data that you want.
But you know what it’s better than doing? Telling your CEO that you “delivered the new management training programme on time". High-fives all round!
Post-launch?
Yep, you guessed it… regularly go back & re-measure. Even 12 or 18 months later if that’s part of the plan.
And then. And then if it ‘aint working, you need to make some decisions. Wait, change, or can it?
Nothing wrong with any of those choices. As long as you know WHY you want to do. Acting on results. That’s how L&D can add serious value to an organisation.