A process for selecting training methods
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The problem with decision making BACK IN THE EARLY 80S, I attended a course by Kepner Tregoe on Problem Solving and Decision Making. They taught us how to make a decision systematically: to define and weigh our objectives; to score each of our alternatives against these objectives; to multiply our scores by our weights and then review our results - a systematic analysis that would help to yield a conclusive result. I set about trying this out. I was agonising over whether to buy the red sports car with a hard ride and no space or that comfy family saloon with lots of space and a body like armour. I entered in my data, steam was coming out of the calculator, I anticipated an end to my indecisiveness. And then the scores came out. 247 points ... to each option!. I vowed from that point on to go with my intuition. No more analysis paralysis. Which car did I buy? Guess. Of course we make decisions all the time, perhaps hundreds a day, without stopping to think. We can cope with some quite thorny problems without resort to a committee, a computer or even a pen and paper. But every now and then we have a major decision to make, where there are so many factors to consider, so many seemingly conflicting criteria, so many permutations. In those circumstances you really do need a thorough and systematic approach. In my work over the past 18 years as practitioner, purveyor and would-be prophet of technology for training, I have time and time again been asked to justify why videodisc, CD-ROM, web-based training or whatever, should take over from the so-called traditional methods. Everyones looking for a clear-cut answer. However, as someone whod spent a good deal of their life using traditional methods and finding them pretty effective, at least some of the time, I found it hard to give a black and white response. It depends on this, that, the other and more besides. Its a complex decision. The fact is, selecting training methods can be hard, particularly when theres a lot of trainees, a lot of money and a lot of your job at stake. Thats why I decided to repent my sins and develop a tool for selecting training methods. |
© Fastrak Consulting Ltd, 1998. All rights reserved. Last revised 2/11/98.
