How Up-Front Analysis Can Help L&D Leaders Do More With Less

Common Misconceptions About The Analysis Process

Particularly in times of business volatility, L&D leaders may be faced with fewer resources to get work done or to complete the corporate training requests handed to them by other departments. Given these limitations, they may be tempted to dive straight into program design and development without any up-front analysis, thinking it will save time and money—only to have to revisit a solution later because it didn’t target the right needs.

Have you ever faced a similar situation? Unfortunately, skipping the pre-design analysis can sometimes end up costing more in the long run. You may miss out on opportunities to create better, more holistic learning experiences based on the analysis results. On the other hand, if you can master the art of even a small rapid analysis, you can set yourself apart as a proactive L&D professional who’s an expert at making effective decisions and doing more with less.

Let’s dive deeper into some common misconceptions about the analysis process, as well as how you can make this process work for you—not against you—as you prepare to articulate the value of a pre-design analysis for better learner and business outcomes.

Pre-Design Analysis Doesn’t Have To Be Lengthy Or Expensive

When timing is short and budgets are tight, even a simple, small-scale analysis will help yield insights that can inform the design for a better overall product. Ask a few key questions, such as:

1. What’s working now?
2. What isn’t working?
3. What are our pain points?
4. How do people feel about our solutions?
5. What results do we need to see?

For larger-scale initiatives, it may help to take a look at your team size and current resources to determine if you could benefit from some additional help. External learning experts are a great option to augment your team as needed. By partnering with a specialized L&D staffing agency, you can scale your team down as the analysis work begins to wrap up, and then scale back up during development if you need specific roles filled, skill gaps covered, or even an extra pair of hands.

Partnering with external experts comes with another benefit: unique insights into problems similar organizations are facing, and how you can turn these challenges into opportunities during the early stages of the project. They also bring perspectives that may be different from those on your team. This can help promote innovation and foster a culture where creativity thrives, as well as help guide decisions that will result in a better product and prevent the need to rework a program later on.

Key Considerations In Developing A Pre-Design Analysis

Not sure where to start? Here are some ideas to begin doing more with up-front analysis over the next few months.

Plan And Prioritize

Look at upcoming initiatives and figure out where you need more information or assistance from other stakeholders. Gather the information early on so you have time to develop a plan of action rather than being put in a situation where you have to react later.

Know that it may not be possible to cover everything you want to with the resources you have, so focus on prioritizing the most important training needs that can make the best impact. Consult with stakeholders, senior designers, and other experts in different business departments to get their input. Up-front planning can help you to complete a scalable analysis based on collaborative conversations.

Troubleshoot Proactively

Stakeholders and leaders in other departments are busy, so part of the troubleshooting process is learning to be empathetic to their time constraints. Learning may be a second priority for some executives, so by coming up with strategies to make the most of their limited time, you may be able to find a better approach for how to proceed. For example, instead of trying to email back and forth with everyone, you may ask to meet for anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours for a single brainstorming or Q&A session to gather information.

Execute Strategically

Once you have figured out the appropriate type and depth of analysis for their initiative, you can start gathering information and use it to inform the design. This involves actually hosting input sessions and guiding the conversations to find out what’s directly critical to the business as well as the behaviors that will move the needle. Insights gained from these sessions can help you more meaningfully tailor the program design to target specific results and objectives.

During this fact-finding process, you may also uncover information to help reduce costs moving forward or be more effective with investments. For example, instead of rushing into a one-hour training program that may not be the most effective, you may actually discover that a 40-minute module is sufficient, with 20 minutes of post-training resources to help reference or create continuous learning opportunities over time, based on the most important skill gaps.

Looking Back As Well As Forward

Consider strategic assessments of past initiatives that didn’t go so well, where maybe you or other leaders didn’t get the desired results or went over budget. Use this information to improve the design and development of future learning programs, including your approach to the analysis process.

For L&D leaders who want a more comprehensive strategic analysis, consider partnering with a learning services provider (LSP) like AllenComm that has extensive experience in program analysis and strategy. An LSP can help strategize, plan, and design customized roadmaps to meet specific L&D objectives, as well as be a long-term partner in development, implementation, and measurement.

Whether the pre-design assessment is limited or extensive in scope—and whether it’s done with or without assistance from an external resource—it’s a critical part of the development of any successful learning initiative. The insights that can be gained by asking the right questions can ultimately make all the difference in the effectiveness of your training program.