The cover story of this month's T&DJ is called "Moving From Evidence to Proof." The authors once again exhort training practitioners to stop making excuses for failing to evaluate training beyond learner satisfaction and to get to the bottom line: ROI.

Will Measuring Training ROI Mean Career Suicide? Read more »

Recently I had two clients complain to me about how difficult and frustrating it is to find a good instructional designer (ID). I know how they feel. It's taken me decades to build a database of quality instructional designers to staff our projects. It seems like there are a lot of IDs out there, but few who are really good.

Here are eight tips that I've found work to find good instructional designers: Read more »

Two clients recently requested proposals for training design and development work. Normally, I'd be thrilled, but, in both cases, the requests made me nervous. Why?

Scope Change Story

I like my estimates to be accurate. The more defined the project scope, the more accurate the estimate.  This way if we go over budget, it's clear that a change in scope was the cause. It's much easier for our clients to justify a request for additional funding if they have a clear scope change story to tell. Read more »

Our schedule on a recent project was cut by a week due to learner availability to attend the class we were developing. A week may not seem like much, but, since our schedule was only six weeks to start, it was significant. We redoubled our efforts and delivered a successful course on time. However, I've been involved in projects where a short schedule adversely impacted training results because there was inadequate time to design and develop effective training materials.

Short Schedule Blues Read more »

One of the first deliverables you'll review and approve for a custom e-learning course is the user interface (UI) design. The UI design specifies the look and feel of each type of screen within a course. Generally, the designer will present a mock up of an opening screen, a menu screen, a screen with text and an image, and a screen with text and an exercise for you to approve.

But, if you are not a graphic artist, how do you know if the design is any good? Should you approve it? What, if any, elements should you ask the designer to change? Read more »

I've been hunting for a marketing firm. As I've talked with different companies, I've encountered a surprising range of fees. One firm quoted $60 an hour, another over $350.

Consulting companies are much the same. Fees for the same work can run the gamut. So, how can you tell if the fee you are being quoted is fair?

I've narrowed it down to five factors that seem to account for differences in fees. You can use these factors as you shop around to determine whether a particular vendor is charging fairly. Read more »

Bill Gates is a fan of Sal Khan, former hedge fund manager and founder of the non-profit Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org). What's so special about the Khan Academy? Damn fine instructional design! The academy offers over a thousand 10- to 15-minute tutorials on everything from organic chemistry to calculus. Read more »

Do you automatically think e-learning when training participants are not centrally located? In this situation, it certainly can be more convenient, and sometimes even more cost effective, to deliver training virtually than to deliver it in a classroom.

The issue with e-learning, though, is that generally speaking it tends to be expensive. Our Flash-based courses incorporate custom graphics, professionally recorded audio, a visually appealing user interface design, and flawlessly programmed interactions. The production values are high and so is the cost. Read more »

The saga of my kitchen remodel continues. After my brother installed the cabinets, the IKEA subcontractors came out to install the granite countertops I had chosen.

Let me say, I love the new countertops! They are a big improvement over the cheesy tile counters I had before. What I don't love is where the installation crew positioned the sink. Read more »

This past week, I entered the world of kitchen-remodel hell. My idea was to start slowly and nibble away at the work that needed to be done. But, with the discovery of dry rot in my cabinets, the remodel took on a life and a momentum of its own. This is how I found myself at IKEA selecting cabinets and counter-tops. Read more »