Draw Out Results!

In Latin educare "to educate" means "to draw out." But it seems as if education and training are often more focused on a top-down teaching approach where information is disseminated, than a true drawing-out process in which participants discover the learning through a process facilitated by the trainer, leader, or educator. But what's the solution? And what are the advantages?

In this three-part series of articles, we'll explore the benefits and strategies for a true drawing-out process.

Part 1: Draw out participation and engagement discusses the ways to draw out participation and engagement by involving your trainees in the process. (Published in February.)

Part 2: Draw out the best from each participant shows how to draw out the best in each participant by understanding his motivations and needs.

Part 3: Draw out results provides solutions for drawing out sustainable results from your training sessions.

Part 3: Draw Out Results!

Recently I was talking with a new customer who said his number one goal was to increase trust among employees. Great! I thought. But how do you want to measure it?

In another client meeting, I heard him say he measures training effectiveness by how much his trainees remember from the training 30 days later. While this may be a good way to measure knowledge-based training, isn't it just as important (if not more so) to measure behavioral change? After all, remembering the five definitions of strategic thinking doesn't matter unless trainees have applied the learning. And the application is irrelevant unless the results can be quantifiably measured against tangible business objectives.

A goal without measurement is like a race without a finish line. How will you know you got there? In all businesses, the finish line is the bottom line - profits. Profits keep us in business. Even in not-for-profit organizations, financials are measured by top line (sales or revenue) minus costs.

So training initiatives must be measured in bottom-line numbers to make them truly relevant to the purpose of business. Agreed?

Let's get back to my clients goal of increasing trust among his employees. How can we measure that? Surveys can help, but when measuring an intangible such as "trust," it's nearly impossible to get an accurate assessment. Besides, how does an employee survey relate to bottom-line measurements anyway? Therefore, I suggested my client consider the following measurements:

• innovation and new product introduction (because high levels of trust are critical in high-risk situations such as launching new products)
• product or service success rate (because low trust can kill a product)
• quality and accuracy rates (because low levels of trust can significantly limit quality and accuracy)
• employee recruitment, retention, and tenure
• employee punctuality and reduction in absenteeism
• workforce engagement and workforce satisfaction
• leadership development.

Each of these factors can be quantifiably measured and all relate to the bottom line. Therefore, the training you deliver must trace back to these kinds of measurements.

For a list of results measurements in six key categories, see the link at the bottom of this article.

Three critical components to results

There are three critical components to achieving results: performance, ownership, and process.

Performance means that teams have moved through the stages of development (Tuckman's Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing) by understanding each other, identifying and overcoming the barriers to success, and learning how to adapt to work better together. Soft skills programs can accelerate performance by breaking down these barriers and opening up communication.

Ownership is derived by drawing out the ideas and solutions from the employees and team members themselves. When people are involved in a solution, they are more engaged and committed to successful execution. Training programs need to involve participants in coming up with their own ideas and solutions. Brainstorming, games, and other activities should be used to engage the trainees and stimulate them to become involved in the solutions.

Process ensures that the ideas are turned into goals, actions, and measurements. At DrawSuccess, we follow a nine-step process (which is available to readers from the link at the end of this article), beginning with idea generation and ending with celebrating success. Ideally, the results process is delivered through a wraparound training approach, with each session building on the previous one and allowing time in between sessions for homework and reflection.

Probing questions to ask when identifying results measurements

The following list of questions can help prompt participants to come up with their own ways of measuring results from a training session. They can also useful when meeting with internal or external clients prior to a class.

• How can the criteria be measured before and after the implementation of the goal to show improvement?
• Is there currently a system in place for measuring this criteria?
• Can before and after surveys be used?
• What other measurements could be created, both quantitative and qualitative?
• How can you isolate the measurements to specifically measure this goal (by time period, product, person, or customer)?
• Where else can you get this information? For example, a company that doesn't have market share information might be able to get it from another company that serves the same market but doesn't compete with them.
• Are there any industry measurements the team can use?
• How can other teams, groups, or individuals help out in the measurement process?
• How can the team measure behavioral change in a quantifiable way?

Visit my website for free handouts and an activity to help you improve your ability to measure results. (Enter code: DRAWSUCCESS3).