Redundancy - Unless "By Design" - Is an Unnecessary Life-Cycle-Costs Multiplier

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7279196447082978765.post-75846326776565273392008-06-13T06:52:00.008-05:002008-06-13T08:29:43.421-05:00Redundancy - Unless "By Design" - Is an Unnecessary Life-Cycle-Costs MultiplierETA = Existing T&D Assessment The intent of assessing existing T&D is to salvage, as appropriate, all of the previous T&D that meets the needs articulated and captured in the analysis meeting. The goal is to avoid reinventing T&D that is already in place. Effectively conducting this portion of the analysis effort saves organizational resources by recycling reusable T&D. ETA attempts to avoid "inadvertent redundancy" - unless "by design" - that is, redundancy deliberately done for reinforcement or remediation purposes. I believe that "ETA" is a key, value-added step missing from most ISD/ID (Instructional Systems Design/Instructional Design) methodologies - regardless of whether it is part of a "Rapid" approach or not. In RADD, the PACT-version of "really accelerated PACT" - it is still a key step... <a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJhHfAcYjI/AAAAAAAAGN4/pL6e_Ptdn5I/s1600-h/RADD+4-3-2+logo+All+9+Steps.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211334500031423026" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJhHfAcYjI/AAAAAAAAGN4/pL6e_Ptdn5I/s320/RADD+4-3-2+logo+All+9+Steps.jpg" border="0" /></a> I believe in a RADD approach to ISD after a PACT CAD - Curriculum Architecture Design - effort has concluded. The content configuration provided by the CAD enables all sorts of rapid content development approaches by ISDers and "even" SMEs/MPs (Subject Matter Experts/Master Performers) - but I wouldn't leave the analysis and macro-design to them. Without a CAD prior, most rapid development efforts would, over time, most likely end up creating a "collection of courses" with tremendous overlaps and gaps. That would increase first costs - to develop all of that redundancy in the first place - and then increase life cycle costs to inventory, administrate, deploy, and maintain all of that redundant content over the long haul. Yikes!!!! Where is the logic in that? In the PACT Processes for T&D/ Learning/ Knowledge Management - it always happens in Phase 2: Analysis - for each of the three levels of design that PACT is... <a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJhHS1xqJI/AAAAAAAAGOA/5Nrs75zp7Rw/s1600-h/PACT+Logo.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211334496765454482" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJhHS1xqJI/AAAAAAAAGOA/5Nrs75zp7Rw/s320/PACT+Logo.jpg" border="0" /></a> Why bother? For the R of it...as in Returns...as in ROI...Return on Investment. What RETURNS? These Returns... <a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJhHh__J8I/AAAAAAAAGOI/zfM8vd-0Wn8/s1600-h/PACT+and+ROI.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211334500834813890" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJhHh__J8I/AAAAAAAAGOI/zfM8vd-0Wn8/s320/PACT+and+ROI.jpg" border="0" /></a> The PACT Processes use a "data-logic" approach to ISD, whether done Rapidly or more cautiously. The PACT Processes are indeed accelerated, being accomplished in shorter cycle times than traditional ISD/ID due to their use of this data-logic and the defined processes of PACT with specific roles to be assigned, and the use of teams of Master Performers and Subject Matter Experts who were carefully selected by the key stakeholders - for political as well as credibility purposes. The data-logic map of PACT follows... <a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJglZ6dTuI/AAAAAAAAGNQ/5g-LXU-ejFA/s1600-h/PACT+Data+Logic+Diagram.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211333914548588258" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJglZ6dTuI/AAAAAAAAGNQ/5g-LXU-ejFA/s320/PACT+Data+Logic+Diagram.jpg" border="0" /></a> ETA Data Generation After analyzing performance requirements and knowledge/skill enablers, existing T&D can be assessed for its fit within the architecture designed by Curriculum Architecture Design, Modular Curriculum Development, or Instructional Activity Development. The PACT analysis process by which this happens is called the Existing T&D Assessment (ETA). The goals of the Existing T&D Assessment are to 1. Reuse everything in the T&D inventory that fits, using the T&D as is in the new Curriculum Architecture Design, Modular Curriculum Development, or Instructional Activity Development project. 2. Identify what to fix if the T&D doesn’t quite fit; the T&D will need to be modified/updated for use in the CAD, MCD, or IAD products. 3. Throw away the T&D that doesn’t fit (at least for the audiences we are analyzing!); the existing T&D will not be used at all. The Performance Model and Knowledge/Skill Matrix data points provide a “bill of materials” for the content of the ideal, blue sky Curriculum Architecture Design, or for a piece of a curriculum. They also provide a set of shopping criteria to be used to assess existing T&D. The criteria can also be used to procure T&D in the marketplace. PACT's CAD methods deliver blended "content configurations" and development/acquisition approaches for both build and buy. The data of the Performance Model and Knowledge/Skill Matrix are used to investigate and assess learningware currently in the organization’s T&D inventory. In some instances, learningware from outside the organization is assessed. Using the Performance Model and the Knowledge/Skill Matrix means that the assessment is grounded in data, not simply opinion. <a name="_Toc469906272">Who Does What</a> The key players in the Existing T&D Assessment are the PACT analyst (or the PACT project manager) along with representatives from the T&D supplier organizations. The analyst is usually the best person to represent the PACT side of things, unless the project manager was in the analysis meeting and understands the data in the Performance Model and Knowledge/Skill Matrix. Each T&D supplier is given the chance to nominate various training and development products as being appropriate to the needs identified and captured in the Performance Model and the Knowledge/Skill Matrices. <a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJglmT9HYI/AAAAAAAAGNY/MiZmoMC6U2g/s1600-h/ETA+Process+Flow.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211333917876755842" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJglmT9HYI/AAAAAAAAGNY/MiZmoMC6U2g/s320/ETA+Process+Flow.jpg" border="0" /></a> The outputs of the Existing T&D Assessment effort are the completed ETA forms... <a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJgl-iOBFI/AAAAAAAAGNg/_e4I4FrKMdk/s1600-h/ETA+for+TMC.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211333924379034706" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJgl-iOBFI/AAAAAAAAGNg/_e4I4FrKMdk/s320/ETA+for+TMC.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a name="_Toc469906274">Inputs and Likely Sources for the Existing T&D Assessment</a> Key inputs may come from existing course catalogs or from ISD personnel knowledgeable about the company’s T&D. It is sometimes a difficult task to gather all of the T&D and find the right people to speak for the T&D that may be applicable to the project’s needs. The analyst can speed the effort by contacting likely sources prior to conducting the Existing T&D Assessment and forewarning them by describing the analysis process, the information needed, and when it will be needed. I've had several instances where selecting the right content from many options - as the 27 2-hour modules on Active Listening that one client confronted in their conduct of the ETA effort. And that was for only one of the K/S Items out of over 800 Knowledge/Skills Items on the K/S Matrices for their CAD effort. <a name="_Toc469906275">Tasks Performed during an Existing T&D Assessment</a> The tasks performed during an Existing T&D Assessment effort are generally performed by the analyst, although in some cases the project manager may do them. First, the analyst contacts the likely sources of T&D prior to the assessment. The sources may include outside vendors of T&D, but most often this effort is limited to internal sources - at least in my experience. In a large company, this can be quite an effort; the project planner/manager or ISD team should not underestimate the ETA task’s cycle time or the number of hours the task may actually take. It helps a great deal to know the possible extent/number of content offerings that one is likely to confront when one reaches this stage within Phase 2 (Analysis) of the PACT Processes. Once the analyst has documented the Performance Model and Knowledge/Skill Matrix data, advance copies can be sent to the T&D suppliers. The analyst needs to be sure the suppliers understand the format of these analysis outputs and how to interpret the data on them. It is likely that the T&D Suppliers (internal and external) will not familiar with the Performance Model and Knowledge/Skill Matrix data organization - it is very different from traditional ISD/ID - and helping them see the big picture prior to reviewing these tables and lists of sometimes very "dense" data - will lead to their understanding and ability to search backwards from their own lists of available content to look for matches - as well as start with the requirements and work forward from that starting point. When meeting with the T&D suppliers, the analyst reviews the courses and other T&D that the suppliers believe meet the needs documented. Then the analyst fills out the Existing T&D Assessment forms. Finally, the analyst includes the Existing T&D Assessment data in the Analysis Report and in the presentation for the Project Steering Team gate review meeting. This meeting occurs at the end of Phase 2 in the 3 levels of design of PACT: Curriculum Architecture Design, Modular Curriculum Development, and Instructional Activity Development. <a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJgmH-M3NI/AAAAAAAAGNo/anCZQjKIWDI/s1600-h/ETA+for+REUSE.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211333926912318674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJgmH-M3NI/AAAAAAAAGNo/anCZQjKIWDI/s320/ETA+for+REUSE.jpg" border="0" /></a> Another Approach There are other ways to conduct the T&D assessments. You could send out your data with a set of instructions and ask providers to nominate their T&D as they see fit. This is somewhat problematic, as suppliers tend to see many of their offerings as perfect fits. They won’t necessarily understand (or want to understand) your data as well as someone might who was present during the analysis process. And the suppliers may be rewarded by their own organizations for making sure that their square courses are seen as fitting your round peg holes of need. You could also survey all or some of your target audience and their leaders/managers to uncover fits of "content" to defined need. <a name="_Toc469906276">Conclusion</a> The Existing T&D Assessment saves organizational resources by identifying T&D that may be reused as part of newly designed curriculum. That assessment is only as good as the insight regarding the need is. And in PACT, that insight is driven via the data of the Performance Models and of the Enabling Knowledge/Skill Matrices. Wrapping Up This and the 3 Prior Postings on the PACT Analysis Data The Existing T&D Assessment is the last of four types of analysis that occur during the PACT Analysis Process. The others are <a name="_Toc468688952">• The analysis of Target Audience Data</a> <a name="_Toc468688953">• Performance modeling</a> <a name="_Toc468688954">• Knowledge/skill analysis</a> Together, these four types of analysis provide the project team with everything they need to know to proceed with the next phase of the project. However, after these analyses have been performed, there are a few items to take care of before proceeding to those next phases–and those items are covered in the book "lean-ISD" - available as a free 404-page PDF at <a href="http://www.eppic.biz/">http://www.eppic.biz/</a> - <a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJgmGXGKPI/AAAAAAAAGNw/X_0DWayxraE/s1600-h/Copy+of+book+cover+-+side+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211333926479866098" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_2hGvWKBxmvE/SFJgmGXGKPI/AAAAAAAAGNw/X_0DWayxraE/s320/Copy+of+book+cover+-+side+1.jpg" border="0" /></a> See the book for the more formal, controlled PACT Processes - and see elsewhere in past Blog Postings here about RADD - my PACT version of Rapid Analysis-Design-Development. The former approach, PACT, is appropriate for larger efforts, where the deliverable is something more than a 2-hour module. RADD is more appropriate for "instructional one-offs" or the shorter Events/Modules post CAD - Curriculum Architecture Design. # # #Guy W. Wallacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01462952681694155575noreply@blogger.com