Locked lesson.

Upgrade

About this lesson

In the typical project of today, a project training plan is essential to address the challenges with project resources. At this time in the project, the impact of the training plan that was developed is assessed. In addition, changes to the project team will likely require modifications to the training approach.

Exercise files

Download this lesson’s related exercise files.

Measuring Training Exercise.docx
62.5 KB Measuring Training Exercise Solution.docx
62.7 KB

Quick reference

Measure Training Outcomes

As training has become a more prevalent aspect of project planning and management, the project leadership team must assess the outcomes of the training to drive continuous improvement.

When to use

Following the completion of a training program, the impact of the training on the team performance and interactions over the next phase or sprint should be evaluated to ensure the training has been effective.   

Instructions

As part of the project planning process, a training plan should have been developed that addressed skills training, team dynamics training, formal education/certification, and on-the-job training.  As the training is delivered, the project leader and core team members should be assessing the performance of both individuals and the team as a whole to determine the effectiveness of the training and to determine the need for any follow-up training.

Training programs that focus on training project management methodology including phases, sprints, decision-making gates, and team member roles should impact how smoothly a project is executed and controlled.  This will be realized in a significant reduction in risk due to the clarity of expectations and the interactions that occur.

Training programs that focus on building technical skills, be they functional skills, team dynamic skills, or project management skills, should improve the performance of tasks on the project.  To the extent that the project plan is well crafted and managed, this will impact overall project performance.  However, the immediate effect should be to see fewer errors and less budget or schedule variance.

A common technique used on projects is on-the-job training.  The primary impact of this approach is that the individual is learning while doing, so there is an immediate improvement in the quality and performance of their work.   The Sprint retrospectives and Lessons Learned sessions after each project phase should be providing immediate assessment of how well the training is progressing.  These sessions can be used to kick off another round of the Shewhart cycle for continuous improvement: Plan, Do, Check, Act.

Hints & tips

  • Don’t place much stock in the training evaluations that people complete at the end of training sessions.  Those are often an indication of whether the individual was entertained, not whether they learned.
  • Measurements are often made against a standard and the standard for most project teams is how well they did on the last phase or sprint.  If the team is brand new, use a company standard until the team creates their won baseline performance.
  • Different people learn at different rates and in different ways, if the training does not seem to be working, try a different approach.
Login to download
  • 00:04 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
  • 00:05 We've discussed the need for a training plan.
  • 00:08 Now, let's look at how we measure the training outcomes.
  • 00:11 To measure the effectiveness of training, you need to know the purpose for
  • 00:15 the training and the desired outcomes.
  • 00:17 The purpose or desired outcomes for some training is to orient team members about
  • 00:21 the culture and the norms for their work environment.
  • 00:24 This usually involves building awareness, both self-awareness and
  • 00:28 the organizational awareness.
  • 00:29 Within the project setting,
  • 00:31 this would include training about the project management methodology in use.
  • 00:34 This training is to provide awareness of how the methodology works, and
  • 00:38 to set expectations about their role and the role of other team members.
  • 00:43 In addition to the project management methodology, project leader and
  • 00:46 team members often receive training about basic business concepts.
  • 00:50 Such as basic finance, meeting management, communication, and business strategy.
  • 00:57 The outcomes from the training will take many forms.
  • 01:00 Of course, you can always have the standard training evaluation forms.
  • 01:03 But these forms don't easily translate into project outcomes, and
  • 01:07 that is what we really want to focus on.
  • 01:10 Because of the awareness of the methodology and expectations, the project
  • 01:14 team should have a better understanding of what they're expected to do.
  • 01:17 This will lead to better hand-offs and communication about project tasks.
  • 01:22 This should reduce risk of delays, overruns, or other project issues.
  • 01:26 The team should be able to identify, evaluate, and report the risks,
  • 01:31 because they have a better awareness of what is expected of them and
  • 01:35 others on the project.
  • 01:36 In addition to using training to build awareness,
  • 01:40 we often use training to help team members obtain new skills or hone existing ones.
  • 01:45 In other words, in addition to knowing what they should do,
  • 01:48 we use training to teach them how to do it.
  • 01:51 Within the project context,
  • 01:52 the type of new skills will usually be in one of three categories.
  • 01:56 The first is functional skills, things like training the marketing team members
  • 02:00 in the latest social media marketing techniques,
  • 02:03 or training the IT person so that they can upgrade their programming abilities.
  • 02:08 Most of the time, this type of training is to refresh or
  • 02:11 enhance existing knowledge and skills.
  • 02:14 The second type of training is interpersonal or team training.
  • 02:18 This could be negotiating skills, conflict management, or emotional intelligence.
  • 02:22 While everyone has been interacting with others all their life, for
  • 02:26 some team members, this will be building new skills.
  • 02:30 And the third category is project management skills,
  • 02:33 such as how to calculate a critical path, or how to estimate project tasks.
  • 02:37 Unless the individual has had formal project management training in the past,
  • 02:42 this will likely be creating new skills.
  • 02:44 That means it may take a bit longer and
  • 02:46 require more practice until they become proficient.
  • 02:49 The outcome from this type of training should flow straight into team
  • 02:53 performance.
  • 02:54 Again, we'll set aside the course feedback sheets and focus on the project impact.
  • 03:00 With improved technical performance by all team members,
  • 03:04 we should see an impact in all three sides of the project management,
  • 03:08 faster, less expensive, and higher-quality results.
  • 03:12 In addition to the project performance,
  • 03:14 we should see an upgrade in the team interactions.
  • 03:17 This does not mean that all team meetings will now be warm and
  • 03:21 fuzzy emotional support group meetings.
  • 03:23 Rather, that team members interact in a manner that improves clear communication
  • 03:28 and decision-making.
  • 03:29 I recall one team I was on that had excellent team interpersonal
  • 03:33 relationships.
  • 03:34 We listened to each other and worked for a solution, but we also challenged each
  • 03:38 other regularly and debated vigorously when necessary about team decisions.
  • 03:42 The team had been through several team training programs.
  • 03:45 We knew each other's strengths and weaknesses and we trusted each other.
  • 03:48 As a result, we reached decisions quickly, and
  • 03:51 they were good decisions that moved the project forward.
  • 03:54 An additional point I want to make about measuring training effectiveness is that
  • 03:59 the training should lead to continuous improvement in project performance.
  • 04:03 We often hear today about the need to become lifelong learner.
  • 04:06 And with the changes routinely occurring in the marketplace and industry today,
  • 04:10 the ability to adapt and react are essentially business characteristics.
  • 04:15 That means that the project team is encountering new experiences in
  • 04:18 every project, and often in every phase of every project.
  • 04:22 The team members should learn from their experiences.
  • 04:24 Essentially, this is a form of on-the-job training.
  • 04:28 When you treat each phase as an on-the-job training laboratory,
  • 04:31 then the team members should be improving with each phase of the project.
  • 04:35 As they gain experience with new systems, frameworks, tools, and techniques,
  • 04:40 the variation in cost and schedule performance should shrink, either because
  • 04:44 of fewer mistakes in execution or better estimates for planning, or even both.
  • 04:49 The same would hold true with team dynamics and team performance.
  • 04:53 Think about a sports team, every practice session is training for
  • 04:56 the team to improve its teamwork.
  • 04:58 In the same way, every phase or
  • 05:00 sprint on a project should lead to improved team interactions and
  • 05:03 performance, especially in the areas of communication and decision-making.
  • 05:08 In fact, the team should think of each phase or
  • 05:10 sprint of the project as another training opportunity, and
  • 05:14 therefore another trip around the Shewhart cycle, plan, do, check, act.
  • 05:18 They can plan to apply their improved skills or lessons learned from previous
  • 05:22 phases, do that in this phase, check out the effectiveness and the lessons learned
  • 05:27 from this phase or sprint, and then act to implement or further improve.
  • 05:30 When you build this expectation into your project management approach,
  • 05:35 that each phase is the next step in training,
  • 05:37 then you can create this virtuous cycle of learning and continuous improvement.
  • 05:42 Projects are unique, and therefore,
  • 05:44 project team members are always gaining new experiences and learning new skills.
  • 05:48 Ensure those skills affect the bottom line of team performance.

Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.

PMI, PMP, CAPM and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

Gift this course