Jumping to Training? 10 Micro-Assessment Ideas to Try: Tales of Mismatched Socks and IT Challenges

Ever found yourself struggling with a problem, only to realize you've been tackling it from the wrong angle? Let Sarah guide you on an insightful journey through the maze of problem-solving with the help of two engaging characters - Sam, the sock enthusiast, and Max, the IT guru. Stay tuned as Sam embarks on a quest to unravel the mystery of mismatched socks, and Max battles against productivity issues in his company. Both their stories unfold to reveal the crux of their issues and the importance of a thorough needs analysis before seeking solutions.

You can still access the free learning analysis tool. You will hear about 10 micro-assessment/practical methods such as surveys, polls, interviews, and feedback cards to help you determine whether training is the answer.

Please share, like, and comment on our podcast, which helps us reach new horizons. You can check out my online portfolio in the show notes. I appreciate and thank you all for being a part of my expanding podcast family. Until next time, happy problem solving!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:08):
Hi, it's Sarah.
With Learning to Design, todaywe're going to talk a little bit
more about understanding whattraining needs to be done before
working on that training.
Last episode, I provided a linkfor you to receive a free tool
that will help you with thisinitial planning process.
It is still available.
If you look in the podcastnotes, you can find it there,

(00:28):
and I encourage you to downloadit and use it.
It's totally free and I made itjust for you.
Okay, so I'm going to tell youa story Settle in everyone.
It's the mismatched socksolution.
In a small town named Cozyvillelived Sam, who had a very
particular problem.
Sam had a drawer full ofmismatched socks and it was

(00:48):
absolutely frustrating.
They were determined to solvethis sock conundrum once and for
all.
Sam assumed that the problemwas with their sock folding
technique.
They invested hours and hourswatching YouTube tutorials on
the perfect sock folding method.
They diligently followed thesteps, even practicing late into
the night, until they were anabsolute expert at folding socks

(01:09):
.
They were very excited to seethe results of this when they
emptied the next load out of thedryer.
Despite their efforts, themismatched socks continued to
haunt Sam.
Frustrated and sleep deprived,they decided to seek advice from
a friend named Alex.
Alex chuckled and simply saidwell, did you ever consider
checking the washing machine?
Sam was puzzled by this andfollowed Alex's advice and

(01:30):
inspected the washing machineand, lo and behold, it was
swallowing one sock from eachpair during every wash cycle All
along.
The washing machine was theculprit, not the folding skills.
Just like Sam's sock conundrum,the real problem can be
entirely different from what weinitially assumed.
Just like Sam focused on sockfolding instead of the washing
machine, it's essential that weconduct a thorough needs

(01:53):
analysis before developing thetraining.
Otherwise, we might end upfixing something that isn't even
broken, like perfecting ouralready good enough sock folding
techniques while the washingmachine eats our socks.
That's a silly example aboutmismatched socks, but we can
apply that to the workforce aswell, pretty easily.
Let's go over to IT Town.
There's this person, an IT gurucalled Max.

(02:15):
Max is well known for hisexceptional problem solving
skills and his ability to fixany computer related issues that
come his way.
One day, he receives a callfrom a very large company called
Global Tech.
The company was facing a severeproductivity problem amongst
its employees.
Global Tech's managementbelieved that the employees
lacked technical skills neededto use the company's complex

(02:37):
software tools efficiently.
You can see where this is goingright.
They thought that providingadvanced technical training
would be the solution to theirproductivity problems.
Max, being very eager to help,and an expert at IT, began
developing an elaborate trainingprogram that would enhance the
employees' technical skills.
He created modules on softwaretroubleshooting, advanced

(02:57):
programming, data analysis andmore.
He was super confident thatthis training would solve all of
these productivity issues thatGlobal Tech was facing.
However, as the trainingsessions progressed, max noticed
that the employees didn't seemto enjoy the training at all.
In fact, they were becomingincreasingly frustrated and
disengaged and generally unhappy.
They struggled with the complextechnical concepts and their

(03:20):
productivity declined as theyreceived more training not the
result we're looking for.
Max decided to take a step backand watch the employees.
He went and observed theemployees in their natural work
environment and he was surprisedto discover that, while the
company's software tools wereindeed complex, the root cause
of the productivity problem wasnothing to do with the

(03:40):
employees' technical skills atall.
It was actually the software.
The software was outdated, slowand riddled with bugs.
Max approached Global Tech'smanagement with his findings and
explained the employees weren'tthe problem at all.
Actually it was the software.
He recommended that, instead ofthis advanced technical
training, the company invest inupgrading their software tools
to improve efficiency and userfriendliness.

(04:01):
Global Tech followed Max'sadvice and, after a successful
software upgrade, the employees'productivity soared and they no
longer struggled with theoutdated system and their work
became much more efficient andenjoyable.
This is another metaphoricalstory that describes the
importance of understanding theproblem before developing the
training or solutions.
Just like in Max's case,assuming that skills are the

(04:25):
problem, which happens so often,led to the development of an
ineffective training programthat only exacerbated the
problem and, might I add, wouldhave added a ton of cost to the
company also, would have wasteda lot of Max's time.
This tool that I made that youcan get for free, will walk you
through some questions thatwould have led you to determine
that it's actually not theemployee's skills that were the

(04:47):
problem, that it was a resourcethat was failing them, like the
outdated software.
You could determine that byusing the tool.
So how do you determine theroot cause of a problem if
you've never actually done thisbefore?
Well, okay, I'm going to stoptalking about the tool now, I
promise.
But use the tool, but alsothere are some other things you
can do that are very quick andeffective.

(05:08):
Here are some really quick waysto gather some valuable
insights.
Now, this is just to scratch thesurface, but it's a good place
to start.
You can do surveys, so short,targeted surveys with just a few
key questions to gauge thelearner's prior knowledge,
expectations or preferences.
You can do this with GoogleForms or Survey Monkey to make
the process more efficient.
You can do polls, like usingMentimeter or Poll Everywhere to

(05:32):
ask quick multiple choice oropen-ended questions during a
live session or presentation togather instant feedback.
That's really fun.
People can use their cellphones to do these instant polls
.
You can have brief one-on-oneinterviews, very informally but
very focused, with a fewrepresentative learners.
Even just a five to ten minuteconversation can yield so many

(05:53):
valuable insights.
A discussion forum set upsomething online where learners
can share their thoughts andquestions related to the issue
at hand.
Monitoring these discussionscan provide insights into their
needs and concerns.
You can use physical or digitalfeedback cards so learners can
quickly fill them out at the endof the session.
The cards might includequestions like what did you find

(06:13):
most challenging today or whattopics would you like to explore
further?
Do not just ask about thecoffee in the room.
We can talk a lot aboutlearning evaluation and we will
in a future episode but evenjust getting this information
simply on a feedback card can bereally helpful.
Pre-assessment we can asklearners to review and provide
feedback on each other's workand contribution.

(06:34):
This actually helps revealtheir perceptions of what's
important and what needsimprovement.
Pre-assessment quizzes have ashort quiz at the beginning of
an already developed course ormodule to gain their existing
knowledge.
It helps you identify knowledgegaps and tailor the content
accordingly.
Use social media to make a poll.
Use platforms like Twitter orLinkedIn or Teams to run quick

(06:57):
polls or ask questions relatedto the course topic.
This can actually engage abroader audience and provide
insights into general sentimentsand interests.
Digital analytics let's sayyou're working with e-learning
platforms or websites.
Analyze the user data what arepeople accessing the most?
Where are people spending themost time?
What are they looking for?
This information is so helpfulin indicating what they're

(07:19):
interested in and what they need.
Quick needs assessment meetingsDigital, short, focused meetings
with stakeholders, subjectmatter experts and learners to
discuss their immediate needsand expectations.
So here's the thing.
This is just micro assessment.
Keep it focused, relevant, easyfor learners to participate in,
and these quick methods canprovide you with valuable
insights without consuming toomuch time or resources, because

(07:42):
this could be an expensiveproject, but it doesn't have to
be.
I'll just name the 10 thingsagain Quick surveys, general
polls, one-on-one interviews,information forums, feedback
cards, peer assessment, peerassessment quizzes, social media
polling, digital analytics andquick needs assessment meetings.

(08:02):
There you go 10 quick microassessment strategies for you to
use right now.
I'll provide links in theepisode notes to everything I
mentioned, such as LinkedIn orSurveyMonkey, etc.
So you can access those there.
You can also access my websiteand I will be sure to leave that
link for that free learningneeds assessment tool, just for
you.

(08:22):
It's really cool.
I hope you check it out.
I'm really pleased with it andI had a lot of fun preparing it.
Just for you.
If this podcast is resonatingwith you at all or it helped you
rethink an approach you mighthave had to training, please
tell other people about it,please share it, please tell me
about it, help spread the wordand let's make sure more
organizations are benefitingfrom making more informed

(08:44):
instructional design choices.
Don't forget also that sharing,liking or commenting on this
podcast is a free way for you tosupport it and for me to
continue to be able to supportyou and your instructional
design journey by providing youwith tools, tips, resources and
tricks that I've learned alongthe way to help you in your
instructional design journey.
Thank you so much for listeningtoday.

(09:06):
It really means a lot to me.
Check out my online portfolioin the show notes if you'd like
to see a sample of my work andcome back Listen again.
I'm Sarah and I've reallyenjoyed sharing this with you
today.
Until next time.