Speaker 1: So, let's talk about everyone's favorite instructional design topic, how to conduct a needs analysis. I promise we'll make this more exciting than it seems. Trust me. Stick around. Hey there folks, Tim Slade here from the eLearning Designers Academy. You know, when I was first getting started in the world of instructional design and eLearning development, I used to dread the very idea of conducting a needs analysis. And I don't know about you, but the whole process seemed overwhelming and confusing. And frankly, if it involved numbers or using Microsoft Excel, it was just not something that I was going to get all that excited about. But the truth is, needs analyses are one of those things that whether you're completely brand new to instructional design or you already have some experience under your belt, it's one of those things that we do a really great job, of overcomplicating in this industry. And it's another one of those things that while we constantly talk about the importance of conducting a needs analysis, there isn't a lot of good, practical, and down to earth information on how to actually conduct one. And you know what? As a result, you'd be amazed at how many learning and development teams out there don't actually make needs analyses a critical part of their instructional design process. So, in this video, we're going to do a pretty deep dive and I'm going to break down the process, So, in this video, we're going to do a pretty deep dive and I'm going to break down the process, So, in this video, we're going to do a pretty deep dive and I'm going to break down the process, process of conducting a needs analysis and make it hopefully, hopefully a little easier and a whole lot less overwhelming. But first, let's ask and answer this question. What the heck is a needs analysis? You know, whether you call it a needs analysis, a training needs assessment, a performance assessment or something else, you know, a needs analysis is simply the process an instructional designer goes through to evaluate a performance issue, to determine the root cause of that performance issue and offer one or more solutions that will hopefully resolve that performance issue, ideally in a measurable and evidence based way. And yeah, you know, that seems like a pretty simple and straightforward definition. But let's dig into it a bit more to understand why conducting a needs analysis is truly so important. You know, when you work as an instructional designer, one of the more challenging aspects of your job is figuring out how to respond to a stakeholder or a subject matter expert when they request training. And too often, we have to rely on the words, assumptions or conclusions of others like our subject matter experts when making important design decisions. And so when we look at the whole instructional design process through the lens of the five phases of the ADDIE model, or even the SAM model for that matter, there's no question why analysis is the very first step. Because when it comes to designing and developing any sort of training, if you don't know why a performance issue is so important, you run the risk of creating a training solution for a non-training problem. And you know what, to make sure that really sinks in, I'm going to repeat that in slow motion.

Speaker 2: If you don't know why a performance issue exists, you run the risk of creating a training solution or a non-training problem. And you know what we call that? It's called a waste of time.

Speaker 1: It's a waste of time. And it's a waste of time. And it's a waste of time. And it's a waste of time. your time creating something that isn't going to be effective. It's a waste of your stakeholders time by creating something that isn't going to deliver any results. It's a waste of your learners time by making them consume content that isn't going to help them in any sort of meaningful way. And all of that adds up to a waste of money and resources for your organization, something that, you know what, too often learning and development departments and instructional design teams are often blamed for. And so the whole point of conducting a needs analysis is to trust but verify everything your stakeholders and subject matter experts are telling you. That way, we can move away from simply being an order taker and move towards being a strategic partner that delivers business results. Because you know what, what you don't want to have happen is you start blindly creating some training because your stakeholders said so. And then you realize halfway through after you've gained additional context that training was never the right solution to begin with. And so what a needs analysis can do is help you gain that context way earlier in the process so that you can better understand the issues and make an informed recommendation on how to fix them. So that's what a needs analysis is and why one is so important. Now, the next obvious question is, how do you actually conduct a needs analysis? Well, you know what, I'm going to be honest with you. This is where we get into the murky waters. What I want you to remember is that there's no single right way of conducting a needs analysis. Every needs analysis is different and contextual to the things you're doing. Your needs analysis process will be different depending on the scope of the performance issues you're trying to address, how many learners it may impact, how much data is available to you, and even the corporate politics at play within the organization you're working. But at the end of the day, a needs analysis is really about asking and answering three basic questions. What are people currently doing? What do we want them doing? And why aren't they doing it? Now, those first two questions are usually pretty easy to answer. Either it's going to be very obvious, or it's going to be very easy to answer. And so the first two questions are going to be your stakeholders, and SMEs will have that information readily available to you, depending on the situation. But you know what, it's that third question. Why aren't people doing the things you want them to do? That's the one that takes time and effort to answer. My point is, if you can answer these questions, then you'll be in a good position to make some conclusions about the root cause of the performance issue so that you can make some informed recommendations about how to fix it. And so that brings us to the next question we need to ask and answer to understand why conducting a needs analysis is so important. So let's start with the first question. Why conducting a needs analysis is so important? And how do you actually conduct one? What causes a lack of performance? And what exactly can training fix? You know, the truth is, you always have to remember that your stakeholders and SMEs think everything can be fixed with training. But you know, if your stakeholders have employees who aren't performing a specific task or behavior, or maybe they aren't meeting some expected level of performance, is it possible that the cause has nothing to do with a lack of knowledge or training? Well, of course it does. And it's your job to uncover those issues so that we can identify and recommend the right solutions to fix them. Now, with that in mind, most performance issues can be linked back to one or more of the following causes. First, there may be a lack of knowledge. Perhaps the learner doesn't know how to perform a specific task. For example, you know, a salesperson doesn't know the features and benefits of a product or service in order to sell it to a potential customer. Second, it could be a lack of skill. Perhaps the learner doesn't have the skill to perform a specific task. So, if you know how to perform the task at the desired level of proficiency. So, for example, a salesperson struggles to respond to and overcome the objections a potential customer has to purchasing the product or service. Third, it could be a lack of motivation. Perhaps the learner isn't motivated to perform the task. For example, a salesperson is commissioned higher for selling some products versus others. And so, they aren't motivated to sell those products, which will earn them less commission. And fourth, it could be a lack of resources within the performance environment. Perhaps the learner doesn't have the necessary resources to perform the desired task. So, for example, the systems a salesperson are required to use are slower and take longer than the desired time of completion. Understanding what actually causes a gap in performance is critical to understanding whether or not training can actually fix it. So, as we look at these four things, obviously, we can create training that increases knowledge or improves someone's skill. But what about a lack of motivation or resources? Can training fix these things too? Well, you know, the quick answer is no. But I think there are some instances where training can help. While training by itself won't magically motivate your learners or provide them with the resources they need, training can uncover the benefits your learners might gain from applying their existing knowledge or skills, if they exist. Training can also help expose your learners to performance support resources that can help improve the use of their existing knowledge or skills. But, you know, the reason this is so important to understand is that, when we're asked to create training by your stakeholders and subject matter experts, the onus is on us to determine what's causing the performance issue in the first place before we commit to any training at all. So with all that context now in mind, how do you actually do all of that as an instructional designer? Well, we're going to break down the needs analysis process into four steps. Identify goals, collect data, analyze the data, and make recommendations. Now, let's jump into the first of these four steps. goals. You know, when you're first diving into conducting a needs analysis, the first thing you want to do is identify the goals your stakeholders and subject matter experts are trying to achieve. And, you know, as I mentioned earlier, answering the question of what are people currently doing and what do you want them doing usually aren't that hard to answer. But the difference between these two answers is usually where the goal lies for what your stakeholders and SMEs are looking to achieve. But what you're looking for at this stage is to go deeper so that you can gain a quantitative and qualitative sense of what actually needs to change. So, for example, let's imagine you work as an instructional designer for a technology company. Let's call it Webistia. And you've been approached by your stakeholders to create training for Webistia's customer service and sales employees. It's not enough to simply say we want employees to deliver better customer service and sell more products. That's not specific enough. So instead, your objective is to identify to what extent do you want to achieve your goals? And what are the goals that you want to achieve? You want them to deliver better customer service and sell more products. So let's say, for example, they're currently selling $10,000 worth of products and services per week. How much do we want them selling instead? 12,000? 15,000? 10%? 15%? You know what? Or if the average customer service score is a 5.5 out of 10, do we want to increase that to a 7? A 7.5 or higher? My point is, this is where you need to get into the weeds with what exactly your stakeholders and SMEs are trying to do. Now, I'll be honest, there will be times when you aren't able to quantify the specific changes you're looking for. And in those cases, it may become a discussion of qualitative changes. So, for example, if we want leaders to perform better, you know, or more effective performance reviews, what does it mean to perform an effective performance review? What are the standards you're looking to see demonstrated? And what makes a bad performance review versus a good one? Whether the goals you identify are quantitative, qualitative, qualitative, qualitative, qualitative, or a combination of the two, your job is to identify what right looks like. And this becomes the foundation of how you'll measure whether or not your efforts will be successful. Now, you might be wondering, what if the goal is simply to increase knowledge? And you know what? The truth is, this is a very common starting point for when you're working with subject matter experts and stakeholders. And depending on the content of the training or the type of organization you work in, simply increasing knowledge might very well be your objective. However, if, you know, we're talking about workplace training, increasing knowledge really shouldn't be the starting point. Remember, knowledge and behavior aren't mutually exclusive. And just because people know more, it doesn't mean that that's going to translate into them doing more. And so, when we're talking about goals with our stakeholders and SMEs, never start the conversation by asking, what do learners need to know? Instead, start the conversation with, what do learners need to do differently? And how can we measure that? All right. So, after you have identified what it is your stakeholders are looking to achieve, the second step is to start collecting data. And this is where we get into the whole trusting but verifying part of the process. You know, as I've shared before, your stakeholders and subject matter experts will always believe they know why people aren't doing the things that they want them to be doing. They think, gosh, you know, if we just, you know, train them some more, then they'll be able to do that thing more. They'll be able to do this thing differently. But, you know, as we already know, that's just, you know, simply not the case. And so, your objective at this stage of the needs analysis process is to collect the data to help you paint a picture for yourself as to what's really going on. So, for example, if we go back to our Webistia sales example, it wouldn't be too difficult to find the data that shows the number of or the numbers for what the sales employees are currently selling along with their customer service scores. Those things are usually pretty self-evident in a sales or customer service environment. However, if we want them selling more and increasing customer service scores, the question becomes about, what data or evidence can we glean to explain why they aren't doing that? So whenever possible, hard empirical data is always going to be great. But to truly understand what's going on, you'll likely need to dig deeper. This might involve some sort of learner analysis where you observe or interview your learners to see if you can understand why the performance issue exists. You may learn that, you know, more tenured employees perform better simply because they have more experience or that, you know, newer employees struggle because they don't receive adequate coaching from their managers. And of course, if you're conducting a needs analysis that involves hundreds or maybe thousands of employees, or if you don't have direct access to your learners, it might mean sending out a survey to gather the insights you need. Now, from there, you might also want to examine what existing training or resources are provided to employees. By doing this, you might learn that previous training efforts weren't as comprehensive as they needed to be, or worse, no training was provided at all. And finally, it's also a good idea to review any best practices or procedures that exist for the behaviors or tasks you're analyzing. From this, you may discover that current procedures contradict what your stakeholders and SMEs are expecting your learners to do. Or in many instances, no standard best practice or procedure has been created at all. For example, if your stakeholders and subject matter experts are looking to increase customer service satisfaction, you'd want to know if there are any customer service standards in place. And if not, that could very well be part of the issue. If not, totally the issue. And if that's the case, conducting a task analysis might help you to reverse-engineer a particular procedure so that you can understand the scope of the thing or things learners are expected to do. And so, what data you collect and how you go about collecting it will vary from one situation to the next. Whatever the case might be, your goal is to gain as much context and evidence as possible so that you don't have to rely 100% on what your stakeholders and subject matter experts are telling you. As I said before, it's not just testing, but verifying. So, you've collected as much information and data as you're able to get your hands on. And hopefully, by now, you have more context about what's going on than you did before. But a bunch of raw data alone isn't enough to help you make conclusions or recommendations that you can bring back to your stakeholders and SMEs. And so, the third step for conducting a needs analysis is to analyze the data, which is the analysis part of conducting a needs analysis. Now, again, I want to emphasize that there's no perfect science to analyzing the data. The truth is, your goal when analyzing the data is to identify trends, commonalities, or correlations as to why something is or is not happening. That way, you can better identify whether the issue is caused by those four things we talked about earlier. Lack of knowledge, skills, motivation, resources, or something else. So, for example, if we think back to our Webastia sales example, our goal might have been to increase product sales by 10%. And that's why we were able to do that. We discovered that when we looked at the data, that product sales for some products were lower than others. But we also discovered that sales employees are commissioned differently for those products. And so, it might be safe to assume that sales employees aren't as motivated to sell those products for which they are commissioned less. And, of course, we could verify this by talking to those employees. And so, in this instance, because it's an issue of motivation, no amount of training would fix that. Instead, we would recommend that we adjust the commission structure. However, through our observing, interviewing, or surveying of sales employees, we might have also learned that the number one part of the sales process that they feel least confident about is overcoming customer objections. And it just so happens that that part of the sales process isn't really covered in the new hire training that all of those employees receive. And so, because there's a lack of skill in this area, some training might help improve this skill and ultimately be the key to improving sales. And finally, taking a look at the company's best practices, you might have also discovered that there are no dedicated customer service standards in place, which might account for why customer satisfaction scores are so low. And so, establishing some standards and possibly creating training on those standards might be the key for moving those customer service scores up from a 5.5 average. So, those are just some examples of what your data analysis might look like. Again, you know, every analysis will be different and contextual to the thing or things you're analyzing. But, if you're able to walk away with the additional context necessary to make some informed assumptions and conclusions, you'll be better off than you were when you were simply trusting the words of your stakeholders and subject matter experts. Alright, so…now, if you've made it to this stage of the ditz and ellesis process, you're done with all of the hard work and you're over the worst of it. And so, after you've established an understanding of what your stakeholders and SMEs are looking to achieve and you've collected and analyzed any available data, the fourth and final step is to present the results and make your recommendations. Great, thanks for hanging out baked. See you next time. recommendations. Now, what I really want to emphasize here is that this is a discussion you want to have in collaboration with your stakeholders and SMEs. And it's so important that they feel like they're not just part of the process, but also part of coming up with the solutions. Because here's the thing, they've come to you with a training request. And so when you present the results of your needs analysis, you're not just presenting what training solutions might fix their issues, you're also presenting potential non-training solutions, which will likely go against what they believe is true. And so how you present those recommendations can affect whether or not your stakeholders or SMEs will buy into them. Here's what you want to avoid. What you don't want to do is have them make a training request. You go off and conduct a needs analysis and then come back and say, sorry, you were wrong. There's no training issues here. So we're denying your request. Bye. All that will accomplish is you damaging the relationship you have with your stakeholders and subject matter experts. But you know, it'll, also increase the chances that they'll just work around you and create their own training because, you know, it's too much of a hassle to work with you. And so as you present the results of your needs analysis, along with your recommendations, remember to be objective and treat it as an open conversation. What I like to do is outline my findings by creating a simple table that outlines the goal of what we're seeking to achieve, the data showing the current level of performance, along with the desired level of performance, the evidence I found for what's causing the gap in performance. Along with my potential recommendations. Now, at this stage, as it relates to your non-training recommendations, it's important that you back them up with any data or evidence you have available. And that's because, you know, with your non-training recommendations, you're likely suggesting solutions that will put work back on the plates of your stakeholders and SMEs. And while, you know, you can't control whether or not they adopt any of your non-training recommendations, it can help if you can explain how your training and non-training recommendations can work together to help them. Now, as for your training recommendations that you might have, I suggest keeping it pretty high level. At this point, we're not getting into the nitty gritty of whether we're creating an e-learning course, an instructor-led training, or anything else. We're just talking about what solutions might work, not the design of those solutions. All right. So now, before we wrap up this video, if you'd like to use my simple needs analysis template to help you document the findings of your own needs analysis and present the results back to your stakeholders and SMEs, feel free to check out the link down in the description and down in the comments to download it. All right. So that's my four-step process for conducting a needs analysis. And I know it's a lot, but, you know, the process is so important if you want to avoid being treated like an order taker, cranking out pointless courses to your learners. And of course, the process will scale up or down depending on the scope of the issue you're analyzing. What I want you to remember is that no needs analysis will be perfect. You'll never have all of the answers. And a needs analysis isn't about determining what training is needed, but rather determining the cause of a performance issue and making informed recommendations on how to fix it, whether or not it involves training. So what are the next steps after you conduct a needs analysis? Well, you know, assuming the results of your needs analysis suggest that training is needed, that's where you'd move into the design phase of the ADDIE model. And that's where you take the goals you identified and perhaps create an action map to design a blend of training and performance. And that's where you'd move into the design phase of the training solution that connects back to those measurable goals. And of course, from there, once you've designed the full training solution, you'd then formally present that back to your stakeholders and SMEs in the form of a design document. All right, so I want to know, what does your process look like for conducting a needs analysis? Share your thoughts, tips, or questions by commenting down below. Otherwise, I want to thank you so much for watching. If you haven't done so already, please make sure to click those like, subscribe, and bell buttons down below to get alerted the next time I publish a video just like this one. And of course, join us inside the eLearning Designers Academy with the link down below where we focus on helping new instructional designers and eLearning developers grow their careers by focusing on skills first. Otherwise, my name is Tim Slade, and until next time, I'll see you around.