Gathering Good Requirements

Successful training programs come from knowing exactly what the training must accomplish for the business, the department, and the individual. They don't just happen. Whether you are developing or contracting training, use these steps to improve your requirements-gathering process, spend less time doing it, and drive more effective training:

Plan your time

It sounds simple, but in our busy world, too many people enter a requirements gathering meeting without knowing specifically what they must accomplish. If you frequently gather requirements as part of your role, create a simple template of the information you need to gather from sponsors and spend as little as 10 minutes and no more than 30 minutes gathering the key information you need.

Select your interviewees

Before you jump in, determine whom to interview. Typically, there is more than one person with an interest in the training, including the sponsor, stakeholders (such as the participants themselves and their managers), and subject-matter experts. You may not need to interview that many people. Instead, interview enough people to gather a complete set of requirements, and stop once you begin hearing the same information again.

Apply effective questioning techniques

Begin by gathering the strategic information while the interviewee is fresh and alert. Converse using broad, open-ended questions that require the person to think, then offer an explanatory response. End the meeting with tactical, easy-to-answer information, such as delivery details. You'll know your questioning technique is working when your head is full of ideas regarding what the learning objectives are and what the design of the program should be.

Gather business expectations

Be sure to gather sponsor and any executive stakeholder expectations. Even the best training won't be praised if it does not meet management expectations and business objectives. This can be accomplished by asking open-ended questions such as these, which are likely to elicit in-depth responses:

• What business objective would you like this training to meet?
• What do you want the training to accomplish and for whom?
• Why do you think this training is important?

Get to the hidden issues

The person you are interviewing won't hold back information on purpose, but she may not realize the existence of important underlying information that could help you build a program that will better address business objectives. To avoid this problem, listen carefully to the answers to your questions, then continue questioning in order to fully understand what is being said. Don't jump to conclusions. Instead, question for complete understanding. The answers will help you prioritize the training content and your project plan. Sample questions include the following:

• Why is that business objective or behavior change so important?
• What challenges are the team having today?
• How are those challenges impacting the business or department?
• What needs to change?

You'll know whether hidden issues exist if you summarize what you heard back to the respondent and she responds with more information to add.

Identify expected behavior change

You need to find out exactly what changes in participants' day-to-day, on-the-job behavior are expected as a result of the training. You'll then use this information to determine which activities and reinforcement exercises will be required in order to ensure that behavior change occurs. Sample questions include:

• What do you want participants to be able to do differently following the training?
• How would you rate participants' competency on these topics today?
• What should change as a result of this training?

Determine the ROI

Determine the business return that the sponsor expects from training - including both financial results (e.g., productivity increases) and soft benefits (e.g., employee morale improvement). Other common return on investment (ROI) measures include decreased expenses, improved customer satisfaction, and incremental sales. If you can identify the ROI the sponsor wants to achieve, you can craft more effective learning objectives, and ultimately determine which topics to train. Here are some questions to ask:

• What business results do you expect to see as a result of this training?
• How will you measure success of this program?

What do you do if the sponsor cannot provide you with the expected ROI? Go back and question to uncover the business need and hidden issues until you can determine a business need or issue that drives a financial business result. All training should be able to show a business result in some way.