1: Getting Started

Every time you receive a request to develop or update a training program, a training needs assessment is in order.  So, what is a Training Needs Assessment?  In a nutshell, it's an effort to identify three main elements:

1. The goal, or the performance change you want to bring about to meet your organization's needs.
2. The gap you need to close for your learners to act in the way you want.
3. The possible solutions for closing the gap.

In cases where you’re offering learning for the sake of learning, then a training needs assessment may not be that useful since your goal isn’t to equip your team to perform specific skills or behaviors at work. But if you’re being approached to help a team adopt a specific behavior or skill, then a training needs analysis will help you make sure your training programs get a reputation for being effective and aligned with your organization’s goals.

Questions for Identifying Your Goal and Gap

The following questions – adapted from this article by David Maister – will help you start to identify your goals and the gaps you need to address to achieve them:

1. What are people not doing that we want them to be doing?
2. Why are they not doing these things?

Reflection

Take a moment to consider the questions above and write your responses down.