D Foster Associates

Increasing revenue through learning and collaboration

NELA Videoconference Event

Posted by Doug Foster in Events, e-Learning (December 4, 2006 at 11:00 am)

I just wanted to remind people of an interesting upcoming event sponsored by NELA.  It will be an international videoconference, which you can read about on the NELA blog.  I participated in a similar event last year, and it was very interesting to hear different points of view based on the international aspect of the event.  I highly recommend it for folks involved in learning technology and the financial services area.

Comments from CMASTD/NELA Roadblocks to Learning Technology Seminar

Posted by Doug Foster in Learning Design, Speaking, e-Learning ( at 10:50 am)

I wanted to take a few minutes to summarize some notes from last weeks CMASTD & NELA Roadblocks to Learning Technology Seminar. You can read the description on the NELA blog.

The seminar started with Mike Brennan from Knowledge Infusion giving the key-note. He spoke of the K-I “Strategy -> Plan -> Action” Methodology using some of his current clients as examples.

One interesting quote he used was from a Towers Perrin study that said

“92% of reasons for failed projects are ‘soft issues’ – organizations, people, and culture.”

Mike said that delivering value is the universal key factor in driving success. To do this he recommended focusing on:

  • Aligning with key organizational initiatives
  • Creating “buzz” through internal marketing
  • Doing pre-emptive change management by seeding adoption before the launch with key stakeholders or groups

Another key item I wanted to share came during a discussion on ROI and how you can quantify the softer side of internal training initiatives. Mike suggested that a metric he has used successfully is to measure the number of people promoted internally as a measure of training success and succession management effectiveness.

I’ll have some more comments from the panel discussion that I moderated, and I’m working to get Mike’s slides posted on the NELA Blog as well.