If This Move Makes Me a Traitor, I'm OK With That

Perhaps you've also felt this way when writing training?

Last year I decided to offer leadership training to clients.  But then I thought, "If I have to write one more slide deck and participant workbook, I'm gonna lose it!"

"And I've got to offer robust online learning as an option, but I know how long it takes to write a course in Storyline, and there's no way I can devote that time or afford to pay for it!"

To some extent, writing training is fun to do.  But holy cow - doing this well is a LOT of work.  In addition to an assortment of classroom trainings, I've even gone as far as to create a highly interactive training within Storyline. That 20-minute course took me approximately  120 hours to create. Creating truly quality training, and getting an ROI on it is often elusive (which is why so many consulting firms charge an arm and a leg for their custom trainings).

So, I set off to find a high quality, flexible, off-the-shelf option that could be extended to clients at an accessible price point.  After combing the market, Vital Learning was the clear winner. Truly, it's the curricula I always imagined, but always felt frustrated not to be able to create.  

When I shared my adoption of Vital Learning with fellow consultants at a breakfast, they gasped.  "What do you mean you bought canned training? But you can't personalize it!  It doesn't reflect your perspective and experience?"  They gave me serious grief, and clearly saw me as a traitor for this move.

---

But I turned back a few questions to them.  "Who here has high-quality video seamlessly integrated?  Who has separate versions available for industrial, healthcare, and office settings?  Who has online learning options that meets the standards for high-quality online learning? Whose programs adhere to the latest principles for adult learning?  Whose programs are affordable to companies with less than 100 employees?"  They answered these questions with silent contemplation.

And here's the thing. I've facilitated and reviewed numerous leadership training programs and 90% of it is the same content. What differentiates the programs are:
1) How well the learning program is developed, launched, and embedded in the company.
2) To what extent the participants get to experience the content, apply it to their world, and internalize it.  

By utilizing Vital Learning, I can make solid leadership training available to a wider range of companies, and I can support their success with it through guiding the initiative (point 1 above).  The online and classroom programs already meet point 2.  

My only regret is that I didn't know about Vital Learning several years ago, as I look back and think of situations where it would have been so helpful.  But onward!  Here's to building leaders and employee performance!

A sample activity from Vital Learning's Essential Skills of Communication course