Use of visualization technique to explore  variants of delivering training content

Challenge  As a small learning team within our company, we are responsible for training offerings to our audience –  mainly frontline managers. In 2017 most of our content was delivered via classroom trainings, with smaller  portion available as virtual learning (online courses, similar in nature to Coursera). Unfortunately, this  approach was both expensive for the business and inconvenient for many of our training participants:  Managers had to travel off-site to attend the classroom, which is costly and time consuming and  oftentimes cancelled their participation because of a last minute crisis at work that prevented them to  leave. It was clear from our participants’ feedback we have been collecting throughout the year that we  need to offer them more flexibility and control over when and how they are going to learn.

The challenge for us was how to get the content of our classroom programs to the learners via virtual  (online) learning, blended learning and on the job learning and significantly limit the classroom time. In  short: how to recognize which parts of our classroom content can be moved outside the classroom.

Selection

My assignment was to reexamine three training programs and offer two options for future redesign, which  would contain larger share of virtual and on the job learning compared to classroom. Such a tasks requires  paying attention to multiple variables at the same time: Which parts of content can work as stand-alone  virtual lectures, which of them need interaction of learners, what are the shift patterns in a workplace  (i.e. when our learners are less busy and can focus on learning) and some more. Being aware of the limited  ability of human brain to hold in its operational memory larger number of concepts at the same time  (thanks to David Rock´s book “Your Brain At Work”), I knew I had to use visuals that would allow me not  only to represent individual elements of the project. I also needed the visuals to be flexible enough to let  me reposition individual elements with ease to see possible combinations. I have chosen to utilize my  experience with Lego Serious Play method, which suggests using Lego bricks to build models as tangible  metaphors for all the relevant elements and use them for “landscaping” – realigning the models into  various possible scenarios to find the most fitting one.

Application  I have used the dedicated Lego Serious Play1 set to build models of selected elements relevant for solving  the problem. The process of building the models was already part of the visualization technique, with  tactile elements – building the models as simplified versions of the learning elements helped me to clarify  for myself what the key features of each of the elements are that should be represented in the model.  Because our team wanted to stick to David Rock´s methods of brain coaching, I have also built models for

1 Lego Serious Play Starter Kit, s.n. 2000414; in this case any standard set of Lego bricks would do the job.

all five elements of his SCARF model,2 to be able to compare all my potential learning scenarios with the  five element of SCARF model (see the picture below).

Subsequently I have progressed to landscaping: I have started to move the models around to group and  regroup the elements according to different principles to “test” how the picture would hold together to  scrutiny. The initial principles I wanted to visualize were:

  location (where would learner access the specific element)

  time of access (what would be the chronological order of elements experienced by learner)

  time needed for redesign (which elements would take most time and resources to redesign by  our team)

  potential weak spots of each element in relation to the SCARF model

Along the way, a few more previously unforeseen combinations emerged, helping me to uncover more  possibilities.

Insight  Having the visuals available and shuffling them around helped me to discover combinations I otherwise  would not. Specifically, I have realized that rather than consider “classroom training” as an intact block, I  can divide them into individual learning elements, some of which can be taken out of the classroom easily.  Some short videos and readings that participants did in the classroom will be removed from the classroom  content and provided as a stand-alone content accessible before and after the classroom. Before I  visualize all the options, I was unable to see those possibilities. I had literarily too much experience with

2 David Rocks explains in his works that based on recent discoveries on the field of neuroscience, every attempt to  influence human beings that is to be successful needs to take into account the natural patterns that each human  brain seeks in presented information: Status, Certainty, Authonomy, Relatedness and Fairness (S.C.A.R.F.).

the classroom content, so I could not see how it could be done differently and landscaping with Lego  models provided me with the birds-eye view perspective.

The Impact of the new alignment should be shortening our classroom sessions to one day instead of two,  limiting the travel costs for participants and their time of the job. Virtual learning content will also be  provided between individual classroom sessions, to ensure continuous learning.

Approach  Visualization using Lego bricks proved to be a practical, inexpensive and quick method to uncover different  possible scenarios of the problem solution, where with no visuals one´s brain would be overwhelmed by  the number of possible combinations. I am going to continue using this method in various stages of  content preparation in this format.

At this point, I am looking into possibilities of using this method to brainstorm with my fellow team  members. Everyone would contribute by building their own models of potential pitfalls of our content  implementation and we will use the landscaping method to collectively asses which of those risks are  related and which need to be tackled first.

