Excerpt from my article on ID Strategies Published in July Issue of T&D

Check out this month’s ASTD magazine, T&D. I wrote an article on instructional strategies that I think will be helpful to anyone designing e-learning or stand up instruction. The article covers different levels of learning but here is a sneak preview of some of the article. The article is titled Matching the Right Design Strategy to the Right Content. It’s premium content so you need to be a member to view it.

Problem-solving occurs when an employee is confronted with a previously unencountered situation and applies prior learning or knowledge to remedy to solve the problem. This is where employee knowledge creates the greatest value to the organization. Remember that problem-solving in this context does not necessarily mean a difficult or troubling situation. Problem-solving can involve the creation of a business case for a new product, launching a social media advertising campaign, the generation of ideas during a brainstorming session and the development of a blueprint.

Here is a strategy to prepare a person to problem-solve:

Direct and release a “Learning Documentary.”— Think reality show for problem-solving Create a video demonstrating how other employees have solved similar problems. Often work involved with problem-solving goes on in someone’s head and it is hard to convey that knowledge in a learning environment. One answer is to create a documentary where the learner watches a situation, observes how an expert reacts and then listens to the expert debrief the situation at key points. It is a good way to get into the head of an expert to determine why they approach a situation in a certain manner and to listen to them “think outloud” about problem-solving.

Look for other strategies in the July issue of T&D.