Rethinking Reaction

In 1959, Donald Kirkpatrick wrote a series of articles for the Journal of the American Society of Training Directors. Fifty-four years later, Kirpatrick's levels of training evaluation remain a common benchmark among learning and development professionals. I wonder, however, if it might not be time to reconsider the first level: Reaction.

We've all seen Level 1 evaluation forms. They ask how we liked the event, how we liked the facilitator, how we found the room, how tasty the food was. No wonder trainers, and managers for that matter, often disparage these evaluations as "happy sheets" - the information seems barely related to learning. The funny thing is that Level 1 evaluations can provide useful learning-related information. If you ask the right questions.

The key is to focus on Relevance, not Reaction. Frankly, I am more interested in knowing if the learner finds the content relevant to their job and if they intend to apply what they learned than I am in finding out if lunch rocked and the room was the right temperature. Fifty-four years may seem like a long time, but it may just be worth our while to rethink how we use Level 1 evaluation tools.

The Tyranny of Ten

The last webinar I attended got me thinking, but not in the way the presenters had intended. The session offered to teach me about ten social media skills that learning and development professionals should know. It started on time; the obligatory “commercial” at the beginning of the session was not too long; and the facilitator kept the discussion focused on the topic. And yet the discussion about the last three or four skills was hurried and, dare I say, incomplete.

Blame it on David Letterman. Or maybe Moses is at fault. Perhaps evolution or an intelligent designer is culpable. In the end, it doesn’t really matter – trainers seem to be tyrannized by the number ten. How else can you explain the surplus of seminars, workshops, and webinars offering participants “Ten (fill-in-the-blank-with-the-word-or-words-of-your-choice)”?

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not exactly a “deca-virgin”. I’ve been known to take the easy way out myself on occasion. I’ve done my share of lame Letterman-inspired count downs. I’ve come down from the mountaintop with my own list of pseudo-Mosaic commandments. The thing is, though, I’m beginning to wonder why it’s always ten.

Sure, ten is attractive. It’s a nice round number. We can count it on our fingers. We’ve been conditioned to think in terms of lists or commandments, so a session that offers ten magical fixes is bound to attract an audience. Ten just feels right. I mean, what would people think if we only offered them seven best practices, six lessons, or five proven strategies?

Maybe that’s the problem – ten just feels right. But don’t you think that learners would feel even better if we were able to finish a workshop or a webinar without rushing through the last third of the material?