The ADDIE Model for Training Development

Analysis, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluation or ADDIE. Somewhere in the development life cycle, companies often fail to meet all of the requirements to deliver an comprehensive, efficient, and simple training program or course. I would like to talk about each of the steps, and potential which should be examined.

ANALYSIS

The analysis of training is arguably the most important step of the ADDIE training development process. This step involves several different overlapping and independent analysis. You must evaluate the resources available, resources which you can find, and perform a Gemba for the unpublished resources. You must also perform a gap analysis to learn about the target of the training. A third analysis is that of the audience, while you must determine their availability, work schedules, the size of the classes, and the current knowledge and skills of the audience..

DESIGN

Often times, I see instructors, subject matter experts, or even instructional designers have a design idea prior to the analysis. While this may seem as a positive pre-emptive action, it can result in bias towards a specific design or training methodology. The design should be a simple solution which efficiently transforms the skills and knowledge discovered during the analysis, and gives it to the learners in the correct format and correct delivery method.

DEVELOPMENT

The development phase is the meat and potatoes. This step often takes the longest duration of any of the phases. This step involves converting ideas into audio, video, pictures, and text. Even the best designs can be nearly impossible to convert to proper learning. At SEED, we look at developers as the Picassos. They must take a lesson (analysis) and an idea (design) and somehow formulate an engaging and experiential exercise.

IMPLEMENTATION

This can often be the simplest step if the analysis was completed correctly. This involves delivering the content to the learners in whatever training delivery method was selected. A define audience, a proper RACI, and a clearly defined audience will make this process go much faster and result in ample adoption by the learners.

EVALUATION

Training evaluation can be difficult. Often times, trainers are not provided with metrics. Other times, there are metrics that do not directly correlate with the learning presented in your lesson. Therefore, many training organizations result in tracking completions of training courses. While this proves somewhat useful, it does not prove that the lessons were properly received by the learners. Training organization would be best served by conducting follow-up assessments, developing metrics which can be tracked as soon as the training analysis begins, or providing recurrent training. There are many methods of evaluation which can be explored.

This summary provides a 10,000 foot view of the ADDIE process, the tried and true method for training development. The intent here is an introduction to the comprehensive thinking process that is undertaken with the team at SEED. By examining as many possible resources and variables, we have developed an extremely efficient training development process.