Books. Beyond the Podium: Delivering Training and Performance to a Digital World

Citation

(2002), "Books. Beyond the Podium: Delivering Training and Performance to a Digital World", Education + Training, Vol. 44 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2002.00444bad.002

Books. Beyond the Podium: Delivering Training and Performance to a Digital World

Beyond the Podium: Delivering Training and Performance to a Digital World

Allison Rossett and Kendra SheldonJossey-Bass/Pfeiffer2001336pp.ISBN 0 787 95526 4 (paperback)£21.50Keywords Training, Development, Performance management, Communication technology

Beyond the Podium is a journey into the brave new digital world of training and performance. The publication examines a future where development cycle time is radically reduced, learners globally networked, learner preferences are acknowledged and information imparted in minutes or hours, rather than days. The authors point out that, in the old days, trainers generally responded to management's request to fix the latest problem with a course of training they had already identified. Trainers developed the course materials and presented them in classrooms. Needs analysis was often discounted as an unnecessary exercise which would simply prolong the development of the training material. Evaluation was regarded as costly and failing to tell management anything it did not already know. When the budget needed to be cut, management often started with training and development.

Today, the idea that training should make a measurable difference in terms of costs, productivity and quality is widely accepted. Needs analysis is no longer an optional extra. The focus has shifted from training to performance. Management is pressing training and development departments to provide faster, cheaper and better training. Increasingly, learners are asking for the same. The challenge is to find ways to meet and shape these requests, addressing learning and performance needs in new formats, using more effective delivery media and developing a more integrated function within the organization.

Beyond the Podium examines the differences between training, development, education, learning, information and performance. It presents the core instructional-design components in chapters on analysis and figuring out what to do with problems and requests, designing great training and evaluating the impact and success of training. The authors unpack some of the existing learning technologies, the trends and new material connected with the digital age. They examine the role of knowledge management, informal learning, independent learning, globalization, certification, electronic learning, networking, career self-reliance and object-orientated design. Finally, the authors seek to redefine the nature and role of training and trainers. They reflect on the changes taking place and attempt to expand trainers' views about their professional world and to educate their sponsors, customers and colleagues about the possibilities.

The book includes job aids, tables, tips and examples of good practice. There are interviews with trainers and leaders such as Marc Rosenberg, Roger Chevalier, Margo Murray, Roslyn Price, James Li, Jack Phillips and Ruth Clark. They share insights, hints and tools. Beyond the Podium targets newcomers to training and development, leaders of training and development, plus course designers, developers and learners. The book, written with a sense of humour if not a little irreverence, challenges everyone to expand their vision of training.