Training that delivers results: three steps of backward design

Many companies spend money on training every year. At the end, employees fill in a “liked it” feedback form, but a month later everything at work is the same as before. Why? Most often, training starts from topics: “What should we tell them?” Backward design starts from the end.

Step 1. Define the result

Ask: what exactly should employees be able to do at work after the training? Not “knows the service standards,” but “resolves a customer complaint within 10 minutes so that the customer comes back.” Choose 2–3 big ideas that should still be remembered a year from now. Everything else is supporting material.

Step 2. Decide on the evidence in advance

How will you know an employee really can do it? A multiple-choice test won't answer that question. It is better to design a practical task: a role play with a “difficult customer,” a real company case, or a manager's on-the-job observation two weeks later. Record work indicators (complaints, repeat sales, errors) before the training so you can compare them afterwards.

Step 3. Only then design the activities

Now that you know where you are going, choose activities that lead to exactly that evidence. Make them varied: case studies for those who like analysis; role play for those who learn by doing; diagrams and infographics for those who think in pictures; group work for those who draw energy from people.

The bottom line

Training that delivers results starts with a question: “What will be different afterwards — and how will we know?” If you have no answer to that question, the training has not been designed yet.