Figuring Things Out: A Trainer's Guide To Needs And Task Analysis

Aware of the complexity of the tasks facing the human resources development specialist today, Ron Zemke and Thomas Framlinger have written this book to serve a need...to give you a handy source—a catalog—of tactics, techniques, and procedures designed to help you apply more effectively the knowledge and skills you've already gained.The authors offer a system for conducting organizational effectiveness studies, determining training needs, and performing task analysis. This system represents the ”successes” in many years of trial and error and basic intuitive judgments in the field of human resource development. Figuring Things Out is process-oriented, adaptable, and highly useful.Section I gets you started with the rationale and tactics for conducting a ”Figuring Things Out Study” and helps you formulate a performance model. Sections II through V explain in detain the techniques and procedures, complete with examples of how they work. You'll find coverage of time studies, task listings, S-R tables, behavioral frequency counts, behavioral algorithms, focus group discussions, one-on-one interviews, consensus groups, the critical incident technique, fault tree analysis, and much more.In Section VI, you'll learn about matching techniques with problems. Based on the successes and failures in the authors' own experiences, this section presents factors—political, strategic, tactical, and technical—that you will have to consider in deciding which technique is appropriate for which problem.Section VII tells you how to structure and deliver a presentation of results that will gain the support and confidence of senior management. Here's what Figuring Things Out gives the human resources development specialist: