What Are the Ingredients of Piloting
a New or Revised Program?
by Susan Otto
 Training is costly. It is costly in terms of development as well as the facilitation. Participants away from their jobs for the time required add additional costs. But the real costs should be measured in terms of its effectiveness in implementing the knowledge and skills in the workplace.
One of the ways to do this is to pilot new or revised classes, courses, modules, or seminars. (I’ll refer to these as “classes” in this article.) To ensure that the pilot generates the results you need to determine a class’s effectiveness, certain requirements must be followed. Here are a few of the requirements:
- Ensure that the right participants are chosen for the pilot. If the class is for managers, then only managers should attend. If the class is for new managers, only new managers should attend. If the class if for frontline leaders…well, you get the point.
- Have the appropriate number of participants. Though the class may be written to have 30 participants, you do not want to have that many in the pilot. Scale down to about half that amount; however, ensure that all the activities within the class can be effectively done with the reduced number.
- Ensure that the facilitators follow the Facilitator Guide as closely as possible without “reading” it to the participants. This is one of the most difficult issues to address, but one of the most critical. Though we want facilitators to add their personality and style to the material, to determine whether the content and activities are successful, they have to be followed in the order designed, communicated in the manner that is documented, debriefed for full understanding, etc.
- Select a setting that is appropriate for the class. If the class will, for the most part, be facilitated down the hall from the offices of the participants, be sure to pilot the class in that environment. This will help you determine any issues that may arise, like participants not returning on time because they got caught up with an important call or colleague. How will that be handled? What precedent are you setting from the start?
- Consider having the pilot “kicked off” by the sponsor, which is usually a senior executive. This highlights the importance of the class.
- Remind observers of their purpose. Many people who have been involved with the class will want to observe the pilot. Carefully consider who should really be there and what their role is (and talk to them about it prior to attending). And, be sure that you have enough room and a space appropriate for observation – especially if the observers need to take notes or come and go without being a distraction to the class.
- Determine how the pilot will be evaluated. For a full day class, provide a written evaluation to be filled out throughout the day – with reminders to the participants as the day unfolds. Also, do an oral debrief. For seminars, do a simple but effective written debrief after each module or segment. For multiple day seminars, a quick oral debrief should be done each day, followed by a lengthy debrief at the end of the last day.
- Feedback should be noted at the end of each day by all the facilitators and observers. Initial ideas can be lost if you wait to collect the information. Nuances can make a huge difference in the success of the class.
Piloting allows you to make modifications that will increase the effectiveness, thereby offsetting the costs. The long-lasting benefits and value generated from a successful class will then outweigh any costs.
Susan Otto, the president of Training-Modules.com, LLC, is committed to effectively partner with organizations and their employees to achieve strategic initiatives necessary for organizational success. Susan designs customized facilitator and participant guides for companies that want to do their own internal training. Contact her at 859.292.0095 or email her. For information about Susan’s training modules, visit the Modules section of Training-Modules.com.
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