OILFIELD BUSINESS INNOVATION
• What are the most effective methods that my company can implement to achieve an acceptable learning
model that gains employee and organization input on training?
• Which learning models best suit our company that could make training more interactive, reduce classroom instruction, and/or make small group problem solving the centerpiece of facilitated instruction
based on relevant industry or technical challenges?
• Which educational learning processes should our company change to better prepare our workforce for
future challenges?
• How should knowledge obtained from businesses, academia, and industry domains inform research and
later updates to our answers to the above listed questions? What is our feedback mechanism to capture
and integrate lessons into lessons learned?
• What savings could our company expect by using a blended learning environment to grow our workforce?
Next Generation Training
Managers should respond to the increasingly diverse needs of their skilled workforce by developing long-term
learning strategies that include web-based collaborative tools. Instructional methods should support and encourage individuals to learn together while retaining individual control over their time, space, presence, activity,
and relationships. Training and education programs should include multiple segments given the complexity of
technical and management subjects, and available time. Managers should expect composite training segments
consisting of prerequisite or self-development modules, instructor led portions in virtual classrooms, face-to-face
instruction, and potentially self-paced exercises.
The degree and potential complexity of training, to include upfront instructional system analysis and curriculum
development requires an experienced team comprised of a broad range of corporate and individual talents. Business leaders should look to information management and training companies for support in developing custom
learning solutions in support of either single modules or a learning series. Web-based custom learning solutions
should track participation, automatically record learning progress, and provide a reporting mechanism on individual, facility, office, administrations, or enterprise-level training accomplishments.
Development of an effective training and education program involves a combination of in-house and outsourced
resources and utilizes an iterative process that consists of analysis, design, development, implementation, and
evaluation (internal and external). During the analysis phase, the in-house team reviews the answers to the questions above to determine what level of complexity is required to meet the training goal. Utilizing a scale of 1 to
4, the team determines the level of interactivity required. Training for a skill requiring level 3 or moderate interactivity, for example, will typically include multiple levels of branching or pathways and dynamic participant
activity to maximize retention and transferability to the work environment. Managers can identify and source
their training solutions once they have identified their learning requirements. Managers always have the option
of using a management and training company to aid in identifying learning requirements. The overall importance
is upfront analysis to identify the situation, environmental factors, and learning requirements as compared to the
skill set objectives. Figure 1 provides more detail on the training levels and their conceptual training or education
effectiveness.
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