By Guest Blogger, Elizabeth Flynn, Social Media Manager, Compliance Cartoons

So, how are you doing with those New Year’s resolutions? (Hint: the ones about your compliance training strategy?) Ready for some inspiration? A training and development conference may be just the ticket. After all, you don’t know what you don’t know!

For me, attending the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) conference in San Jose, California, February 2-4 was exactly the inspiration I needed.

As a new member of the Compliance Cartoons team, I wanted to better understand the role of the learning professional: What do they do? How do they do it? I was eager to enter into their world and get a look at the latest and coolest eLearning techniques and technologies.

And I found what I was looking for: Keynote speakers sharing their expertise and excitement, and conference sessions delivering all the details (session summaries at Cammy Bean’s Learning Visions.)

At the conference expo, I spoke with staff from Articulate and Captivate. They showed me their eLearning development tools and revealed some of the techniques top designers use to create state-of-the-art training interactions. I was impressed.

Making connections with other social media specialists like Terrence Wing and Michelle Lentz proved invaluable, especially when I got home and checked out their blogs and followed their tweets. (I’ll get more of the same when I join eLearnChat on Tuesdays at 10 PST and meet industry leaders in the fields of eLearning, mobile learning, authoring tools, learning and content management, and more.)

Evenings gave me a chance to relax and collaborate with my colleagues. And since we all work remotely, we especially welcomed the opportunity to brainstorm face-to-face over meals at some memorable San Jose restaurants.

The conference bookstore offered a wide selection of current literature, and I came home with some good reads.

Need I say it? In today’s fast-paced, virtual workplace, it’s worth the time and effort to get yourself recharged from time to time by immersing yourself in the best new ideas, resources, and best practices.

Have I piqued your interest? Good! Then you may want to view David Kelly’s backchannel from ASTD Techknowledge 2011. Better yet, find a conference you can attend. And don’t forget to send me a postcard! (or post a comment.)

by Diane Stricklan, Compliance Cartoons
Ah, the start of a new year—a time for reflection and resolutions. So, I’m sure you’ve probably made your compliance training resolutions, right? No? It’s not too late! Resolving to transform your compliance training program to be more engaging, interesting and effective may be one of the more realistic and achievable goals you can make this year.

So, first things first—reflection. Is your compliance training program getting you results? Or is your approach maybe a bit more reactive?

One or the other, or maybe a little bit of both?

If you’re not getting results—or maybe they could be better—the best place to start is with a strategy. Compliance training programs are typically intended to help avoid/detect violations that could lead to legal liability; create a respectful workplace, and lay the groundwork for a defense in the event a violation occurs. For this to happen, your message needs to reach employees and be retained.

And that requires a plan. (Hint: We’re moving into the “resolution” segment of our program.) So, if you don’t have a strategy, there’s no time like the present. If you do have one, it’s always good to revisit it at least once a year to make sure it’s doing what you need it to do. Here are some things you might consider:

• What do you need to accomplish with your compliance training program? (i.e., where are your organization’s opportunities, weaknesses and threats)? A good rule of thumb when developing a strategy is to start with the end. A host of authors, including Steven Covey, agree. In his book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he says that highly effective people “start with the end in mind.”
• What “channels” are available? (e.g., Learning Management System, learning portals, Intranet, email newsletter, handheld devices)? Getting the message out doesn’t need to be limited to just one method. And, once you commit to a channel, don’t necessarily abandon it after the first try. Some approaches need a little time to gain traction.
• What internal resources are available to help you? (e.g., training department, IT resources)? Consider inviting these folks into the conversation as you develop your strategy.
• Do you have a budget? If you have some money to spend, you’ll want to get the most from your budget dollars. The best advice I can give is to assess your internal resources, determine where you need to supplement externally, and then prioritize based on your budget. Keep in mind that creating a more engaging, interesting and effective program doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. In future blogs, I’ll highlight tips and tools that can help.

For now, this is a great place to start!

Coming up next month: Required vs. effective—it’s all about retention!

by Diane Stricklan, Compliance Cartoons

It’s that time of year for ghosts, goblins and faux people climbing out of my neighbor’s yard.  So it must be Halloween—the time of year for all things scary!

When it comes to eLearning, who doesn’t have a scary story (or two) to tell? I know I do. I’ll share my tale of woe, but first dim the lights and imagine I’m shining a flashlight under my chin. (Just go with it.)

It was a dark and stormy… No, wait. Nothing that dramatic. It was actually the end of the work day. I entered her office and she looked, well, sick. Red, puffy eyes, a strange pallor to her skin, hunched posture. Was it a cold? Maybe the flu, I asked? Um, nope. She had just finished piloting an eLearning course I created. It was seven hours long covering a bazillion products, and she finished it in one seating. Her gaze said it all. She was the victim, and I was her tormentor. Bwahahahahahahaha. The evil instructional designer strikes again…

Yes, I created a seven hour eLearning course. I could use the excuse that the subject-matter experts made me do it (which they did), but in reality, I knew better. Hey, in my defense, I did recommend that employees only take the course in 30-45 min. increments. But even then, it stunk—it was not interactive or engaging at all. My victim/coworker summed it up, “I wanted to stick an ice pick in my eye.” Now there’s a rave review.

What makes this a true horror story is I hear the company is still using this eLearning course. Really.

Why did this happen? I think my lack of experience. And knowledge. And confidence. I also didn’t set any limits (see Cathy Moore’s blog, “Why you need to set limits”). I didn’t know I could. This was a real call to action, and I vowed never to let it happen again. So knowing what I know now (and wish I knew then), here are a few tips:

• Trust your instincts! If it doesn’t feel right, there’s usually a reason. A great test is to put yourself in the learner’s seat and ask, “how would this work for me?”
• Set limits. Others may think including the kitchen sink is good, but… (see last bullet).
• Know your stuff. If you only know enough to be dangerous, then you might well be. Having people go through training and not learn anything is a waste of time and money. So if you’re feeling at a disadvantage, consider going back to school, reading, joining professional organizations, networking, and attending conferences. A few of my favorite conferences: ASTD’s TechKnowledge (we’ll be there in February, so look us up!), Elliott Masie’s Learning conferences, eLearning Guild’s Learning Solutions, and SCCE’s Compliance & Ethics Institute (for compliance-specific knowledge).
• And when you don’t know, ask. Or consider hiring professionals (like your friends at Compliance Cartoons) who do!

So what’s your eLearning horror story? Have you been on the giving or receiving end of something truly scary?

Is your company (or companies you work with) becoming more receptive to fun and humor in eLearning? Do you have any examples of what has worked (or hasn’t)?

What do you think? Would your employees welcome something different (as long as the course isn’t made longer just to accommodate it)?

More to come in Part 2!

2010 Compliance and Ethics Institute

September 12-15, 2010, Chicago IL
Visit us at Booth 107

Schedule a Meeting: If you plan to attend the conference and would like to set up a time to meet, please contact Diane Stricklan: dstricklan@compliancecartoons.com.