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Social Learning in Financial Services – Tales from the Real World

Social Learning in Financial Services – Tales from the Real World

by on November 11, 2011 in eLearning, Informal Learning, sales, social learning, subject matter experts, Training Development, Uncategorized, user adoption

I sat down with Shane Raymond, Director of Training and Development at RBC Wealth Management, the US Wealth Management division of Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada, to discuss social learning. Shane, a veteran of the training industry, has encountered various levels of success with social learning and I asked him to share those experiences with us.

Rob: What is the audience you’re dealing with at RBC Wealth Management?

Shane: RBC Wealth Management has more than 2,000 Financial Advisors scattered through the country. The financial services industry has evolved a lot over the last decade. In the past, it was about stocks and bonds, now it is more complex than ever. There are many more investment vehicles out there and advisors need to be knowledgeable about areas such as life insurance, long-term care, charitable giving, trusts and estate planning, etc. Given the current economic environment and the …

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Serena Williams and Stepping Back from Your Training Plan

Serena Williams and Stepping Back from Your Training Plan

by on September 2, 2011 in Instructional Design, performance support, Project Management/Project Delivery, subject matter experts

I am a big tennis fan. And there is nothing more important to American tennis fans than the U.S. Open, which started this week.  There are a number of tournaments leading up to the Open.  The major international players (the healthy ones, anyway) use them as preparation.

The big news in the last couple of weeks was that Serena Williams, who had just won the Rogers Cup in Toronto, was dropping out of the next tournament, the Cincinnati Western & Southern.

Serena had come back after a year away from tennis during which she had a number of surgeries.  She had played seven matches in the previous eight days, and the big toe on her right foot bothered her during a morning workout.  “I don’t think this is a good time for me to take a big chance,” she said. “I just don’t think that would be smart.” 

There was …

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Instructional Design Lessons from the World of Theatre

Instructional Design Lessons from the World of Theatre

by on August 22, 2011 in Instructional Design, subject matter experts, Training Development

For more than a decade in the late part of the last century (I get a kick out of saying that) my life was theatre. During that period, I completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Acting and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing for the stage. I acted in and/or directed over 75 plays, in both academic and professional theatres in the Midwest and on the west coast, won awards in both disciplines, taught classes, and was moderately successful at supporting myself in a very tough industry.

Alas, while I loved the theatre and this part of my life, a point came when I was no longer happy with the financial return on my investments of  time and creativity. The stability and salary of a “regular” job became more appealing and I quickly found myself employed by a consulting firm focused on SAP training and change management, while …

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The Wisdom of Experience: Simplifying Complex Learning Targets

The Wisdom of Experience: Simplifying Complex Learning Targets

by on March 30, 2011 in Classroom Learning, Instructional Design, performance support, subject matter experts, Training Development

In recent months, I’ve been working on a project to redesign a national training program for bulk plant employees in the propane industry. The material is being written at an 8th grade reading level and, for the most part, the training content is pretty straightforward. It covers topics like filling and emptying propane containers, and federal codes and regulations as they relate to the training tasks.  And, of course, safety considerations are paramount when training folks to work with a flammable gas that can give you instant freeze burns in its liquid state.  (Before I go any further, please note that propane is an extremely safe product when handled appropriately!)

So, no big deal, right?  I mean, how hard can it be to explain how to safely fill or empty a propane container?  As it turns out, not that hard in terms of procedural steps, but much harder than I expected in terms of how …

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My Favorite Things: Tools and Tips to Facilitate Content Development

My Favorite Things: Tools and Tips to Facilitate Content Development

by on February 2, 2011 in Development Tools, Instructional Design, performance support, Project Management/Project Delivery, subject matter experts, Training Development

In the normal course of my work as an Instructional Designer and Project Manager, I am constantly on the look out for tools and tips to make the content development and review process less painful for everyone involved.  It is my intention to share some of my favorites with you over the coming year.

Today, let’s talk about  flow charts…or process diagrams, or decision trees, or whatever you’d like to call them.  Raise your hand if you have ever used, and have subsequently been frustrated by, Microsoft Visio.  It’s OK, I know you are out there.

It’s not that there is anything in particular wrong with Visio as a flow charting tool. It has a ton of great features. In fact, one could argue that it has too many features, making it overwhelming for new users.  But, it is not the software features that are at the core of my frustration …

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