Product Training for the Technical Expert

7 What Is Expected Must Be Inspected: Assessing and Evaluating Hands‐On Learning

One summer, as a teenager, I worked with several other young people to help restore an old farmhouse into what would become a youth camp. Our supervisor, Mr Abuhl, was an older gentleman who had volunteered his time and talents and was intent on improving our renovation skills.

Many people were surprised at the quality of work Mr Abuhl was able to produce with a few 15–17‐year‐old teenagers. Those of us that worked for him were not surprised at all. His success came, not by cajoling more work out of us, but by constantly evaluating the work that we did. He would meticulously inspect our work to confirm that we were meeting his stringent (at least from a teenager’s perspective) standards. “Work that is expected must be inspected,” he would say. It was his way of telling us that his re‐measurements and careful scrutiny of our work were not because he didn’t trust us, but because detecting small deviations now could help prevent larger problems later on.

The same is true with training. Whenever you provide learning, you must verify that the training did what you intended it to do. If you don’t, no one may notice for a while, but soon your training will be deemed ineffective. Even if it isn’t and your training is amazingly effective, or generates tremendous revenue, few will care unless you can prove it.

In the 1950s, Donald Kirkpatrick suggested four areas that must be evaluated in any training ...