Introduction
RISC’s clients, especially those in high-consequence industries – often face complex requirement management to ensure employee qualification, regulatory compliance and safe, environmentally-responsible operations. A request for guidance on managing just such a complex learning plan was recently received by the VTA Support help desk and became the catalyst for this blog post. Combining existing functionality like Team Requirements, Scheduled Report Favorites, and Output to Teams, a simple solution was created to get the right training assigned to the right people, at the right time. Let’s explore more.
Request
The VTA Support help request read:
Our Learning Manager would like to leverage VTA to manage a training program that consists of several required components completed over a defined period. The goal is to create a structured learning path that automatically guides learners through each step with appropriate due dates based on completion of the previous requirement.
Ideally, the training sequence would function as follows:
1. Reminder to Schedule an instructor-led orientation (live or virtual) due within the first week of assignment.
2. An Online/Web-based module that is due within 30 days after completion of the Instructor-Led Session discussed in Step 1.
3. Receive properly sized and fitted Personal Protective Equipment within 45 days after completion of the online content discussed in Step 2.
4. Hands-on training to demonstrate competent use of the assigned PPE within 60 days after completion of Step 3.
If all the elements were either online or Performance Checklists, RISC’s Spaced Learning functionality would be a great fit but with an instructor-led course, an on-line course and, the physical task of obtaining the proper PPE, and a field evaluation, we decided to go with teams and scheduled reports to control and automate their assignment.
Solution
Because there are already four “courses” created, one for each step in the overall process, we decided to create four teams to manage assignments and due dates for the four courses.
- Team 1: Instructor-Led Orientation
- Team 2: Web-based Module
- Team 3: Receiving PPE
- Team 4: Field Evaluation of Competence
Team 1: The initial Orientation
- Assign your Student pool as you would any other Team (Manually, Auto-Team, TMG or the HRIS data feed).
- Assign your new “Orientation” Course, due with a 7 day Grace Period from the Team Assignment Date.
Note that a course document can be used to provide a full scope of training, what to expect during the process, the student’s responsibility to Schedule, and even training locations.
Now that we have students assigned to the Orientation course, how do we progress them to Step 2? Let’s create a Report Favorite for an Attendance reporting showing anyone completing Orientation.
Report Favorite 1: Attendance Report for Orientation with Output to Team
- Start the Attendance Report from Reports>Events>History Report Menu
- WHO: All Students
- WHAT: Orientation Course
- WHEN: All Dates – Since this is a new course no one has yet to take, the “All Dates” function will ensure we don’t miss any attendees.
- WHERE: Use the “Output To Team” File Type to send the results, anyone that has completed Orientation, to Team 2 for the Online assignment. Choose “Append” to just add new attendees to the team without modifying existing records.
- Save your Report as a Favorite so you can schedule it to run automatically and get students assigned to the next step, the Online content.
Team 2: The Online Content
- Students are automatically assigned to the Online course via Team 2 by the Report Favorite discussed above.
- The Online course, assigned to Team 2 should be set due with a 30 Day Grace Period of the student receiving the team assignment.
Report Favorite 2: Attendance Report for Online Content with Output to Team:
- Start a new Attendance Report
- WHO: Team 2 – Those assigned the online content
- WHAT: Course Online Content
- WHEN: Use the “This Year” period as a safe bet in case the student has taken it before and you want the report to exclude previous completions.
- WHERE: Again, use the “Output To Team” file type with “Append”, but this time for Team 3 “Receive PPE”. This will add all the students attending the Online Conent to Team 3 for the issuance of PPE
- Just as before, save your Report as a Favorite so you can schedule it to run automatically and get students assigned to the next step, “Receive PPE”.
Team 3: Receive PPE
Students are automatically assigned when they have completed Online Course using Report Favorite 2- Assign Receive PPE course due within 45 Days.
Note: If PPE is issued at specific times and locations, these can be scheduled just like Instructor-led training sessions in VTA with conflict checking and enrollment management to control registrations. This method takes advantage of RISC’s VTA functionality of sending calendar-notices for scheduled ILT and can even include Supervisor Approvals.
Report Favorite 3: Attendance Report for Receive PPE “course” with Output to Team:
- Start a new Attendance Report.
- WHO: Team “Recieve PPE”
- WHAT: Course Receive PPE
- WHEN: “This Year” would allow you to exclude completions before this year.
- WHERE: : Use the “Output To Team” File Type, with “Append”, but this time for Team 4: “Field Evaluation of Competence”. This will add all the students who received their PPE to Team 4 for the Field Evaluation
- Again, save your Report as a Favorite so you can schedule it to run automatically and get students assigned to the next step, having a Field Evaluation.
Team 4: Field Evaluation of Competence
- Students are automatically assigned when they have completed the Receive PPE course using Report Favorite 3, the attendance report showing they received their PPE.
- Assign Field Evaluation of Competence performance checklist due within 60 Days.
Summary
The approach discussed above got the Learning Manager exactly what they requested. By separating an existing Team of 4 Requirements into 4 Teams, with a single step of the respiratory training program assigned to each Team, it gave the user better control over when a step is assigned, and due, thereby making sure employees understand what is expected.
Do you have complex learning scenarios you want to explore? Never hesitate to reach out to VTASupport@risc-inc.com with your questions.
Director of Client Services RISC, Inc
Mr. Welder holds a Master’s of Education from Texas A&M University in Educational Technology and has more than 25 years experience in implementation of Learning Management Systems, both domestically and abroad. Mr. Welder has been recognized for his application of Learning Management Systems to manage regulatory-compliance in industries ranging from petrochemicals to finance and has provided presentations to professional organizations including the Gulf Coast Process Technology Alliance, the Northwest Process Technology Alliance and the American Society of Training and Development.
Mr. Welder’s career is founded in traditional instructional design and computer-based training development. He is a certified Development Dimensions International facilitator, a Kirkpatrick Certified Evaluator and facilitator of the Ohio State University curriculum development program. In addition to working in industry, Mr. Welder has held adjunct faculty positions at Bowling Green State University, Ohio and the College of the Mainland, Texas. Mr. Welder has been published in both Training Magazine as well as US Business Review.
Mr. Welder’s career is founded in traditional instructional design and computer-based training development. He is a certified Development Dimensions International facilitator, a Kirkpatrick Certified Evaluator and facilitator of the Ohio State University curriculum development program. In addition to working in industry, Mr. Welder has held adjunct faculty positions at Bowling Green State University, Ohio and the College of the Mainland, Texas. Mr. Welder has been published in both Training Magazine as well as US Business Review.