All Crossed-Up in Cross-Functional Relationships: Learning Matrix Management Skills
by William R. Daniels

The boundaries between groups within an organization are both formally defined and psychologically defended. Working near these borders has always been recognized in social research as psychologically hazardous. Helping managers learn to do this hazardous work is one of the most urgent human performance technology (HPT) challenges.

Since the late 1940s, organizations have recognized the need for better cooperation between their functional divisions; i.e., between groupings of technical specialists. Organizations have attempted to address the problem with “matrix management.” The common perception of matrix management is that it sets up an organization of project managers to push the development of products across the functional divisions of the organization. The question always comes down to, “Who controls the money—the product managers or the functional divisions?” Or to put it more bluntly, “Who is the beggar?”

Sixty years of warfare between the functional and product managers has not successfully answered the question. Organizational performance continues to suffer. For instance, product development projects have a high mortality rate. They are often cancelled after significant operational costs have already been incurred, and disappointed customers are often lost. Even those projects that actually get completed are still averaging nearly 100% scheduling and budget overruns!

Furthermore, the problem has gotten more complicated. It is no longer just a two-way conflict between concerns for product and concerns for technical quality. Because of globalization and increased competition, two new sub-structures have joined the fray: site management and customer management. Matrix management is now a struggle for resources involving four equally important management structures. The relationships between these structures are so complex that you cannot represent them with an organization chart!

To manage in such highly complex structures, the key concepts you have to learn are more like the basic assumptions of organizational culture. For instance: Seek common goals and align your priorities. Share resources. Accept overwhelming complexity. Know what you know and also what you do not know. Stop trying to be the master of the universe and accept interdependence. Be as transparent and trustworthy as you know how to be. Keep deciding, noticing the feedback, and decide again. Express your frustrations through problem solving. You cannot get a piece of the pie until you have baked a whole pie; and you cannot bake a pie one piece at a time.

Learning to manage in a highly matrixed organization cannot be taught simply as a set of concepts. The concepts have to be expressed in appropriate behaviors, specifically the behaviors required for participation in group work. In fact, the only way to even think about a four-way matrixed organization is to think of it as a system of meetings. The organization design comes down to getting the right people to talk to each other about the right things at the right time. It is the sort of learning objective that is perfect for the application of a simulation—but not a computer simulation—an action-learning simulation!

Here are the design constraints for such a simulation:

1. Set up an organization that must deliver an output that meets all four of these concerns:
   • Efficiently using the many different technical specialties
   • Designing a product that will maximize revenue to the company
   • Satisfying the specific needs preferences of many different customers
   • Meeting the challenges of working with several geographies (different regions with unique cultural constraints)
2. Make all the participants perform managerial roles, all the time; i.e., participants should always be focused on making decisions about what to do with the organization’s resources.
3. Make the success in the simulation a function of integrating thousands of managerial decisions.
4. Make the feedback loop on the quality of each decision rapid and frequent.
5. Keep increasing the complexity (not uncertainty) of the simulation so that no individual can possibly solve the problems alone; i.e., the simulations should require parallel and interdependent group work.
6. Provide sufficient time for reflection and interpersonal feedback so that people can deal with changing their performance under highly stressful conditions.
7. Make it possible for at least 70% of the management teams to succeed; i.e., they should discover the systems of decision-making meetings necessary to deal with the complexity.
8. Get the learning done in a one-day workshop.

Fifteen years ago, this assignment was given to me as a management development consultant. Six years later, we finally had a simulation that met all of these requirements. Thousands of managers have been put through the simulation. They say it is as challenging as the real world—stressful. But the stress becomes exhilarating as they begin to succeed. They also say that they will never again ignore the importance of management meetings. “You have to get focused on some common outputs and priorities and get on with making the necessary decisions, and that has to be done in meetings.”

Though the simulation stands alone as a learning experience, it is often used on one of the last days of a multi-day, in-residence management academy. It is used as an integrated practice of all the management skills taught earlier in the program. For this reason, it has become known as the “dress rehearsal”—it is the last practice before doing the real performance.

I am very proud of this piece of work, and am pleased to offer it as a pre-conference workshop in San Francisco, Monday, April 30. A couple of ISPI local chapters have tried it out during the last year and have encouraged me to show it to more of the membership. It is an intense and satisfying experience of learning. It is also a good demonstration of how to design and use an active-learning simulation. To learn more or to register, click here.

William R. Daniels has been designing management and organizational development programs for 30 years. He has served as keynote speaker at numerous management conferences, as well as supervisory, middle, and senior management seminars for several Fortune 100 companies. Bill is the 2005 recipient of the International Society for Performance Improvement’s Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award. He also has been a member of the Board of Directors for the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (IBSTPI). Bill may be reached at bd@actproductive.com.

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TrendSpotters: Performance Analysis Worksheet
by Carol Haig, CPT, and Roger Addison, CPT, EdD

This month, Roger Chevalier, CPT, PhD, visited with TrendSpotters to share his versatile Performance Analysis Worksheet, a tool we are pleased to add to the TrendSpotters Open Toolkit.Leveraging his 30 years of performance improvement experience, Roger (roger@aboutwpi.com) is currently leading Improving Workplace Performance, a consulting firm that partners with clients to imbed training into broad performance improvement solutions. His new book, A Manager’s Guide to Improving Workplace Performance, was recently published.

Genesis of this Tool
The Performance Analysis Worksheet revisits Tom Gilbert’s venerable Behavior Engineering Model (BEM), first introduced in 1978. The BEM enables the user to look at an individual worker’s performance within the work environment and determine how environmental factors contribute to that person’s success in performing a job.

When participants in ISPI’s Principles and Practices Institute asked for clarification of the intent of the BEM and an update to the language it used, Roger updated the BEM and introduced the Performance Analysis Worksheet. He combined Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Analysis model with the BEM to make the Worksheet usable as a performance tool. Roger first published the updated BEM and the Performance Analysis Worksheet in the May/June 2003 issue of Performance Improvement. ISPI members may read this article for free by click here, and logging on the ISPI website.

Tool Description
The Performance Analysis Worksheet combines gap analysis, goal setting, and cause analysis together with force field analysis in one tool. While performance improvement professionals have criticized the BEM for being useful only at the worker level, it is a great aid for line managers and supervisors who routinely analyze performance gaps, set goals for improvement, determine the causes, develop and implement solutions, and evaluate the results for their employees.

How to Use the Tool
In the Performance Analysis Worksheet the factors on the left and their sub-categories from the BEM make visible the components needed for employee performance. By selecting the relevant factors and adding force field analysis, a manager or supervisor can systematically identify driving forces (that are present and exert a positive influence) and restraining forces (that are not present or exert a negative influence), and then weight the influence that each factor exerts on a particular employee’s performance.

Success Story
Roger worked with a company that provided software products and services to very large financial organizations and government agencies. They had recently decided to develop products and services for medium-sized financial institutions and had formed a sales team to bring these products to market. Roger used the Performance Analysis Worksheet to analyze the performance of this new sales team.

While the sales manager was looking for training to enhance the selling skills of his team, he was open to a broader solution to build systems that would systematically track and continuously improve the performance of his sales staff. Not only would the solution have to contain selling and sales management systems to support the training given the sales team, it would have to bridge the gap between the sales team and the customer service people in another division. The completed worksheet shows the performance gap and reasonable goal as well as the cause analysis.

Advice to Users of the Performance Analysis Worksheet
By sharing tools like the Performance Analysis Worksheet, performance consultants can add tremendous value for their line clients, enabling them to identify performance gaps and make visible the factors that are helping or hindering an individual employee’s performance. By partnering with our clients to work with the Performance Analysis Worksheet, we help them become better-informed consumers of performance improvement services.

Roger reminds us that when we use the Performance Analysis Worksheet with our line managers and supervisors we put a tool in their hands that can help them do their jobs more effectively. We also enable them to be solution independent; whatever solution they may have chosen for their performance challenge, using a tool like the Performance Analysis Worksheet effectively forces objectivity and lets possible solutions arise from the analysis rather than from a preconceived idea.

Links to the Performance Technology Landscape
The Performance Analysis Worksheet supports these principles of performance technology:

Application Exercise
To get started with the Performance Analysis Worksheet, choose a completed project or one that is currently active. Complete the Worksheet from the beginning by redefining the gap and the reasonable goal and completing the analysis. It is common, even with a completed project, to find that there is a lot that you know as well as some information you may not have. This should encourage you to dig deeper to find and include missing information for a complete and accurate analysis.

At the 2007 Annual ISPI Conference
Dr. Roger Chevalier, CPT, is presenting a Masters’ Series session, Applying the Standards of Performance Technology, with a representative from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He is also presenting a conference workshop, A Manager’s Guide to Improving Workplace Performance, reflecting on his new book of the same name. Both the Masters’ presentation and the conference workshop are part of the ISPI/IFTDO 2007 International Performance Improvement Conference in San Francisco, April 30-May 3.

To review past contributions to the TrendSpotters Open Toolkit and find all the models and tools featured in this column, click here.

If you have an HPT model or tool that supports you in your performance improvement activities, contact Carol Haig, CPT, at carolhaig@earthlink.net or http://home.mindspring.com/%7Ecarolhaig, or Roger Addison, CPT, EdD, at roger@ispi.org.

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What Makes Human Performance Technology Different?
by Donald T. Tosti, CPT, PhD

Human performance technology (HPT) differs from most other approaches to human performance issues in that its applications are derived from a core set of scientific principles. This is not to say that other disciplines do not use scientific principles or conduct research; rather, such principles serve a different role in their development.

The development of laser technology followed an approach similar to that of HPT. The phenomenon of amplified coherent light was discovered in laboratories in the 1950s. By the 1960s several industrial labs were beginning to explore potential applications of these findings, and today we can see many. For example, lasers are used to drill holes, level bookcases, play our CDs, operate on our bodies, and even precisely measure the distance to the moon. All these applications were derived from a set of core principles discovered in a laboratory.

In a similar way HPT started with a set of laboratory-based principles. Probably the most important of these was the performance relationship between antecedents (A), behavior (B), and consequences (C). HPT practitioners recast the ABC variables into the performance system model. When combined with other concepts relevant to a particular issue, the performance system model provided the framework from which all of the applications of HPT have been derived.

The range of these applications is impressive. HPT applications have been used in education and training, coaching and feedback, culture change, process improvement, fostering collaborative relationships, performance-based leadership development, managing mergers, improving the delivery of customer value, and so on. The scope and range of HPT applications continue to grow each year.

Most other performance disciplines—such as organizational development, management theory, and quality programs—tended to follow a different path in their development. These disciplines usually focus on a particular set of issues or problems; for example, how to develop better teamwork or create more efficient processes. You can see this in the nature of their concepts and explanations. Rather than being based on a small set of independently defined variables, they often use response-inferred variables such as “style.” The result is that these disciplines represent a compilation of principles relevant to their chosen problem or issue.

There are basically two ways of dealing with complex phenomena:

1. Few principles, many variables—characteristic of the core approach
2. Many principles, few variables—characteristic of the compilation approach

Technologies such as those associated with lasers and human performance use a core approach. Disciplines like organization development (OD) and the various quality initiatives typically use compilation approaches. Without a core set of principles, compilation consultants tend to approach each “new” problem by developing a “new” insight and this often means developing a “new” principle.

As an example, let’s look at the observation that managers differ in their likelihood of demonstrating certain kinds of important leadership practices. OD practitioners dealt with this problem by developing a “new” principle. The principle they invented was called emotional intelligence (EQ) and they used it to explain the differences. They then developed instruments to diagnose EQ differences in terms of styles. HPT examined the same issue in terms of the core human performance system and identified the problem as one of lack of fluency and addressed it with existing core principles of feedback and practice to increase fluency.

It is often easier for a core approach to “borrow” ideas from a compilation approach than the other way around. For example, if OD or Six Sigma develops something that “works,” an HPT professional can examine it in terms of the human performance system, distill out the key performance elements, and link them to a comprehensive performance model. Often the results are greatly enhanced since the efforts are focused on the performance results, not the developmental process. It also helps that the concept can be fit into the existing body of performance knowledge.

People sometimes cite Taylor’s “scientific management” as representing the roots of HPT, but that is not the case. HPT began in the late 1950s using work done in the behavioral laboratories. Since then, HPT has incorporated much from scientific management and other disciplines. Though some of these movements preceded HPT, they were not the forerunners of the technology. The phonograph may have preceded the CD in reproducing music, but the underlying technology of the two is different.

It would be helpful for those who present at our professional meetings and submit papers to our journal to remember the power of building out from a core and be cautious in the promotion of “new” principles without thoughtful consideration of the existing ones.

Don will be presenting a one-day workshop, HPT: Culture Change and Performance Leadership, Monday, April 30. In addition, his Encore Presentation with John Amarant, The Performance Framework for Aligning the Human Performance System, will take place on Tuesday, May 1.

Donald T. Tosti, CPT, PhD, is a consistent contributor to PerformanceXpress. He is the managing partner of Vanguard Consulting, which specializes in the alignment of organizational processes and people with the stated strategy of the organization. Don is an expert in organizational systems. His pioneering work on contingency management began in the 1960s. As the principle investigator for the multimedia leadership/management course conducted at the U.S. Naval Academy, he adapted the methods of performance analysis to the study of leadership and management behavior. His subsequent work on modifying behavioral norms and leadership has demonstrated the power of HPT in organizations such as British Airways and General Motors. Don may be reached at Change111@aol.com.

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Have You Published a Fiction or Non-Fiction Book Outside the HPT Field?

If so, email Danny Langdon, and you can join a few of your colleagues who will be displaying and talking about our “Beyond ISPI Books” at this year’s International Performance Improvement Conference in San Francisco, April 30-May 3. It’s designed to be a fun time to talk about your penmanship outside your professional interest and that desire to write the great American novel—or just writing interests in general. Danny needs to hear from you by Monday, April 9.

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San Francisco Conference:
Bridging Evidence and Practice
by Tony Marker, PhD, and Linda Huglin, PhD

Do you find it hard to explain to the client why it is you do what you do?
If you are having trouble explaining your practice to the client, perhaps you need a stronger grounding in the research upon which these practices are based. If there is not research to back up a practice, how can we be certain that we are not selling snake oil? The following sessions, sponsored by the Science and Research Professional Community and the Research Committee, will help you make this connection.

Tuesday, May 1, 2:00 pm, Salon 15
Science and Research Community Caucus

Whether you are a practitioner, researcher, faculty, or student, novice or veteran, regardless of specialty, we all share a professional obligation to draw upon best-available evidence to solve problems; but fulfilling this obligation is a tall order. How does scientific evidence work in the real world? Reciprocally, how do our field practices inform our science? Our scientist-practitioner founders could engineer valid technologies and practices. How about you? What technologies do you need today? Where will tomorrow’s technologies come from? What if you had an entire community to help you? You do now! The ISPI Science and Research Community invites your contribution to pivotal discussions facilitated by distinguished Community leaders, including Mary Norris Thomas, David Cox, Jeanne Farrington, Karen Medsker, Don Stepich, Harold Stolovitch, Jim Pershing, Darlene Van Tiem, Chris Voelkl, and Sarah Ward. Come contribute to the conversation, commune with colleagues, and connect with expert resources as we explore high-profile fact-or-fad controversies and differentiate valid highways from trendy byways. Roll up your sleeves, join the discussion, and contribute to the partnership!

Wednesday,May 2, 10:30 am, Salon 15
Improving and Validating Your HPT Practices through Application of Key Research Findings
Ryan Watkins, PhD, and Doug Leigh, PhD

Interact with our industry leaders and our leading performance technologists as they show you step-by-step how to strengthen your consulting, training, or research practices through the transfer of research findings to practical application of human performance technology (HPT) principles. Through interactive roundtable discussions, you will go beyond glossy brochures and fancy websites to distinguish snake-oil remedies from evidence-based HPT technologies and practices. Learn from the experts who know best. Discussion hosts include Linda Huglin, Thomas Bradley, Mary Norris Thomas, Ingrid Guerra, Roger Kaufman, and others.

Wednesday, May 2, 1:30 pm, Nob Hill B
5th Annual Research Exchange
Ryan Watkins, PhD, and Doug Leigh, PhD

Today's ideas, investigations, and results become the HPT principles and practices that you will need to solve tomorrow's problems. Will you be prepared for tomorrow? Invest in your future, come to the 5th Annual Research Exchange to discover the relevance of cutting-edge investigations, the application of original and influential studies, and identify emerging issues that support our current and future HPT practices. Hear multiple five- to seven-minute enthusiastic presentations from leading researchers such as Thomas Bradley, Linda Huglin, Ron Beaulieu, Will Thalheimer, and Frank Nguyen.

Wednesday, May 2, 3:30 pm, Salon 5
Epistemologies for the Practical Practitioner
Tom Giberson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Education, Department of Human Resource Development, Oakland University

Research in performance improvement has progressed over the past several years, yet it is unclear how much basic and applied research is utilized by practitioners to inform their practice, build their credibility, and enhance client outcomes. Through this presentation, Dr. Giberson will discuss two of the fundamental ways we “know what we know” as practitioners: through experience and through research. Dr. Giberson will draw upon his experience as a practitioner to discuss the what, why, and how to access and integrate research into practice. As a researcher, Dr. Giberson will summarize some of his own research dealing with leadership and organizational culture as an example of how understanding basic research findings can enhance your effectiveness as a practitioner.

Wednesday, May 2, 5:00-6:00 pm, Sierra D
Business Meeting for SciComm and the Research Committee

This joint organizational and business meeting for SciComm and the Research Committee is open to one and all.

We hope to see all of you at these sessions as we work to build stronger connections between what we know and what we do.

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From the Board
San Francisco and Beyond
by Jeanne Farrington, CPT, EdD, ISPI President-elect

I am listening to an iTunes radio station called “Groove Salad” as I prepare to attend our 2007 International Performance Improvement Conference in San Francisco. Seems fitting somehow.

I am so looking forward to seeing and hearing our Society come together in this great city and to learn and be with many of you as we examine this idea of Performance Beyond Borders.

A society, according to Answers.com, is a “formal association of people with similar interests.” It also has the quality of providing “an extended social group.” Hence, one hears people saying, “ISPI is my professional home.” Why have a professional home? Well, things change: We change employers (or want to), our roles at work change, we move. We always have new things to learn, and we want to extend what we know through those we know. In this world of professional change, ISPI provides a constant: a place to learn, network, and share a connection with like-minded people. The bottom line? ISPI helps us to get better results for ourselves and for those with whom we work—and we get to do this within a friendly Society culture.

So, as I contemplate my own view of this particular “Groove Society” of ISPI, here’s what I see:

• Knowledge: We have people who know stuff: pioneers, professors, practitioners. We have captured (and will continue to capture) much of what they know in presentations, articles, and books. We encourage scholarship and research. We never stop learning.
• Know-How: We transform what we know into the ability to get things done—from knowing about to knowing how: proficiency, mastery, expertise. We never stop getting better at what we do.
• Results: We work to make things better—whether a broken thing that must be fixed or something we build from scratch: performance, productivity, accomplishment. We never take our attention off our goals.  

Themes for 2007-2008
At the end of the San Francisco conference, the new Board begins. As incoming President, I’ve been asked to write a little about my priorities for the next year. Here they are:

• Clarity: Sometimes people are not sure if ISPI is too much about this or not enough about that. Really, we work in a wide range of contexts and in many different walks of life. As a Society, we are creating and advancing the field, we are learning, and we are sharing what we know. Let’s make it more obvious who we are and what we offer. (Think Branding Initiative, a continuing effort from 2006-2007.)
• Visibility: We sometimes joke that HPT is the best kept secret on the planet. Let’s tell a few people. Then let’s tell even more people. (We can do more of this.)
• Involvement: Sometimes people wonder how to be more involved. We would like to have more members, more volunteers, and more contributors so that we can create even more opportunities to meet, learn, and share—all of which adds to our ability to achieve desired results. Let’s make it easier to play an active role. (The new Volunteer Committee, with Jean Strosinski as the founding chair, is working on a big part of this right now.)

Looking Back, Looking Forward
A year in “Board Time” goes by so fast. It’s been a pleasure working with our current President, Clare Elizabeth Carey, as she makes changing jobs, moving from Hawaii (aloha) to Texas (how-dee), and being ISPI President all at the same time seem like something a person can actually handle. I am delighted that she will be staying on as Past President—a new role that she will pioneer with panache.

I have also valued tremendously the opportunity to work with Bob Bodine. He has done a great job as our Treasurer the past two years and provided innovation, business acumen, and professionalism to our Board.

Continuing on will be three of this year’s Directors, Jim Fuller, Miki Lane, and Darlene Van Tiem. I am looking forward to another year of their contributions and fellowship. At the end of the conference, we will be welcoming Matt Peters to stay on as President-Elect and saying “hello” to Timm Esque and Mary Norris Thomas as new Directors. Both of them are contributing already, and I am so looking forward to the upcoming year.

As we look forward, Ivan Cortes, Ireta Ekstrom, and the wonderful 2008 Conference Committee are planning and working on the program for our annual conference in New York City: Enhancing Knowledge, Know-How & Results. Look for the Call for Proposals, which will be out shortly.

There are so many people who make ISPI such a great place to call my professional home. Thanks to all of you who write articles and books, present at our conferences, teach in our Institutes, serve on task forces and committees, do a thousand things in the background, participate in chapters, work on the staff, and show up for events.

All the best to everyone traveling to San Francisco. I am looking forward to seeing you there.

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ISPI Bestows Honorary Awards to Three Longtime Members

The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) has three special honorary awards that recognize outstanding individuals for their significant contributions to Human Performance Technology (HPT) and to the Society itself. Those awards are the Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award, the Distinguished Service Award, and the Honorary Life Member Award. ISPI is pleased to announce this year’s recipients: Dale M. Brethower, Carol Panza, and Klaus Wittkuhn. The awards will be bestowed at the 2007 International Performance Improvement Conference in San Francisco, California, April 30-May 3.

Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award
After decades of distinguished work in the field of Human Performance Technology, Dale M. Brethower, PhD, is receiving this year’s Gilbert Award, one that recognizes outstanding and significant contributions to the knowledge base of HPT.

Having first observed the fundamental concepts of general systems theory on the family farm, Dale later studied with B. F. Skinner, where he learned that there is a science of behavior that can be applied in natural settings. Dale has brought many of these applications to light as he helped to create the foundations of human performance technology.

Recognized as one of the founders of HPT, Dale has already received ISPI’s highest award, that of Honorary Member for Life in 2004. He is a past president of the Society and has been a member since 1963. In addition to his outstanding work in ISPI, Dale has been recognized by the Organizational Behavior Management Network of the International Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) for his outstanding contributions to the field.

In the course of his work and while participating in professional organizations, the list of those Dale has mentored is long and varied. It includes students from Western Michigan, Boise State, and the Sonora Institute of Technology, as well as many he’s met through ISPI, ABA, and his consulting practice. Dale has published seven books and contributed more than 50 publications and presentations. He is well respected by those who look up to him as a pioneer in the field and by those who are also HPT pioneers.

Dale is a professor emeritus of psychology at Western Michigan University. In 1994, he was a visiting scholar at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan . He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Performance Systems Analysis area of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. Dale has a master’s degree in experimental psychology from Harvard University and a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Michigan.

Distinguished Service Award
This award, determined by a unanimous vote by the ISPI Board of Directors, recognizes long-term, outstanding, and significant contributions to the betterment of ISPI. This year’s award goes to Carol Panza, CPT.

Carol’s contributions to the Society are legendary. She served on the 1999-2000 Board, she is a regular and popular presenter at the Annual Conference, and she has written numerous articles for ISPI publications, both in print and online.

Carol's devotion to ISPI and to the advancement of HPT has been tested and proven time and time again. She has been an active member of the Society for more than 20 years, and has contributed continually to the New Jersey Chapter where she served as Vice President for Programs. She also played a major role in the European Chapter, where she has worked with the organizing committees for every one of that chapter's regional conferences. Carol has traveled repeatedly to Europe, South Africa , and Asia, at her own expense, primarily to support conferences and ISPI members in those countries.

She has championed international members and worked hard to overcome barriers that prevent them from attending our Annual Conference or from submitting projects in foreign languages for Awards of Excellence. When Carol was the Board liaison responsible for overseeing the Awards Committee, she worked to define and gain approval for a procedure that would not require the translation of projects developed in foreign languages into English just so they could be evaluated by English-speaking evaluators. Over a number of Annual Conferences, she has refined the features of the International Room to meet the needs of foreign visitors, especially those who are non-native speakers of English. To many of the international members of ISPI, Carol represents the best in ISPI. She models our core beliefs in her work and in her advice. She believes in a rigorous, structured, systematic, and systemic approach backed by research, experience, and data.

Honorary Life Member
This award recognizes outstanding and significant contributions to the field of Human Performance Technology and the Society. It is not bestowed easily. It requires the unanimous vote of two consecutive ISPI Boards of Directors, making it the Society’s most prestigious award. This year, ISPI honors Herr Klaus D. Wittkuhn, CPT.

Klaus turns action into impact. As founder and managing partner of Performance Group, a cadre comprising three consulting companies, Klaus helps clients achieve results through the design of performance systems and performance-based training. Applying performance principles and best practices, Klaus has developed HPT frameworks that adapt effectively to European workplaces. He has been instrumental in publishing the first set of materials on HPT in German, co-published the book Improving Performance: Leistungspotenziale in Unternehmen entfalten, and wrote more than 20 articles covering different aspects of the field of HPT.

Klaus enables others to succeed. As a faculty member at two German universities and one Swiss university, Klaus instills a keen understanding of systematic performance processes in all of his management and human resources courses. His students and colleagues alike testify that Klaus has been a key catalyst in their professional growth. Klaus challenges his peer professionals to expand their respective areas of expertise. He is the ”mentor’s mentor.”

Klaus epitomizes the “I” in ISPI. Klaus has been a strong advocate for the Society’s growth around the globe. He founded a German chapter and contributed to the maturation of our respected ISPI Europe group. His cogent and creative presentations at ISPI’s Annual and European conferences are legendary, illustrated by the multiple invitations to serve as a Masters’ Speaker. This year in San Francisco, Klaus serves as the closing keynote speaker.

Klaus is known for his keen ability to clarify complex concepts and to create innovative models and tools. He is the author of “Quantulumcunque Concerning the Future Development of Performance Technology”, chapter 55 of the new 3^rd edition of the Handbook of Human Performance Technology. His scholarly and pragmatic thinking are exemplified in his writing, and his integrity and character are evident by his selfless service to ISPI.

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CPT News from Around the World

New CPTs!
The following individuals submitted their work for peer review and were awarded the Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) designation. Please congratulate them.

If you are interested in becoming a CPT, the next deadline for submitting your application is June 15, 2007. Also some excellent examples of applications are available on the website at www.certifiedpt.org along with a self-assessment guide, the reviewer’s standardized checklist, and the application form.

Announcing ISPI’s Outreach Results
ISPI was invited to submit an article about certification to the Leadership Excellence magazine with a readership of about 27,000. The article appeared in the March 2007 issue.

ISPI was invited by the Human Capital Institute (HCI) with a membership of 50,000-plus to conduct a webinar on Certification: A Talent Management Strategy. The webinar will be done by Judith Hale, ISPI Director of Certification, and is scheduled for April 5 at 1:00 pm Eastern Time. To participate and earn recertification points, register at www.humancapitalinstitute.org. Steven Price, CPT, and Joy Kosta of HCI can be credited with facilitating the relationship between ISPI and HCI.

Training Magazine Events—Training 2007—posted the CPT logo on its website. If you attend this conference, you may have earned up to 12 recertification points.

Roger Addison, CPT, is facilitating a series of radio interviews on key performance issues. The show, brought to you by MyTechnologyLawyer.com, airs every Wednesday at 1:00 pm Eastern Time. The following CPTs have been interviewed: Roger Chevalier, CPT (3/7), Margo Murray, CPT (3/14), Miki Lane, CPT (3/21), and Judith Hale, CPT (3/28). Upcoming broadcasts include Harold Stolovitch, CPT (4/4) and Diane Gayeski (4/11). Click here to listen to past shows.

ISPI was invited to serve on a new International Standards Organization Technical Advisory Group (ISO/TAG) as a member of the U.S. delegation. The TAG is charged with developing a new international standard for providers of educational services. Over 13 organizations are part of the U.S. delegation, which is chaired by Doug Lynch, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Management. Rob Foshay, CPT, facilitated ISPI’s involvement.

CPT Luncheon & Clinic
If you are a CPT and coming to the conference at the end of this month, be sure to register for the CPT luncheon, Thursday, May 3, as seating is limited. This year’s clinic will feature a presentation by Jim Hill, CPT, new developments in research, and the push for universal standards. There will also be a structured networking session.

Your Story
If you have results to share that you think others would value, send them to judy@ispi.org.

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Project Proven Tools and Techniques for ISD: Existing T& D Assessments
by Guy W. Wallace, CPT, Representative of the Instructional Systems (IS) ProComm

The fourth topic that we are covering in this 12-part series is Existing T&D Assessments. After analyzing performance requirements and knowledge and skill enablers, existing T&D can be assessed for its reuse potential. The goals of the Existing T&D Assessment efforts are to:

• Reuse everything in the T&D inventory that fits the needs identified in your ISD project.
• Identify what to fix if the T&D does not quite fit; if the T&D will need to be modified or updated for reuse in any instructional products.
• Eliminate any existing T&D that does not fit the need (at least for the target audiences in the scope of the project); the existing T&D will not be reused at all in this project.

The Performance Model and Knowledge/Skill Matrix provide a “bill of requirements” for the content of the ideal, instructional product or curriculum. They also provide a set of shopping criteria to be used to assess existing T&D.

The Performance Model and Knowledge/Skill Matrix data are used to investigate and assess instructional products currently in the organization’s T&D inventory, or beyond as planned. Those data can also be used to acquire (buy) existing T&D available in the marketplace. Using the Performance Model and the Knowledge/Skill Matrix means that the assessment is grounded in data, not simply opinion.

Inputs and Likely Sources for the Existing T&D Assessment
Key inputs may come from existing course catalogs or from ISD personnel knowledgeable about the company’s T&D. It is sometimes a difficult task to gather all of the T&D and find the right people to speak for the T&D that may be applicable to the project’s needs. If this cannot be done, a page-by-page assessment, of every likely T&D offering, may need to be the approach used.

The analyst can speed the entire effort by contacting likely sources prior to conducting the Existing T&D Assessment and forewarning them by describing the analysis process, the data generated, the information from them that is needed, when the information will be needed, and the options for getting it.

Existing T&D Assessment Tasks
First, the analyst contacts the likely sources of T&D prior to the assessment. The sources may include outside vendors of T&D, but most often this effort is limited to internal sources. In a large company, this can be quite an effort; the team should not underestimate the task’s cycle time or the number of hours the task may take.

Once the analyst has documented the Performance Model and Knowledge/Skill Matrix data, advance copies can be sent to the T&D suppliers. The analyst needs to be sure the suppliers understand the format of these analysis outputs and how to interpret the data on them. When meeting with the T&D suppliers, the analyst reviews the T&D that the “suppliers” believe meet the needs as documented. Then the analyst fills out the Existing T&D Assessment form (see Figure 1) for each instructional product that was assessed for its reuse potential. The assessment concludes for each T&D product (or component):

• Use As Is
• Use After Modification
• Do Not Use

Figure 1. Existing T&D Assessment

Finally, the analyst includes the Existing T&D Assessment data in any analysis report and in any presentations for his or her client or project steering team. This data will be taken, as appropriate, into any follow-on instructional design efforts.

Summary
The Existing T&D Assessment saves organizational resources by identifying T&D that may be reused as part of a newly designed curriculum or instructional product. This approach can save the ISD function time and money if reuse is at all viable.

If you would like to participate further in a discussion about Performance Models, make a comment about the article, or ask Guy a question, click here to visit the IS Discussion Forum.

Next month: Curriculum Architecture Modules, Events, and Paths

Guy W. Wallace, CPT, has been an external ISD and HPT consultant since1982, is the president of EPPIC Inc., has been a member of ISPI since 1979, is a past president of ISPI, is the author of lean-ISD, and is a recipient of an ISPI 2002 Award of Excellence. He may be reached via guy.wallace@eppic.biz and related resources may be obtained at his website: www.eppic.biz.

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ISPI Presents Special Award for Enduring Contribution to the Field of Performance Technology

Greatness comes in many forms. It can be larger than life with much fanfare and public recognition. Or it may be more reserved and private—yet with equal or greater impact. Success should never be defined in just one way because there are many venues for people to gain recognition.

Marilyn Gilbert is one who has not sought fame, nor fanfare, nor fortune but whose work has had significant positive impact on our field and our ISPI members. Marilyn has made a difference for many in our Society.

Her contributions have been significant, both as a writer and as a collaborator. At the core of Marilyn’s contributions is her unique ability to communicate effectively herself, and to improve the communication of others. She has that special ability to capture complex ideas and convey them so others may absorb and digest new knowledge. They may be her ideas, or the ideas of another. Over the last four decades, Marilyn as written, co-authored, and/or edited myriad books, articles, and publications. She has been instrumental in articulating the sometimes elusive field of human performance technology.

Marilyn was a college English teacher at Indiana University and wrote children’s books before becoming active as an instructional designer and performance analyst. She was co-founder of and for five years served as technical editor for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. This remains the archival research publication of the science of behavior founded by B. F. Skinner and his students. Performance technologists recognize this publication as one of the seminal references for the important foundations for HPT.

She was editor of the book Schedules of Reinforcement, reporting the groundbreaking research results of Charles Ferster and B. F. Skinner in their investigation of how consequences can be arranged to affect behavior. In the HPT field, Marilyn was the editor and supporting contributor to Tom Gilbert’s book Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance. Marilyn helped shape the concepts and communications in that book, as well as many other subsequent presentations developed in the long Gilbert partnership.

She continues to practice in our field today. As a spry octogenarian, Marilyn travels the globe sharing her knowledge, experience, and expertise. She brings a fresh perspective with a depth of wisdom to the interpretations and applications of HPT. Marilyn Gilbert is one of ISPI’s greatest treasures. Marilyn will participate in a book signing for the recently republished Human Competence on Wednesday, May 2 from 10:00-10:30 am during ISPI’s conference at the end of this month.

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Evaluating Emerging Technologies
by Diane Gayeski, PhD

As a performance improvement professional, your clients and sponsors will expect you to stay on top of new learning and collaboration technologies. Should you use a wiki to allow participants in a training program to collaboratively build a knowledge repository? Your CEO wants to write a blog to inform and motivate employees. Is this a good idea or a waste of time? A client wants a portable training solution for factory technicians. Is a PDA or iPod a good choice? Your project teams are increasingly consisting of members in disparate geographical locations. What is  the best virtual office and group decision support software to support them? Do you even know what these terms mean?

A large part of your job may be tracking these potential solutions and then making a pitch for adopting them. I like to look at this as a three-phase process:

1. Knowing where to look for trends and new technologies
2. Matching up needs to potential new solutions or vice versa
3. Creating and evaluating prototypes

As someone whose career is providing education and consultation on new technologies, I have found that some of my best insights have come from reading ads—mostly, in fact, the tiny ones at the back of magazines where start-up companies may make their first efforts at publicizing an emerging new technology. Certainly, many industry conferences in our own field of training and performance as well as those in information technology and even consumer electronics provide opportunities to hear about new applications. Networking is perhaps the best tool for understanding the true pros and cons of any new initiative; since people naturally tend to write and talk publicly only about their successes, it takes one-on-one conversations with trusted colleagues to hear the war stories.

As enticing as new technologies may be, they are useless if they are approached as a solution in search of a need. Some typical needs and new technology solutions that I have encountered in my recent projects include:

Because many new initiatives require heavy investments of time and money—as well as some possible cultural shifts—it is important to start assessments and proposals several years before you actually hope to get the green light from management. That is where prototyping comes in. The great thing about many new technologies is that the delivery hardware is already in place; many people already have web-enabled cell phones, PDAs, or iPods. Moreover, because these are largely consumer devices, it is generally easy to create content for them, and the enabling software is inexpensive or even free.

If you would like to learn more about selecting and developing prototypes for new media, I will be leading an online course, Evaluating Emerging Technologies, as part of ISPI’s certificate program in Performance Improvement Management. Registration deadline: April 21. For more information, go to www.ispi.org/pim.

Diane Gayeski, PhD, is associate dean and professor of Strategic Communications at Ithaca College and practices what she preaches through her consulting firm, Gayeski Analytics. Diane is also the coordinator for ISPI's online certificate program in Performance Improvement Management, delivered in cooperation with Ithaca College. She may be reached at diane@dgayeski.com.

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ISPI Recognizes Excellence in the Field of HPT

The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) Awards of Excellence program is designed to showcase the people, products, innovations, and organizations that represent excellence in the field of instructional and human performance technology. The recipients below will be recognized during the Closing Banquet at our upcoming International Performance Improvement Conference, May 3, 2007.

Outstanding Human Performance Intervention
This award recognizes outstanding results derived from the successful application of Human Performance Technology to human performance problems, needs, or opportunities. 

Corrective Action Intervention
Wanda S. Dembeck, R. L. Polk & Co.

In 2005, the Quality Management Team at R. L. Polk & Co. (Polk) conducted a customer satisfaction survey and discovered that, as a company, we had significant opportunity for improvement in the area of customer service and problem resolution.

The purpose of the Correction Action Intervention was to install a performance system including processes, skills, training, and motivation to significantly improve our ability to effectively handle customer experienced issues. The intervention addressed the full spectrum of improving our customer problem resolution process including taking the call from the customer, ensuring effective communication and follow-up, investigating the issue, providing the solution to the problem, and ensuring the identification of the root cause of the issue and the implementation of a proven intervention to ensure an issue does not recur.

In addition, we found that many customer issues could be prevented in the first place by applying the corrective action process to internal in-process issues discovered as our customer deliverables moved from one department to another.

Ultimately, the goal of the intervention was to increase our customers’ satisfaction with our ability to respond to their issues and increase our customers’ willingness to recommend us to new potential customers.

• Positive responses to “Polk provides excellent customer service” increased by 7.5%.
• Positive responses to “willingness to recommend” increased by 5.9%.
• “Problem resolution” being cited as a Polk weakness decreased by 70%

Customer Sales and Service at The Home Depot
Cathy Brown and Tom Pennington

This solution incorporates self-directed learning, competition, and peer coaching to improve the sales and service skills of sales associates in specialty departments. The class includes a board game that prompts learners to recall information and perform skill drills. By the end of class, learners complete a full sales role play. Observers use a Customer Touchpoint Scorecard to provide feedback to the learners after the role play. The learning is reinforced on the job using action planners, Customer Touchpoint Scorecards, and monthly role plays. Used together, these tools have resulted in significant improvements in sales and service for The Home Depot specialty departments

Global Retail e-Learning
ExxonMobil and Prospero Learning Solutions Inc.

A large U.S.-based integrated oil company wanted to improve training efficiency and effectiveness by applying global standards to its methodology and materials. Prospero, formerly DocworksCPTI, provided a blended solution that combines 11 state-of-the-art e-learning modules with a workbook consisting of job aids, exercises, and activities at the site and a Manager's Toolkit that includes coaching activities, tips, answer keys, and other details required to manage the learning. This self-directed, modular approach to training new attendants is easy for retailers to implement, reduces “training time,” and ensures consistent execution at the sites in a fun and practical way. The solution has resulted in measurable improvements in the performance of learners, successfully reduced the dependence on the site manager to train new employees, and allowed for consistent delivery in all markets.

Merchandising Excellence
Imperial Oil and DLC Inc.

DLC Inc. partnered with Canada 's largest integrated oil company to increase convenience store sales through improved merchandising execution at their stores across Canada . With shrinking margins on fuel sales, convenience store, car wash, and fast food sales have become a top business priority. Partnering with the organization, DLC assisted with the design, development, and implementation of the required performance intervention. The blended solution addressed leadership, performance gaps, motivation, and sustainment. It included in-class workshops (Train-the-Trainer, Territory Managers Workshop, and Retailer Workshops), on-site store evaluations (using a standard evaluation tool), performance job aids, a site readiness plan, and a monetary incentive program. The business measured significant sales increases in the first year and continues to build on this program each year to sustain sales levels.

RealityPlus™: Increasing Value Through Performance-Based Training
Learning Tree International Inc. and Darryl L. Sink & Associates Inc.

Learning Tree and Darryl Sink & Associates teamed up to design and develop a new learning experience that enhanced Learning Tree’s renowned course quality. The result is RealityPlus™, where participants are immersed in simulated real-world scenarios where they learn and practice new knowledge and skills hands-on in a dynamic, media-rich environment. Authenticity is the key to this new approach. Video-based scenarios simulate real-life interpersonal interaction, where the learner makes decisions and takes action based on information that is presented just as encountered on the job. Evaluation Levels I, II, and III showed this approach to significantly increase participant satisfaction and on-the-job results.

Safelite University
Safelite Contact Center Training Team and S4 NetQuest

The value of the web-based performance support application is to provide easily accessible information, tutorials, and training support at the customer service representative’s desktop, resulting in efficient, comprehensive, and accurate communications with inbound customers. By providing the customer service representatives with a resource that is easy to navigate, labor resources can be efficiently utilized to service more than one account or account type without degradation in service quality. Designed in collaboration with NetQuest, the application also allows Safelite associates to access online training modules, take assessments and certification tests, and monitor their own progress in their individualized curriculum. The key job aids contained in training modules can be “quick linked,” which makes them immediately accessible to the associate via the SU Resource Center.

Confirmative Evaluation: Practical Strategies for Valuing Continuous Improvement
Joan C. Dessinger, CPT, EdD, and James L. Moseley, CPT, EdD

Training and HPT professionals are under increased pressure to improve the continuing efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and value of training programs and other performance improvement interventions, as well as the continuing competence of learners and performers. Confirmative Evaluation offers trainers, consultants, evaluation professionals, and HPT practitioners a resource for understanding and applying the proven principle of confirmative evaluation. Confirmative evaluation goes beyond formative and summative evaluation to answer the question: Did what we say would happen really continue to happen·over time? The book is filled with helpful figures, tables, and performance support tools. It also contains a glossary, reference list, and additional resources. 

Performance Technology Overview
Mary L. Lanigan, PhD, Third House Inc.

Performance Technology Overview is an instructional CD which teaches the knowledge and skills required of performance technologists. The eight modules, designed and saved on the CD as Internetpages, include audios, Flash presentations, job aids, and instructional materials to enhance novice and intermediate practitioners’ skills in an entertaining and educational manner. The content introduces learners to the field of performance technology including a historical overview, reviews front-end analysis, writing training manuals, creating job aids, completing usability tests, designing web pages using HTML coding, capturing audios/videos, employing online academic suites, incorporating systems principles, and discussing evaluation models.

Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology, 2^nd edition
Robert A. Reiser, Florida State University , and John V. Dempsey, University of South Alabama

This textbook describes foundations and trends in the fields of instructional design, instructional technology, and performance improvement. Topics covered include online learning, performance support, knowledge management, informal learning, learning objects, emerging technologies, motivational strategies, evaluation techniques, and other trends that can be used to improve learning and performance in a variety of organizations, including businesses, government agencies, schools, academia, and the military. Professional development topics include job search strategies, publication tips, and professional standards and certification. Chapter authors include Ruth Clark, David Merrill, Marc Rosenberg, Allison Rossett, Harold Stolovitch, and many other leading figures.

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ISPI Lifetime Membership: Benefits for a Lifetime

Have you considered ISPI’s Lifetime Membership? If you have not, here is why you should. Lifetime Membership is straightforward and simple and makes the most sense—you, the member, make a one-time, lump-sum payment to ISPI and become a member for life and never pay dues again. Plus, retain all member benefits, avoid future dues increases, receive lifetime discounts on ISPI products and services, never miss a member benefit because of a lapse in payment, and contribute to building your performance improvement community of the future. For complete details on the lifetime membership, click here, or download a copy of the brochure by clicking here.

ISPI congratulates its newest Lifetime Members:

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Performance Marketplace

Performance Marketplace is a convenient way to exchange information of interest to the performance improvement community. Take a few moments each month to scan the listings for important new events, publications, services, and employment opportunities. To post information for our readers, contact ISPI Director of Marketing, Keith Pew at keithp@ispi.org or 301.587.8570.

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ISPI Membership: Join or Renew Today!

Are you working to improve workplace performance? Then ISPI membership is your key to professional development through education, certification, networking, and professional affinity programs.

If you are already a member, we thank you for your support. If you have been considering membership or are about to renew, there is no better time to join ISPI. To apply for membership or renew, simply click here.

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Newsletter Submission Guidelines

ISPI is looking for Human Performance Technology (HPT) articles (approximately 500 words and not previously published) for PerformanceXpress that bridge the gap from research to practice (please, no product or service promotion is permitted). Below are a few examples of the article formats that can be used:

• Short “I wish I had thought of that” Articles
• Practical Application Articles
• The Application of HPT
• Success Stories

In addition to the article, please include a short bio (2-3 lines) and a contact e-mail address. All submissions should be sent to april@ispi.org. Each article will be reviewed by one of ISPI’s on-staff HPT experts, and the author will be contacted if it is accepted for publication. If you have any further questions, please contact april@ispi.org.

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About PerformanceXpress

Feel free to forward ISPI’s PerformanceXpress newsletter to your colleagues or anyone you think may benefit from the information. If you are reading someone else’s PerformanceXpress, send your complete contact information to april@ispi.org, and you will be added to the PerformanceXpress emailing list.

PerformanceXpress is an ISPI member benefit designed to build community, stimulate discussion, and keep you informed of the Society’s activities and events. This newsletter is published monthly and will be emailed to you at the beginning of each month.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact April Davis, ISPI’s Associate Executive Director, at april@ispi.org.

ISPI
1400 Spring Street, Suite 260
Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA
Phone: 301.587.8570
Fax: 301.587.8573
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