processes

Understand processes such as change, design, development, and learning.

EDTEC 685: Informational & Instructional Technologies for Organizations

Internal Networking Certification Proposal (0.5MB PDF)

When I wrote this proposal, I had the Director of Network and Hardware Services (NHS) in mind. It outlines a six-stage process for improving how NHS technicians maintain their knowledge and skills in order to support clients. NHS technicians are so busy helping clients every day that they have little time left over to keep up with the latest and best practices.

Processes fascinate me and process improvement is important to me. Before I started my studies in educational technology, I had completed many hours of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) training and spent many times that number of hours applying what I had learned. So, when I learned about ADDIE and Performance Improvement (PI), I was intrigued. In fact, I have a chart on my wall at work (similar to the one below) that attempts to compare the models of ADDIE, DMAIC, DMADV, PI, Plan Check Do Act, and the Scientific Method. I’m not at all convinced that the comparisons are correct, but they remind me that there are many different ways to look at a process and how to improve it.

I was following the ADDIE and PI models when I wrote the proposal for the Director of NHS, but I was also thinking about LSS and the model it uses, DMAIC. There is not a strict one-to-one correspondence because DMAIC focuses on the performance of the process, while ADDIE focuses on the performance of people, but there is no process without people, so both models overlap at many points and on many levels.

However, what interested me most was where they didn’t overlap. For instance, if you listen to LSS practitioners, you could get the impression they never think about the people in the process. That’s not true, practitioners are well aware of the people in the process, but because they focus on the process, they tend to abstract the people. That’s one of the flaws of LSS.

The drivers of performance that Allison Rossett talked about in her book, First Things Fast, brought this into focus for me, and that’s why I stressed motivation, incentives, knowledge & skills, and environment (MIKE) in my proposal. LSS does talk about cause and effect relationships, but I’ve never heard anyone talk about MIKE in relation to LSS.

Before I worked on this proposal, I facilitated a Kaizen event for the Director of NHS in which we discussed a wide range of topics. We danced around the subject of human performance, but never addressed it directly. Ironically, the Director implemented a program similar to the one I proposed, but without my input. He has a degree in psychology, so one of these days, I hope to show him the proposal and talk about MIKE.

HPT/PI	ADDIE	DMAIC	DMADV	PDCA	Scientific Method
Performance Gaps	Analyze Define	Define Measure	Define Measure	Plan	Hypothesis
Interventions	Develop Implement	Analyze Improve	Analyze Design	Do Check	Experiment
Evaluation	Evaluate	Control	Verify	Act	Theory