CHAPTER TEN
Train With Stories
Showcase
“Get out!” James sets his drink down on the table. “You made this in PowerPoint?!”
Dayna grins. “Yep!” She feels excited to show James her work. She asked James to meet her at the Question Mark Grill so she could show him her finished stories. “So … am I up for a Pulitzer?”
“And an Emmy!” They laugh. “Seriously, Dayna, I’m very impressed. I mean, I would have never thought to put photographs with speech bubbles. It works! It feels kind of like a video!”
“Thanks! I think my co-workers did a pretty good job acting.” Dayna closes her laptop.
“They had a good director!”
“You taught me everything I know. It’s about action, right?”
“Right! I won’t take it to heart that I didn’t get the lead role,” James says.
Dayna laughs. “What about the Steve story? Did you like that one?”
“It’s perfect. I totally get why he clicked on that invite. I might have done the same thing!” Dayna smiles. James continues, “What does the compliance director think?”
“She signed off on it this afternoon. She likes it a lot.”
“Yeah, but what did she say?” James prods. “Come on, did she say it was brilliant?”
“Well.” Dayna blushes. “Something like that.”
“Ingenious?” Dayna shakes her head. “A masterpiece?”
Dayna rolls her eyes. “She said it was intelligent and engaging.”
“Sounds like compliance-speak for brilliant to me!” James says. “So what’s next?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk with you about,” says Dayna.
“Oh good! I wouldn’t mind playing Steve in the musical version!” They laugh.
“Well, after the musical, I’ve got to deliver training.”
“Oh yeah,” says James. “So what’s the plan?”
Dayna takes a drink. “I was thinking that each training module would start with the story to, you know, set the context and the problem. Then, it could go right into demonstrating the right way to do things.”
James clarifies, “You mean, just leave Steve and Andrew and Jasmine in the dust and jump right into training?”
“Well, not exactly,” Dayna explains. “See, the story is the hook that draws them in. But the training is, well, still just compliance training.”
“But what happens to your characters?” James asks.
“I’m not sure,” Dayna admits.
James pushes, “You’ve produced this great need for resolution. It’d be a shame to leave the characters behind like that. Isn’t there some way to include their story in the training?”
Dayna thinks it through. “Well, their story is in the training … but I see what you mean. Maybe I could follow their story through somehow and show what happens?”
“What makes the stories relevant to the learner?” James asks.
“Everything,” says Dayna, “The characters are in conflict with the actions we want employees to take.”
James nods. “Okay, so after reading the Jasmine story, I’m not sure I know what actions you want me to take. I mean, I kind of know, but I don’t know that I could put it into words. Shouldn’t the story have some kind of impact on the training?”
“Yeah.” Dayna and James sit quietly for a minute. Finally Dayna speaks, thinking out loud, “Learners need to do something.” She pauses. “A lot of training is telling, then testing, right?” James nods. Dayna continues, “But if we begin with these stories, it’s kind of like immersing the learner in the situation right up front. It’s not telling the learner … it’s showing them. In a way, it’s like throwing them into the scene to figure things out.”
“Totally.” James agrees.
“So, what if we left some room after the story to give the learner some space to think?” Dayna looks at James for his opinion.
“Think during a compliance course? That sounds radical. Go on.”
“Alright.” Dayna leans forward. “The story ends. On the next slide, we ask the learner to identify what was wrong in the scenario, without telling them anything. You know, let them figure it out?”
“Give me an example. What about the Steve story?”
“Right. Steve’s story ends with him in a panic. The next slide gives the learner a question and some options.”
“Multiple choice?” asks James.
“Yes.”
James nods. “What’s the question and what are the options?”
“Let’s see, it could be something like, ‘What has Steve just done?’ And the options are ‘Introduced a virus into his computer,’ ‘Given access to an unauthorized individual,’ or ‘Exposed the company to a security risk.’”
“Isn’t it all of those things?” asks James.
“Well, oh yeah, I guess it’d be ‘All of the above!’”
James groans. “No! Too easy! Come on! There’s got to be something better than that!”
Dayna smiles. “Coming up with multiple choice questions on the fly isn’t easy, you know.”
“Hold on,” says James, “You created these stories based on an audience profile and a list of actions, right?”
Dayna nods. “That’s right.”
“So shouldn’t your multiple choice question be about … ”
Dayna gets it and interrupts, “ … the action! Yes! Not identifying the problem but doing something about it. That would help them to think things through and figure it out for themselves.”
James is right there with her. “The story helps them to assess their skills in a real-world situation right at the top!”
“I like the way you put that,” says Dayna.
“So what’s your new multiple choice question?”
Dayna opens her laptop and pulls up the cyber security action list.
Figure 10-1. Cybersecurity Action List
“According to the action list, the step that Steve should take now is report the suspected breach in security.”
James looks at the screen. “OK, yeah, I see that. It’s too late for him to take steps 1 or 2. He’s already up to step 3.”
“I think these are the choices I can use,” says Dayna. “They’re all things that Steve was in conflict with in the story, and they’re all related to cybersecurity. None of them are distractors, necessarily. It would help the learner assess where they are in the story.”
James spells it out. “So the question is, ‘What should Steve do right now?’”
Dayna nods. “Yes, and the choices are ‘Scan the email for phishing clues,’ ‘Forward the email to the help desk,’ or ‘Report it to cybersecurity.’”
James looks at the action list on Dayna’s screen. “So, they’d have to know these steps to answer correctly? It seems kind of unfair to ask them this question if they don’t know that process.”
Dayna sits up straight. “I know! I could link to the online job aid right here on the slide.”
“But, isn’t that giving away the answer?”
“It’s not giving away the answer!” Dayna says. “It’s part of figuring things out, like in the real world, right?”
“Like in the real world,” James repeats. “Because in the real world, they have this job aid, so why not give it to them in the course so they can practice using it?”
“I couldn’t have said it better!” Dayna grins. “What do you think?”
James grins. “It’s brilliant.”
Stories Center Stage in Training
The Story Design model connects the story to action. The last connecting piece of the model is training (Figure 10-2).
Figure 10-2. Training in the Story Design Model
Once you’ve spent time and resources designing and developing a story for training, you want to maximize its power throughout the rest of the course; you want to keep the story center stage. As James mentioned, you don’t want to leave the characters in the dust once the training begins. Imagine a training experience that begins with “At the end of the course, you will be able to protect our systems from security breaches,” compared to one that begins with a story, like Steve’s, where you are thrust into the action immediately and need to make a choice. The first appeals to the intellect only. But the second engages the intellect and the emotions. The rider and the elephant, mentioned in chapter 1, are fully on board! Action is the focus of the Story Design process in discovery, design, and delivery. The action that learners must take to impact the business outcome is realized through training, supercharged by the story.
Story Design’s profound impact on the learning experience can be strengthened using some simple training techniques for e-learning, instructor-led training, and virtual solutions. Invite your audience to continue to interact with the characters as learners seek to resolve their conflict. The following techniques will help guide your audience through training, keeping the story central to the experience. As you move through each technique, remember that the goal is to move learners up the design continuum toward practice (Figure 10-3).
Figure 10-3. Design Continuum
Reflection
Dayna’s first instinct to give her audience time to think was a good one. Reflection can be as simple as assessing one’s emotional state or identifying the missteps of the character. Allow the learner to think through the story and make their own observations. Figure 10-4 shows two examples of reflection.
Figure 10-4. Reflection Questions
Notice that for each reflection, a character or image from the story appears along with the question. For e-learning there may not be a correct choice for a reflection question. If you are presenting to a live audience, prepare more questions that prompt participants to offer deeper insights that lead to identifying the root problem. A reflection question is especially effective when training an audience on interpersonal or leadership skills but can be used for any type of training.
Solving
The next natural step to reflection is figuring out the right course of action. Solving questions will differ for each course and for each delivery mode, but contain the same elements:
• The question asks learners to do something.
• The choices are plausible.
• Access to the same resources that are available to them on the job.
Ask Learners to Do Something
It’s the learner’s turn to take action. A solving question will prompt the learner to make a choice that aligns with the action list. Because you have refined the action list to observable actions, it will make it much easier for you to develop these choices. Think back to some of Dayna’s early action lists that contained objectives like “understand the privacy policy.” Now include this as one of the options for a multiple-choice question. You can’t, right? Understanding the privacy policy isn’t something you can physically do. That’s why it’s so important to drill down to observable actions. Live audiences benefit from being asked a solving question as an open-ended question, such as the ones in Figure 10-5.
Figure 10-5. Solving Questions
If, in an instructor-led or virtual course, learners offer solutions to a solving question like, “Steve should have known better,” or “The leader should have been there for them,” or “They should be familiar with the manual,” keep asking them to explain until they offer an observable action, like “Steve needs to let his supervisor know about it right away,” or “The leader needs to schedule one-on-ones with each of her employees,” or “The manual says you should turn off the machine before doing the repair.” When solutions that learners offer start aligning with the action list, you know you’ve designed your story well and your audience is ready for training.
Design Plausible Choices
Open-ended questions are not as effective for e-learning. When designing multiple-choice options, make sure the options are plausible. Dayna and James created a question for e-learning that draws upon the action list, with plausible choices and real-world guidance as a follow-up to the Steve story, like the slide in Figure 10-6.
Figure 10-6. Steve Story: Real Choices
Each of the choices is a correct step of the process, but the learners must know the process in order for them to choose correctly. Creating options that appear in a process may not always be possible. The question may need distractor options. Distractors are plausible options that have a negative or less than optimal outcome. During discovery, you unearth some of the actions employees are taking to contribute to the root problem. Include those actions as distractor options.
Give Them Access to the Resources
Usually, it is appropriate to give learners access to the same resources in the course that are available to them on the job, unless the content must be memorized. In most jobs, employees have access to manuals, policies, and job aids to do their work effectively. They may not always use those resources, but the training can help them with that by giving them practice using those resources in solving questions, even during the assessment. Unless the training is embedded in their work flow, the course itself should not be considered their sole resource. Forcing learners to recall information that only exists in the course may test short-term memory but does little for knowledge transfer. There are exceptions, of course, when learners need to memorize something to make important decisions at a moment’s notice. But even in these cases, they likely will have access to documented protocol back on the job. Giving the learner no access to on-the-job resources should be a conscious decision, not an oversight.
Providing real-world resources also has an advantage when training your audience on brand new content. Learners may have no idea what the process is or what the character should do next. But, if they are given access to a job aid, they can compare the situation in the story with the guidance from the job aid and figure it out. The story, paired with real-world guidance, makes this possible.
For instructor-led courses, bring the job aid into the room, or let the audience use their devices to access the resources. For virtual audiences, provide a link to the job aid in the chat or email them the resource in advance. In the e-learning examples above, each slide contains a button that links learners to the applicable resource.
Feedback
Up until now in the training, the learner has been active, reflecting, thinking through, figuring out, and making choices. Once learners make a choice, follow it up with immediate feedback that demonstrates its benefits or consequences. Let them feel the weight of that choice. Feedback affirms the learner’s action or redirects it.
The instructor or subject matter experts can provide this feedback in live or virtual training. For e-learning, design feedback similar to that in Figures 10-7 and 10-8.
Figure 10-7. Steve Story: Feedback
Figure 10-8. Jasmine Story: Feedback With Additional Questions
Notice that feedback for the privacy question includes a follow-up question. This can continue until the entire process is complete. Also notice the emotional connection with the story in both of these examples.
Here are some other possible feedback or follow-up techniques that support learning transfer.
Examples
Demonstrate the desired behavior. Show why the behavior is appropriate (Figure 10-9).
Figure 10-9. Training With Examples
Nonexamples
The story itself is a demonstration of a nonexample. Bring it back and contrast it to the example. Show why it’s inappropriate behavior. Nonexamples help make the appropriate behavior crystal clear (Figure 10-10).
The core technique of story–reflection–solving–feedback breaks the tell-then-test cycle. It can be repeated as often as needed to train the audience on every objective. This technique gives learners a chance to think things through, make meaningful choices, and remember them for a long time after training is over. It enables adoption of new behaviors, so the learner grows and the business meets its goals.
The Story–Reflection–Solving–Feedback worksheet is contained in appendix 1. You can also access an electronic version at needastory.com/book-resources.
Figure 10-10. Training With Non-Examples
Figure 10-11. Story-Reflection-Solving-Feedback Worksheet
PRACTICE STORY DESIGN:
Use the Story to Train
Dr. Kobal is counting on you to make a significant impact on his staff at Well Adjusted. You’re going to deliver that impact through effective training that is supercharged with Story Design. Use the story–reflection–solving–feedback steps below to design the instruction portion of the training.
Story
You’ve developed your stories. They’re ready to go. You may want to note the two actions you decided to focus on below as a reference.
Reflection
Give your audience a chance to reflect on the story. Let them discover the action you are training them on. Design a reflection question that allows them to relive the story in their minds and feel what the characters were feeling. Your reflection question can be similar to one of these:
• How would you feel if you were the patient?
• Why do you think the patient feels this way?
• What did the staff do to make the patient feel this way?
Notice that the first two questions are more intuitive and trigger emotional recall. The last question focuses on observable actions. If you are designing for e-learning, you may need to provide multiple choice options for each of these questions.
Write some possible reflection questions below.
Solving
You’ve presented the problem through story. Now, give the learner an opportunity to solve it. You could do so with a series of questions that progress from general to specific. If you are presenting this to a live audience, you can piggyback on their answers to ask for even more specific actions. If you are limited to e-learning, you may need a predetermined series of questions or a set of branching questions that leads the learner closer and closer to practice on the design continuum. However you deliver the training, the questions could progress similar to these:
• What about this seems wrong?
• What did the doctor say that seemed disrespectful?
• What about this situation made the therapist’s behavior even more serious?
• What could the staff members do to fix this situation?
• How should they communicate so this doesn’t happen again?
• If the doctor does disrespect the therapist again in the future, how should he respond?
• What should the therapist do in the future to make sure he demonstrates respect toward the doctor?
• How would you respond if someone came to you and said something similar?
Write a few solving questions and possible options that lead the learner toward practice on the design continuum.
Feedback
Look at your questions above. What kind of feedback will you offer for each of the options you’ve provided? Remember, feedback affirms the learner’s action or redirects it.