Software Training > Curriculum Design

In order to develop a training curriculum tailored specifically to the needs of your business and your users, Cynthia Farren Consulting first conducts a needs analysis.

The first step in the needs analysis process is to perform an organizational assessment. To do this, we check the actual performance of your organization against existing goals and standards, i.e., we review the:

Current state of user skills,
Knowledge resources within your organization,
Abilities of current employees.

CFC then identifies the knowledge sources, i.e.:

Who has the knowledge?
Where is the information located (online, hardcopy, human sources)?
Are there any constraints in obtaining the information?

Next, we drill-down to identify specifics. This phase determines:

Who needs to be trained (number of students, job descriptions and levels of experience),
What subjects must be taught,
When the training is to occur,
Where the training will take place.

The final step in CFC’s assessment process involves:

Extracting training implications - The needs analysis may reveal business factors that will have an impact on the training deployment, e.g., trainees may only be available during certain times in the day, or certain days of the week, month or year.
Making recommendations - Based on what's been discussed to date, we make general recommendations for the most effective deployment of the training program, e.g., fewer/longer sessions vs. multiple/shorter sessions, or possibly after hours training or “brown bag” lunch training may be the most practical solution.
Providing input to the training plan - Once we've settled on the basics, we take a "realistic" look at the plan and based on such factors as peak business dates/times, vacation schedules, where employees are located (locally, remotely) we make detailed “real world” recommendations for the most effective training plan.

From all the information gathered, we then work with your team or - by request - on our own, to develop a customized training program to meet the specific needs of your company.