Dear Readers,

Happy Halloween to all! The issue this month promises to be full of treats – no tricks – for the busy training and HR professional.

The articles selected this month are a blend of science and art of managing the training and learning management function in your workplace.

We feature articles on measuring the Training Value Gap and forecasting training costs, as well as building work teams.

We trust you will value the other articles on improving performance through learning, the link to the Tips to Improve Performance Management white paper from Saba, as well as this month's product review, presented by Training Media Review.

Twelve Tips for Team Building: How to Build Successful Work Teams
By Susan M. Heathfield

People in every workplace talk about building the team, working as a team, and my team, but few understand how to create the experience of team work or how to develop an effective team. Belonging to a team, in the broadest sense, is a result of feeling part of something larger than yourself. It has a lot to do with your understanding of the mission or objectives of your organization. Learn More

The Training Value Gap
By Barbara Edwards and Kaliym Islam

For the past several years, companies have placed increased pressure on their training departments to quantify the impact that the programs they deliver have on the larger organization. As a result of this pressure, training managers have spent more and more time attempting to prove value that their training brings. This effort has tended to focus on return on investment or ROI, and essentially argues that, "when we have training, the organization is better because..." Learn More

Forecasting Costs to Maximize Efficiency
By J. Baylis

Many agree that the easiest way to improve training efficiency is to uncover the most economical way to develop, deliver, administer, manage, maintain, and support training programs. For example, if instructor-led training, web-based courseware, and Internet virtual classrooms can all be used for IT training, which option is most economical for your organization? To make that determination, you must consider the complexity of the training material, stability of the content, course length, learner-to-instructor ratios, individual travel costs, and so forth. And, if you can forecast the up-front and recurring costs of plausible delivery options easily and accurately, then savings should follow. Learn More

Learning and Performance Go On-Demand
By Tom Starner

Companies are challenged by their employee performance management and learning management environments. In growing numbers, HR and training professionals are flocking to Software as a Service. This article discusses several different companies, with completely different business models, in search of a learning technology solution. The companies decided to try out an increasingly popular software-delivery method known as on-demand, Software as a Service, or SaaS, combining it with a “best-of-breed” software approach to learning, learning management and performance management. Learn More 

Developing a Conflict- Competent Organization
By Craig Runde and Tim Flanagan

When we ask participants in our leadership programs to describe conflict, most use terms such as "stress," "frustration" and "anger." When asked how they generally deal with conflict, they admit that they try to avoid it. So, it is not surprising most organizations wind up getting the worst out of conflict without ever experiencing the benefits it can bring. To change this situation, leaders need to make conscious efforts to develop their organizations' conflict competence.  Learn More

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