Red E Speak Emerging Terminology

CONVERGENT ARCHITECTURE = designing workspaces so as to integrate physical and virtual activities matching form to function, maximizing connectivity and personalizing space. *Taking it further: "Future Space: A New Blueprint for Business Architecture" Jeffrey Huang, Harvard Business Review, April 2001.

SLOW CITIES=32 cities in Italy who have consciously committed to adopt only those changes that contribute to the quality of life for citizens and also reinforce local values and culture.

STRATEGIC ANTICIPATION= Taking strategic planning into the 21^st Century by first considering alternative futures, then taking specific steps to construct a preferred one by a certain date. *Taking it further: "The Art of Strategic Anticipation", Wallace Wilkins, The Futurist, and March/April 2001.

NETIZEN=Citizens living on-line who increasingly find it difficult to relate to the community where they physically reside and opt out of citizenship unless engaged in new and innovative ways.

WEBSPEAK=Abbreviations and acronyms such as IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), AFK (Away from the Keyboard) BBL (Be Back Later) which are becoming the language of the Internet.

BLENDED LEARNING=Training that uses both on-line and classroom sessions that are technology-based, cutting-edge and learner-centered such as Marriott International uses in their nine-week program for sales associates. *Taking it Further — researchreports@lguide.com.

Tape Talk
Christine Gibbs Springer

The price of evaluating training and educational programs has increased five-fold since 1997 — with the average price estimated today to be more $6,875 per person.¹ Measuring the effectiveness of learning has never been easy. New ways of measuring success are now beginning to emerge.

Traditionally, four levels of evaluation have been used: 1) on-site evaluations often referred to by trainers as "smile-sheets" 2) pre-and-post tests on subject matter 3) post-training assessments of applications in the workplace 4) tracking business results 5) Return-on-Investment comparisons measuring costs of training vs. the monetary value of results in terms of changed behavior or new skills.

More recent approaches include:

Time to Competency-call centers are now reducing the time it takes for employees to learn their jobs and ultimately to increase company profits by offering new hires access to online databases of frequently asked questions and other helpful information. The key to this measurement is benchmarking in advance of the training so that evaluators have something to measure against such as baseline information about job expectations and performance.

Time to Market-software development firms typically spend six to eight weeks training salespeople on new product features. We now know that four to six weeks can be shaved off that time by giving salespeople bits on information as the software is actually being developed…usually through e-mails.

Achieved Competencies-by simulating real work processes in a first case study, then going through the computer-based simulation and retaking the test and applying what has been learned to a different case study, GE Capital achieves a 65% increase in competency among those trained.

Return on Expectations-by screening managers who request training about the degree to which their expectations of job performance improvement have been met, Bell Atlantic is able to not only compare those responses to actual Return on Investment analyses but also to correlate reaction data gathered from employees immediately after training with actual business results.

We recommend taking a three-pronged approach. Begin by looking at cost savings as a benchmark. Find a way to measure performance improvement as well. This is more difficult to quantify but also more meaningful and should include input from Executive Management as to desired results. Finally, define bottom-line results by looking for behavioral changes on the job perhaps through email self-assessments. By staying in touch electronically, it is also possible to get 360-degree feedback on employee skill, then building bridges to Return-On-Investment, and then solving problems such as turnover, reduced sales or declining productivity. What is truly important, in our experience, is going beyond course completion indicators to measuring learning or business results that are real-time and relevant to the organization.

¹ Brandon-Hall.com

E-Marketing

Technology empowers customers. Now that the control of information has been taken out of the hands of the people selling products and put into the hands of people buying products, marketing is forever changed.

Choices for advertising expand every day. Web marketing events and interactive television are just two new ways of creating sales. While questions remain to be answered as to taxation of e-commerce, societal impacts of reduced human contact and how best to insure privacy, we have learned a thing or two. We know that marketing occurs at warp speed, with higher consequences.

To properly set up expectations via e-marketing:

• Be quick and be right when the competition changes the dialogue.
• Be sure expectations, benefits, tactics and strategies have been defined and there’s a
  commitment to delivering the most value.
• Be clear about internal consensus and keeping decision-making simple.
• Be open about new initiatives - the Internet’s transparency makes secrecy impossible so that companies
  like Microsoft release test products to select users while in development.

E Marketing is not unlike traditional marketing — with four twists:

Presence must be activated by visible usage and word-of-mouth testimonials so that initial users who actually try out a product in response to an offer of a free service, trial or a unique personal online experience then pay full price.

Customer relevance must be established and continually reinforced. The more a product or service addresses the needs and wants of users, the more loyalty is developed. That only happens through an interactive conversation that establishes relevance in personal terms, learns about opportunities to sell more stuff more often, determines what the competition is like from their perspective, what’s keeping customers from leaving the competition, and whether or not those terms are acceptable.

Differentiation must occur and be constantly adjusted for new competitors and new claims. This requires trials of new concepts that change the market dialogue and take the lead away from the leader. Differences must be designed and driven through marketing communications so that customers know the details immediately. Communications must be streamlined around issues that are important without distractions. Market advantage must be communicated loudly and clearly.

Credibility must be established and promises kept. This only happens when customer benefit is clearly defined up front. Don’t make promises that can’t be kept. Brand credibility should increase with every use and with every interaction or customers will leave.

Imagery should be thought through and defined by staying in tune with customer perceptions and attitudes, then add and reinforce. There are four kinds of imagery that are important: User Imagery - What kinds of people occupy the target market?

Usage Imagery - How do these people feel when they use the product or service?

Product Imagery - What is the direct image of the product or service — can customers put "a face on it?"

Associative Imagery - What brands, individuals, institutions and events most close identified with the product or service?

*Taking it Further:

High-Performance Interactive Marketing, Christopher Ryan (Racom Communications) 2001.

Building Brandwidth: Closing the Sale on Line, Sergio Zyman and Scott Miller (HarperCollins) 2000.