Soft Skills WBT
A How-to for Human Resources Development Professionals
Janette Cullinan
Learning, Design, and Technology
Stanford University School of Education
June 2000
Curriculum in Brief
Below is a brief description of the content in each module, including the
key messages of the module, any tools associated with the module, and the basic
activity of the module. The writing style matches that of the WBT program,
informal and direct.
Introduction: This Course Is …
Key Messages

The course is targeted to experienced HRD
professionals who are new to WBT.

Although content is applicable to all kinds of
WBT, the course focuses on selecting and
implementing a packaged soft skills WBT.

In order to successfully implement WBT for soft
skills topics, this class will define learning as
creating change in the community of practice.

At the end of the class, you should be able to
consider issues specific to WBT in order to
implement a program as one piece of an overall
strategy for creating change in the community of
practice.
Introduction: Tour of Course Features
Key Messages
Knowing the features offered by the course will help
you choose what you find most useful.
Defining Learning: An Introduction to Communities of Practice
Key Messages

You “learn” a lasting skill by developing it on the
job in your community of practice, rather than by
acquiring it in class.
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
Learning is more about creating change within the
community of practice than changing the behavior
of an individual.

Given this perspective on learning, WBT can be a
good beginning to that learning process if you use
it as part of an overall strategy.
Activity
Considering a training you have recently attended,
you note what in your workplace community of
practice supported the application of your new skill
and what did not.
Self-Critique
Did you consider these factors?

Incentive or recognition programs

Workgroup norms

Your manager's practices

Co-workers' expectations

What people joke about in your office

Senior management behavior
Needs Assessment: Overview
Key Messages

Even more than for your instructor-led classes,
conduct a thorough assessment of cultural
readiness for the content. Will learners return to
their community of practice only to be
discouraged from applying their new skill?

It’s important for you to understand the state of
your technology infrastructure before you decide
that WBT is a part of your strategy.
Tools
The Needs Assessment Analysis Tool can be found at
www.stnford.edu/~janettec/master/needs.doc.
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Activity
Consider a content area you are considering
delivering via the web. Go through the Needs
Assessment Analysis Tool and quickly jot down
answers to the questions. If you don’t know, guess.
Self-Critique
Now review the form you’ve filled out and consider
these questions.

Which questions were new considerations for
you? Surprised you?

Who could you ask about the questions where
you guessed?

Given the answers you’ve documented, what
might you want to do within the organization
before embarking on implementing a WBT
strategy?
Choosing a WBT Program: Overview
Key Messages

As with ILT programs, there is no right answer.
This course will try to provide you with a solid
process and a set of criteria to consider.

You are probably used to choosing programs on
your own and then conducting a pilot for
feedback. Since WBT has no live instructor to
mediate course content for users, it’s important
that the program itself be usable and appeal to a
variety of users. Use an evaluation team to help
you choose the right program to pilot.
Choosing a WBT Program: Getting Familiar with What’s out There
Key Messages
Before you involve a team, be sure you understand
what vendors are providing the kind of content
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you’re looking for. You’ll understand the work
ahead better and make your process more efficient.
Tools
You can find the Program Evaluation Form at
www.stanford.edu/~janettec/master/eval.doc.
Activity
Check out different vendor course libraries to see if
they provide the kind of content you’re interested in.
Using the Program Evaluation Form, look at their
advertising material and start to think about ways
you’ll differentiate between vendors and products.
Choosing a WBT Program: Choosing an Evaluation Team
Key Messages

Follow basic team effectiveness guidelines.

Include a variety of functional areas along with a
diversity of background and style.

Activity
Include IS from the beginning.
Considering a content area you are looking to
implement in the near future, choose an evaluation
team.
Self-Critique
Critique your list with the following questions:

Is the team a manageable size?

Have you included some WBT skeptics to help
push the team to be thorough and consider
alternatives?

Are there groups of users in your target audience
whose concerns won’t be represented by this
team?

Is the IS person you’ve chosen an influential
advocate? Are they knowledgeable about WBTrelated infrastructure issues?

Who needs to buy-in to the team representatives?
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
Who could provide advice on the composition of
the team?
Choosing a WBT Program: Defining and Prioritizing Criteria
Key Messages

Consider a broad set of criteria, but prioritize so
you can make trade-offs.

Define what you and your team think you’ll need
to be successful in your organization.
Tools

Find the Program Evaluation Form at
www.stanford.edu/~janettec/master/eval.doc.

Find the Sample Criteria and Definitions at
www.stanford.edu/~janettec/master/samples.doc.
Activity
Take a quick run at defining the criteria outlined on
the Program Evaluation Form. Even if you’re not
familiar with a particular set of criteria, take a guess at
what might be important.
Self-Critique
Use the Sample Criteria and Definitions document to
look back over your first try at defining and
prioritizing criteria.

Do you see some definitions that you didn’t think
of which might be critical to your organization?

Might you now change your definition of your
needs?

How will that impact the priority you’ve given to
different criteria?

What questions do you now have that need to be
answered before you can help your evaluation
team define and prioritize criteria?
Choosing a WBT Program: Previewing Programs
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Key Messages

The more programs you review, the more ideas
you will have about what you want for your
implementation.

Use all resources available to you, but the best
way to review programs is to actually take and
complete the class.

Have more than one team member look at each
program, so you get different perspectives.

You’re not likely to find the one and only
program that works for everyone. Focus on
finding the one that meets as many needs as your
team can articulate and evaluate.
Tools
Find the Program Evaluation Form at
www.stanford.edu/~janettec/master/eval.doc.
Activity
Go back to the vendors and programs you reviewed
in “Getting Familiar with What’s out There.” Using
any materials readily available to you, try to rate
each program against your current draft of criteria on
the Program Evaluation Form.
Self-Critique

How does the quality of readily available
materials impact your ability to evaluate whether
a particular program will meet your needs?

What materials will you plan to have available to
your evaluation team?

Could you formulate a set of questions to ask
every vendor about their products?

What criteria are you finding hardest to evaluate?
How might you prepare your team to better
consider these tough issues?
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Choosing a WBT Program: Piloting Programs
Key Messages

A pilot is absolutely essential to a successful soft
skills WBT implementation.

Try to make the pilot conditions match as closely
as possible with those for your actual
implementation.

Be open to any feedback, but be sure the
evaluation team has identified some specific
questions to be answered in the pilot.
Tools
Find the Pilot Evaluation Form at
www.stanford.edu/~janettec/master/eval.doc.
Activity
Given the work you’ve done so far in defining criteria
and previewing programs, do a quick customization
of the Pilot Evaluation Form to be sure you’ll get the
feedback you need for a successful implementation in
your organization.
Self-Critique

Did you include questions that related to your top
five criteria?

Did you ask for feedback on how successful the
course would be in the learner’s community of
practice given the current climate and company
initiatives?

Look at the form and visualize the way you
would present this data to argue that the
implementation will be successful. Might you
need different demographic information?
Questions worded slightly differently?
Planning Implementation: Overview – Focusing on the User Experience
Key Messages
Go ahead and build the elements of your
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implementation plan according to your usual process,
but make sure you consider that plan from the
perspective of the target audience – employees from
different parts of the organization.
Planning Implementation: Building Your Plan – Creating Change in the
Community of Practice
Key Messages

Make sure you have done your best to eliminate
barriers to the development of the new skill
within the community of practice.

Because soft skills WBT is often an individual
experience, your implementation plan must
include ways of having the workgroup
collaboratively deal with the content.
Tools
Find the Needs Assessment Analysis at
www.stanford.edu/~janettec/master/needs.doc.
Activity
Go back to the Needs Assessment document and flag
the questions in the Cultural Readiness for Content
section that might be a barrier to employees
developing a new skill in this content area within the
community of practice. Jot down some ideas about
what your implementation plan should include to
help remove or overcome these barriers.
Self-Critique

Are you feeling discouraged? Whose help might
you need to enlist to start working on these tough
issues?

Have you considered possible organizational
incentives for developing this skill?

Who has a vested interest in creating this change
in the community of practice and might be an ally
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to you in this effort? What kind of help can they
offer you?

How could you easily get some information from
your target audience about how they view the
current practices and the possibility for change?
Planning Implementation: Considering Motivation
Key Messages

You should know why employees would be
motivated to take and complete the WBT
program.

Your implementation plan should include
elements that will create a “pull” for this content.
WBT is a very easy way for employees to access
content if they are motivated to learn it.
Tools

Find the Implementation Plan Review at
www.stanford.edu/~janettec/master/tool.doc.
Activity
Considering the content area you are looking to
implement, go through the Motivation section of the
Implementation Plan Review and answer those
questions. Be sure to think about the questions from
the perspective of employees from different parts of
the target audience.
Self-Critique

Given your answers to these questions, how likely
are employees to take this class?

Of the problems highlighted by this set of
questions, which is easiest to change quickly?
How would you start?

Are there other motivation questions to consider
in your particular workplace?
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Planning Implementation: Building Buy-in and Accountability
Key Messages

If you’re worried about people finishing a WBT
program, make sure you build in accountability to
their manager or co-workers.

This strategy only works if managers or coworkers have bought into the importance of the
content and have a mechanism for monitoring
progress.

Team events and agreements are one of the best
ways to build in a reason for finishing by a certain
deadline.
Tools
Find the Implementation Plan Review Tool at
www.stanford.edu/~janettec/master/tool.doc.
Activity
For your WBT implementation Plan, answer the
questions in the Accountability section of the
Implementation Plan Review Tool.
Self-Critique

If you don’t have concrete answers to the
questions, brainstorm some ideas on how your
implementation plan might build in these
mechanisms for accountability.

How could these questions be answered if the
implementation plans focused on the team and
changing as a community of practice rather than a
set of individuals being required to finish a specific
class?

Does your implementation plan include an
opportunity for interaction with peers around the
content?
Planning Implementation: Supporting Desktop Learning
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Key Messages

The devil is in the details for a successful desktop
learning implementation. Be sure you’ve thought
through and tested the details.

Try to anticipate and avert technical problems,
but be sure users have somewhere to turn when
they need help.

Consider the realities of employees’ desks and find
creative ways to help them make time for
learning.
Tools
Find the Implementation Plan Review Tool at
www.stanford.edu/~janettec/master/tool.doc.
Activity
Answer the questions in the Supporting Desktop
Learning Section of the Implementation Plan Review
Tool.
Self-Critique

Have you considered these questions for the
variety of functional areas within the target
audience?

Does your implementation plan provide a
resource for employees to get quick, easy answers
to these questions?

If you don’t know the answers to some of these
questions, who can you ask?
Planning Implementation: Applying Learning – The User Experience
Key Messages
Think through how the WBT program you’ve
selected and your implementation plan will support
learners in applying their new knowledge or skill.
Tools
Find the Implementation Plan Review Tool at
www.stanford.edu/~janettec/master/tool.doc.
Activity
Try answering the questions in the Applying Learning
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section of the Implementation Plan Review Tool for
your upcoming implementation.
Self-Critique

Given your answers, how hard will it be for an
individual to start applying their new knowledge
or skill on the job?

Are there some easy ways for you to augment
your implementation plan to improve their
chances?

How will these answers differ for employees from
different organizations or functions within the
target audience?

Do you need more information about the user’s
perspective on this before you can improve your
plan?
Planning Implementation: Developing a Strategy for Continuous Evaluation
Key Messages

Define success up front and be sure you can get
the data you need to evaluate whether you are
attaining it.

One of the great benefits of WBT programs is that
you get real-time data on how people are using
(or not using) the system. Be sure you’ve defined
how this data will contribute to your definition of
a successful implementation. Some of it may not
be important to you.

Watch your measurements regularly so you can
intervene. The real value of real-time data is that
you can make corrections before it’s too late.
Tools
Find the Implementation Plan Review Tool at
www.stanford.edu/~janettec/master/tool.doc.
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Activity
Make a quick draft of a set of objectives for an
upcoming implementation and note down the
measurements you would use to monitor successfully
meeting those objectives.
Self-Critique

What data could your WBT system provide to
help you monitor progress toward meeting your
objectives?

Who should see this data and how often?

Think about what would happen if these measures
were showing poor progress. Would you be able
to intervene quickly?
Wrap-up Activity: Design Your Own Reference Page
This module would provide the user with one page containing all the
resources or text they selected during the course. The user could then organize
these elements into a coherent document for future use.
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