Training Needs Analysis: Questions to Ask During Stakeholder/Sponsor Interviews

Ask sponsors/stakeholders the right questions when conducting training needs analysis interviews.

When conducting training needs analysis, corporate instructional designers need to be able to ask the right questions of stakeholders and sponsors. In this article, I’ll share with you the 4 kinds of questions that I like to ask stakeholders after receiving a request to develop training.

Being able to ask the right questions is very important in understanding or clarifying the training request. Answers to these questions can also help in discovering whether or not training is the right solution. So, what kind of questions should you ask a stakeholder when meeting to discuss a new training request?

Before we answer this question, its important to clarify who we are referring to here as a stakeholder or sponsor. In our context, the stakeholder/sponsor is the person (or group of people) who owns the training program, also the audience reports to him/her either directly or indirectly, and they also responsible for the budget.

1. QUESTIONS THAT HELP ESTABLISH THE TRAINING NEED

The first kind of question I like to ask are questions that help to establish the training need. These types of questions are important because they help you to understand the reason behind the training request including what’s driving the request: could it be to address a performance problem, for compliance reasons or for some other reason.

To arrive at these answers, you could ask your stakeholders to:

Describe the training need”,
What’s driving this training request?
What might be causing the problem you’re seeing?
How long has the problem been going on?

These are just a few questions to get the conversation going about what the need is and why it exists. When you can understand what’s prompting the need for training, you can begin to partner with your stakeholders to find the right solutions.

2. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DESIRED OUTCOME

The second kind of question I like to ask stakeholders are questions about the desired outcomes. Asking these questions will help you to make the connection between the requested training and desired business results. You’ll want to ensure that you’re arriving at desired outcomes that are both measurable and observable. For example, a desired outcome could be to “increase customer satisfaction ratings” or to “decrease operational errors”.

To arrive at the desired outcomes, you could ask:

What are the desired outcomes of this training?
What does success look like?
How will we know that the solution was successful?
How will we measure success? are there reports we can run or metrics we can look at?

By asking these questions, you’ll have a better chance of creating a solution that will not only add business value but is also impactful for your learners.

3. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AUDIENCE

The third kind of question are questions about the audience. Getting answers to these questions can help you to better understand who the target audience is, so that you can tailor your solution to meet their learning needs.

Here you can ask questions like:

Who is the target audience for this training?
What is the size of the target audience?
Where are they located?

To establish performance gaps in your audience, you can ask

What are they doing now?
What should they be doing?

4. QUESTIONS ABOUT CONSTRAINTS

The fourth kind of question I like to ask are questions about constraints. A constraint is anything that can hinder the success of your learning solution and they can be anything from scope, time, budget etc. Being able to understand and anticipate project constraints positions you to maximize your resources and create solutions that meet the needs of your learners.

At this point in your stakeholder meeting, you’ve probably gotten a few answers related to project constraints from previous questions you asked; for example, when discussing the training need, you’ve most likely established the scope of your project.

Some examples of questions you can ask here includes:

When are you expecting this to be implemented? This question can give you an idea of how much time you have for your project.
What’s your budget for this solution? Keep in mind that budget here could refer to cost, people, tools, materials, or equipment available.
How much time do learners have available to learn?
Which subject matter experts (SMEs) are available to support this project?

Getting answers to all these questions can really help to steer you in the right direction to finding the right solution.

What other kinds of questions do you find important to ask sponsors in that initial meeting after receiving a request to develop training? Leave a comment below.

Categories: : Instructional Design