One element in the Predictive Evaluation approach is Belief Evaluation. Belief Evaluation answers the question – What do our employees need to believe so that they successfully transfer training skills to the job?

I have found that when participants believe the actions (goals) they intend to do will help them, their team, or the organization the rate of adoption is significantly increased.

I was having dinner this week with Susan Steinbrecher and Robert Schafer from Steinbrecher And Associates and we were discussing what things a course designer could do to inspire a set of beliefs. I suggested a simple technique that I have used in the past: The Belief Board. Here is the design:

1. When you are predicting training value, ensure that you have predicted the beliefs.
2. Create a wall poster listing the beliefs and hang it in the room for all to see for the entire length of the program.
3. Provide the participants with dots that they can stick on the board.
4. Instruct the participants that when a piece of the course reinforces or aspires a particular belief, have them post a dot next to that belief on the wall chart. They may add as many dots as they want during training – even several dots to same belief if they so choose. Note: you may even design in small “belief moments” where they think about the beliefs and post dots if they want to.

I find this simple method an excellent way of getting participants to think about beliefs.

In my Predictive Evaluation approach, I suggest training should not only provide knowledge and skill but instill the proper belief(s). I define beliefs as “the idea that the participants and/or their company will benefit from using the new knowledge and skills”. My experience tells me that when students believe that what they learned will benefit them and/or their company, their likelihood of adoption is greatly increased. We can set belief expectations and measure if training has instilled those beliefs. In other words, do our learners believe what we want them to believe?

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