Creating value requires an investment in future returns.  In our case the cost to design, develop, deliver, maintain, and evaluate the course. Since value is usually generated over time you need to calculate the lifetime cost of the training.

Training has a life cycle similar to a product life cycle used in marketing.  It describes the stages a course goes through from when it was first thought of until it finally is removed from the being offered.   In these stages, costs are incurred – I call these the Lifetime Training Costs.

The life cycles of a course along with its costs are usually:

• Design
• Development
• Pilot
• Revision
• On going delivery with evaluation and possible maintenance and redesign

Earlier in predicting training’s value, we calculated the number of people to be trained; in this step we estimate (predict) the costs for the life of the course.  Below are the costs for Business Acumen Training (BAT).

Next week, the final step: determining Training’s ROI.