Your Chief Virtual Learning Architect

Learning to Performance

Read More
Custom Design & Delivery

Read More
Predictive Evaluation

Read More
Enterprise Learning Strategy

Read More

› ‹

1
2
3
4

Dave Basarab Consulting has elevated the training experience, offering an end-to-end comprehensive approach that includes training strategy, instructional design, development, delivery , post program training transfer, and evaluation (via the unique Predictive Evaluation methodology). Virtual Chief Architect Dave Basarab has combined all of these individual training elements with his user-friendly, comprehensive Learning to Performance approach, which significantly increases companies' training ROI.

Why we are different

Innovation: Our primary focus is creating learning programs using a Learning to Performance approach.
Expertise: Dave offers the depth and breadth of his experience, including working internally at prestigious companies (Motorola, Ingersoll Rand and Pitney Bowes) as well as his knowledge and expertise as a highly-respected, sought-after consultant.
Partnership: Basarab collaborates with companies, serving as their own Chief Learning Officer whenever they need to plan, strategize, or implement training initiatives.

Training Services

Enterprise Learning Strategy

Enterprise Learning Strategy

At Dave Basarab Consulting, we're experts in creating Enterprise Learning Plans. We work with you to develop your company's learning strategy and direction.

Custom Design, Development, & Delivery

Custom Design, Development, & Delivery

Custom training is an effective way of developing the capability required to execute your strategy. We are a custom design house that creates programs specific to your business.

Learning Burst Development

Learning Burst Development

We can create and deliver your courses via our unique Learning Burst Method - keeping your employees at their jobs while receiving world-class training.

Predictive Evaluation

Predictive Evaluation

We predict the ROI for your courses and establish success gates. We then evaluate the course against the success gates to show value realized and continually improve results.

Leadership Development

Leadership Development

Turn-key virtual custom leadership development program that combines world-class leadership speakers/educators with post-event personalized coaching to provide you with a cadre of highly skilled leaders.

Predictive Evaluation

How to Balance Self-Study With Live Practice

Effective learning rarely comes from choosing between digital self-study and instructor-led sessions. Employees need time to absorb concepts independently, then opportunities to apply those concepts through discussion, rehearsal, feedback, and decision-making. A deliberate blend creates a learning experience that respects schedules while still developing practical capability.

The right balance depends on the performance goal, the complexity of the subject, and the level of risk involved. Product knowledge may require short learning bursts and retrieval activities, while leadership development benefits from facilitated practice and peer reflection. The objective is to connect every learning activity to a behavior the organization expects to see at work.

Start With The Performance Outcome

Before selecting a delivery format, define what participants must do differently after the program. A clear outcome might involve coaching an employee, using a new software workflow, handling a difficult customer conversation, or making a more accurate operational decision. This keeps asynchronous content focused and prevents live sessions from becoming unfocused discussions.

Self-study is well suited to foundational knowledge, terminology, demonstrations, and preparation tasks. Learners can move through concise modules, read job aids, watch examples, and complete knowledge checks at a suitable pace. Live practice should then concentrate on what benefits from human interaction: judgment, communication, collaboration, and feedback.

Design A Purposeful Learning Sequence

A strong sequence often follows a simple rhythm: prepare, practice, apply, and reflect. Participants first complete a short digital lesson, then bring their questions and draft responses into a live session. The facilitator uses that time for scenarios, role-play, demonstrations, and coaching rather than repeating information already covered online.

Spacing also matters. Releasing every resource at once can overwhelm learners and encourage superficial completion. Instead, distribute content across a manageable schedule. A learning burst before each live meeting can establish a common baseline, while a follow-up assignment helps transfer the skill into the workplace.

For leadership programs, early design decisions are especially important because the wrong emphasis can produce engaging sessions with limited business value. Reviewing seven curriculum design questions can help clarify the audience, desired leadership behaviors, and evidence that the program is working.

Match Activities To Learning Needs

Not every topic requires the same blend of modalities. Use asynchronous activities when learners need flexibility, repetition, or access to reference material. Use synchronous sessions when learners need immediate clarification, social learning, practice under realistic conditions, or expert judgment.

Learning need	Effective self-study activity	Best live practice
Foundational knowledge	Microlearning, reading, quizzes	Clarifying questions and applied discussion
Process proficiency	Demonstration, simulation, guided checklist	Practice with coaching and error correction
Communication skill	Example videos and reflection prompts	Role-play, observation, and feedback
Leadership judgment	Case analysis and self-assessment	Peer consultation and facilitated scenarios
Workplace transfer	Action plan and job aid	Commitments, troubleshooting, and review

The table’s categories can be combined within one program. For example, a sales initiative might introduce product information through self-study, rehearse discovery conversations in a live workshop, and reinforce application with manager-led field assignments.

Make Live Sessions Practice-Heavy

Live time is valuable because it creates immediate interaction. Protect that value by limiting lecture content and designing activities that require participation. Small-group scenarios, decision exercises, teach-backs, peer coaching, and recorded demonstrations give learners multiple ways to test their understanding.

Facilitators should make expectations visible before the session. Participants might be asked to complete a module, bring a workplace example, or prepare a response to a case. When preparation is connected directly to the live activity, attendance becomes purposeful rather than a passive calendar obligation.

Feedback should be specific and timely. Instead of asking whether an exercise “went well,” facilitators can evaluate observable behaviors such as question quality, listening, prioritization, or use of a defined process. This turns practice into measurable skill development.

Support Adoption After Training

The program should continue after the live session ends. Managers can reinforce the target behavior during one-to-one meetings, team huddles, or routine performance reviews. Job aids, reminders, peer groups, and short follow-up challenges help employees use the skill when real work creates pressure.

Measurement should track more than attendance and completion. Useful indicators may include confidence, assessment results, observed behavior, cycle time, quality scores, customer outcomes, or manager observations. Predictive Evaluation can help organizations forecast likely adoption and connect learning evidence with business results before relying on final outcome data alone.

Pilot activities are useful when the delivery mix is untested. A small group can reveal whether the self-study workload is realistic, whether live practice reflects job conditions, and whether managers can support application. This training pilot guide offers a practical way to test assumptions before a full-scale rollout.

Keep The Experience Accessible

A balanced program must account for different schedules, technologies, learning preferences, and levels of prior knowledge. Asynchronous resources should work well on common devices, use clear navigation, and include captions or transcripts where appropriate. Live sessions should offer structured participation so that contributors are not limited to the fastest speakers.

Workload is another accessibility issue. A short module followed by a demanding live exercise may require more preparation than employees can reasonably complete during a busy week. Estimate total learning time, communicate it clearly, and remove low-value content whenever the program expands beyond its original scope.

Practical Design Priorities

Assign each activity a specific performance purpose.
Keep self-study modules short, searchable, and easy to revisit.
Reserve live sessions for practice, feedback, discussion, and decisions.
Give managers simple reinforcement tools and observable follow-up actions.
Measure knowledge, behavior, adoption, and business impact across the learning journey.

A thoughtful blend of asynchronous self-study and live practice sessions gives employees flexibility without sacrificing application. Dave Basarab Consulting can help organizations shape the learning strategy, build custom instruction, develop leadership capability, and evaluate whether training is producing meaningful business results. Connect with the team to design a learning experience that moves from content completion to confident performance.

Learning to Performance

Learning to Performance, a complete training approach, gives companies world-class training to drive significant return. This approach includes upfront work (Impact Mapping, design), training (for staff and company executives), and post-training efforts to ensure training transfer. This unique recipe - the key for successful training and adoption - is changing the way companies implement training. This methodology could work with any content for organizations in any industry.