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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Predictive Evaluation

How to Structure a Learning Burst Series for Complex Skills Mastery

Complex skills rarely become reliable after a single workshop. They develop through repeated practice, timely feedback, workplace application and opportunities to correct mistakes. A well-designed learning burst series turns those elements into a structured pathway rather than a collection of disconnected short courses.

This approach suits Australian organisations managing dispersed teams, hybrid workforces and operational pressure. A mining business with FIFO employees, a health service across regional Queensland, or a national retailer with staff in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth may need learning that is brief enough to fit the workday but substantial enough to change behaviour.

The aim is capability that shows up in decisions, conversations and performance. Each burst should have a clear role in the overall learning journey, with evaluation built in so leaders can see whether employees are adopting the skill and whether it is contributing to business outcomes.

Learning approach Best use Main limitation Role in a burst series
One-off workshop Awareness and shared language Limited retention and application Establish the foundation
Self-paced module Concepts and reference material Requires strong learner motivation Prepare or reinforce
Coaching session Personalised practice and feedback Can be resource-intensive Correct and deepen performance
Learning burst series Progressive skill development Needs careful sequencing Connect knowledge, practice and measurement
Workplace project Transfer into real conditions Results may take time to observe Demonstrate mastery

Start With The Capability Outcome

Begin with the performance outcome, not the content catalogue. Describe what a capable employee will do in a realistic situation, such as diagnosing a customer problem, conducting a safety conversation or making a sound commercial recommendation. The outcome should be observable and connected to a business priority.

Break the complex skill into a small number of component behaviours. A frontline leader, for example, may need to interpret performance data, ask effective questions, give feedback and agree on follow-up actions. These elements can be developed progressively rather than crowded into one digital module or full-day session.

A useful design test is whether a manager could recognise the behaviour on the job. If the outcome cannot be observed, coached or measured, it is probably too vague to guide a burst series.

Sequence The Bursts Around Practice

Each burst should do one main job. The first may establish a mental model, the second may demonstrate the skill, and later bursts can focus on practice, problem-solving and transfer. Keeping the scope narrow reduces cognitive load and makes progress easier to track.

Allow time between bursts for application. A five-day gap might suit a customer service skill, while a fortnight may be more appropriate for leadership habits or technical decision-making. In Australia, shift patterns, site travel and award requirements can affect timing, so a national programme may need both live and asynchronous options.

A practical sequence might look like this:

  • Burst one: introduce the business problem and success standard
  • Burst two: model the process using a realistic case
  • Burst three: let participants practise with guided feedback
  • Burst four: apply the skill to a current workplace challenge
  • Burst five: review evidence, address barriers and commit to continued use

Build Local Relevance Into The Design

Examples should reflect the conditions in which people actually work. A case about a regional hospital, a council in New South Wales or a resources operation near Kalgoorlie will feel more credible to Australian participants than a generic scenario with unfamiliar language. Use local terminology where appropriate, while keeping the capability transferable.

Facilitators should allow room for practical discussion. Australian learners may respond well to a direct, conversational style and may say they want to “have a crack” at a task before receiving too much explanation. That preference can be supported with short demonstrations, realistic role plays and clear feedback rather than lengthy theory.

Vendor content can be useful, but it needs to fit internal priorities, systems and language. Organisations can draw on guidance about aligning vendor training when adapting external material into a coherent employee experience.

Support Transfer Between Bursts

Managers, peers and workplace tools should reinforce the learning after each session. A manager might observe a conversation, use a coaching prompt at the next one-to-one meeting or ask the participant to explain how the new method affected a real outcome.

The series should also anticipate barriers. Employees may understand the skill but lack authority, time, data or system access to use it. Identifying these constraints early prevents the learning team from misdiagnosing an operational problem as a motivation problem.

Transfer support can include:

  • Manager check-ins linked to the skill standard
  • Job aids embedded in the relevant workflow
  • Peer practice groups for remote or dispersed teams
  • Short reflection prompts after workplace application
  • Escalation routes for policy, system or capability barriers

For complex leadership or technical skills, use a workplace assignment that produces evidence. This might be a documented customer conversation, a completed risk review or a decision log. Evidence makes coaching specific and gives evaluation more substance than attendance or satisfaction scores.

Measure Adoption And Business Value

Evaluation should be designed before delivery. Identify what will show that people learned the skill, used it consistently and produced a valuable result. Measures may include quality scores, cycle time, employee retention, safety observations, customer outcomes or manager assessments.

Use a baseline where possible, then gather data at sensible points: before the series, after the first application, and several weeks or months later. This avoids treating immediate confidence as proof of sustained performance. Predictive Evaluation can help estimate likely adoption and value while the programme is still being designed, allowing adjustments before significant resources are committed.

The value case should match the skill. A compliance programme may focus on incident reduction and correct decisions, while a sales capability programme may examine conversion, margin or pipeline quality. Resources on maximising training value can help connect learning evidence with broader organisational measures.

A strong burst series remains adaptable. Review participation patterns across metropolitan and regional teams, compare manager observations with operational data, and revise examples when the business changes. Experience across varied organisations, including those outlined among Dave’s client companies, reinforces the importance of designing for context rather than assuming one format will suit every workforce.

The essential principle is simple: a learning burst series should move people from understanding, to practice, to confident workplace performance, with evidence gathered at every stage. When each burst has a clear purpose and the full pathway is tied to business results, short learning experiences can build complex skills that last.

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.

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