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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

When Learning Bursts Replace Formal Classroom Training Entirely

Learning bursts—short, focused learning experiences delivered through digital channels—have changed how organizations build employee capability. A five-minute scenario, guided practice activity, or manager prompt can reach people closer to the moment of need than a scheduled classroom course.

That convenience makes microlearning attractive, especially for distributed workforces and fast-changing roles. Yet replacing formal classroom training entirely is a strategic decision, not simply a content-format preference. Short learning can improve access and reinforce behavior, but it may not provide enough time for complex thinking, collaboration, or supervised practice.

The strongest learning strategy connects delivery methods to business outcomes. The question is not whether bursts are modern or efficient; it is whether they can produce the level of proficiency, confidence, and behavior change the organization requires.

Why Organizations Move Toward Learning Bursts

Traditional classroom programs often require travel, calendar coordination, facilitator availability, and extended time away from work. Learning bursts reduce these barriers. Employees can complete a short activity on a mobile device, in a team meeting, or during a natural pause in the workday.

This format also supports continuous learning. Instead of concentrating all instruction into a single event, organizations can distribute concepts through spaced practice, retrieval activities, coaching prompts, and follow-up challenges. A sales representative might receive a product update before a customer call, while a new manager receives a feedback prompt after a difficult team conversation.

What Short-Format Learning Does Best

Learning bursts are highly effective when the performance goal is narrow and observable. They can explain a policy change, demonstrate a software feature, rehearse a conversation, reinforce terminology, or remind employees to use a proven process. Their brevity also makes repetition practical, which supports retention better than a single exposure.

They work especially well as performance support. A short decision guide can help an employee act correctly at the point of need, without requiring a return to a lengthy course. Examples of focused applications can be found in these sample learning bursts, which illustrate how concise experiences can target specific workplace behaviors.

Where Complete Replacement Creates Risk

Some capabilities need sustained attention. Strategic problem-solving, leadership judgment, technical troubleshooting, negotiation, and interpersonal skill development often depend on dialogue, feedback, ambiguity, and practice with other people. Compressing these experiences into isolated screens can produce recognition without reliable performance.

There is also a risk of confusing participation with adoption. Employees may open every burst while changing little in their daily work. Without manager reinforcement, opportunities to practice, and clear accountability, a stream of short content can become informational noise. Formal workshops are valuable when learners need to build shared understanding, challenge assumptions, or receive expert coaching in real time.

Choosing the Right Delivery Mix

A useful decision compares the business need, not just the instructional format. The following distinctions can help learning leaders determine when bursts are sufficient and when a blended or classroom experience is more appropriate.

Business need Learning bursts Formal or blended training
Policy updates and reminders Strong fit for concise, repeatable messages Useful when interpretation is disputed
Simple process or system tasks Effective with demonstrations and practice Helpful for complex workflows
Leadership judgment Useful for reinforcement and reflection Better for simulations, coaching, and discussion
Compliance knowledge Strong for refreshers and retrieval practice Needed when certification requires deeper assessment
Cross-functional problem-solving Limited without live interaction Strong fit for facilitated collaboration
Behavior change at scale Effective with reinforcement and manager prompts Stronger when paired with practice and accountability

The right answer may be a learning ecosystem rather than a single method. A short digital primer can prepare employees for a live workshop, while follow-up bursts can reinforce the behaviors introduced in class. This approach preserves efficiency without removing the human experiences that make difficult learning transferable.

Connecting Learning to Business Results

Replacing classroom training should begin with a performance analysis. Define what employees must do differently, how often the behavior occurs, what barriers affect execution, and which business measure should move. A burst is appropriate when it can directly support that behavior within a realistic work context.

The business and learning connection becomes especially important when leaders are deciding whether lower delivery costs represent genuine value. Evaluation should examine reach, completion, knowledge, application, adoption, and business impact—not just learner satisfaction.

Predictive Evaluation can strengthen this process by forecasting likely adoption and return on investment before a program is fully deployed. That forecast helps identify weak reinforcement plans, unclear measures, or performance conditions that content alone cannot fix.

Practical Recommendations for Learning Leaders

Organizations considering an all-burst model should set boundaries around where compression supports performance and where it undermines it.

  • Use learning bursts for focused knowledge, reminders, practice, and point-of-need support.
  • Retain live or blended experiences for complex judgment, collaboration, coaching, and skill demonstration.
  • Design reinforcement into the learning strategy before launch, including manager prompts and workplace practice.
  • Measure behavior adoption and business outcomes alongside completion and assessment scores.
  • Pilot the format with one audience, then expand only after evidence shows durable performance improvement.

A custom instructional design process can map each objective to the appropriate experience. That may result in a burst series, a workshop, a coaching pathway, or a combination of formats rather than a universal replacement of classroom instruction.

Make the Decision Measurable

Learning bursts can replace formal classroom training entirely when the capability is focused, repeatable, observable, and supported by the work environment. They are less suitable when employees must develop nuanced judgment, collaborate through uncertainty, or demonstrate complex skills under realistic conditions.

The most effective enterprise learning strategies treat format as a business decision. Assess the performance requirement, predict adoption, test the experience, and track whether employees use the capability where it matters. Build a learning portfolio that gives each objective enough time, interaction, and reinforcement to produce results.

Review your current classroom programs and identify which objectives can be converted into targeted bursts without weakening practice or accountability. Then use evidence from a measured pilot to create a scalable learning solution that improves capability and connects training investment to business 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.

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