Page 16: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2016)

TRAINING & EDUCATION

Continuous Improvement

Part 3 Implementing Continuous Improvement in Familiarization Training

MURRAY GOLDBERG ontinuous Improvement (CI) is the process of continually analyzing the performance

C of some aspect of operations, and then applying changes intended to improve that performance. It is a criti- cal component in maintaining the health of any operation and can be applied to almost any activity. This is the third and ? nal installment in a series of articles intended to introduce CI, and to give some practical tips for using CI in any maritime organization to improve train- ing effectiveness and ef? ciency. Imple- menting a modest CI process for in- house training is neither expensive nor dif? cult, and even a small program can produce a tremendous ROI in safety, ef- ing whether changes made in the name begin thinking about how an LMS can ling are per-question statistics. ? ciency, trainer engagement and trainee of CI have created an improvement in improve the process of continuous im- One form of per-question statistics is satisfaction.

outcomes (effectiveness and ef? ciency), provement in operational training. a report on the distribution of answer

The ? rst and second articles in this there is no way of telling whether we are In order to understand how an LMS choices for each question in the system. series, published in the January (http:// moving closer to, or further away from, can generate the KPIs we are interested This is outstanding information to have digitalmagazines.marinelink.com/nwm/ our goal. KPIs provide that informa- in here, it is important to have a basic un- because it highlights hidden weaknesses

MaritimeReporter/201601) and Febru- tion by measuring the success of every derstanding of what an LMS is. Here is a in training which are unlikely to other- ary (http://digitalmagazines.marinelink.

change made. short, edited de? nition from Wikipedia: wise be apparent. For example, it may be com/nwm/MaritimeReporter/201602)

As a reminder, KPIs should minimally A learning management system (LMS) the case that in general, trainees are pass- editions of Maritime Reporter and En- satisfy the following requirements: is a software application for the delivery, ing exams with ? ying colors. However, gineering News respectively, introduced ? They must be aligned with corpo- management, tracking, and reporting of despite their overall performance, they continuous improvement and some key rate goals. training and assessments. A robust LMS may routinely be incorrectly answering performance indicators (KPIs) applica- ? They should react reasonably should be able to do the following: a small set of safety critical questions. If ble in maritime training. To get the most quickly to changes made in training. ? Assemble and deliver standardized not for the metrics generated by an LMS, out of this article, it would be useful to ? They must track something the or- training content rapidly this would be a very dif? cult fault to un- review those posts before progressing ganization has some control over. ? Consolidate training initiatives on a cover on an organization-wide basis, yet with this one.

Otherwise, although they may be scalable web-based platform may represent a real risk to safety or op-

In this article, I complete this series by interesting to track, they are not ? Personalize content and enable erational ef? ciency. An LMS will alert talking about speci? c key performance helpful in the process of tuning knowledge reuse the organization to these issues.

indicators which are likely to be avail- training outcomes. ? Centralize and automate training ad- Another per-question metric is a report able if (or once) a learning management ministration on the distribution of answers for each system (LMS) is employed in the deliv-

LMS-Enabled KPIs Note the emphasis in the de? nition on exam question possibly highlighting an ery and management of job and famil-

Overview “management, tracking and reporting”. incorrect, though commonly chosen re- iarization training. These KPIs provide

As with many data-driven systems It is the “reporting” aspects we are most sponse. This metric can help an organi- deep insight into learning activities and (and KPIs are just that - data), technol- concerned about here. zation identify common misunderstand- performance, and can be used as part of ogy is our friend here. Computer-based ings and be very helpful in updating the the foundation upon which continuous learning management systems (or LMSs) The KPIs learning materials to correct the issue.

improvement is implemented. generate a wealth of KPIs that track Let’s take a look at some examples of In either case, this metric is very use- learning and assessment effectiveness. “LMS-enabled KPIs” and discuss how ful at bringing to the surface any hidden

Key Performance Indicators

These are metrics which cannot oth- they can be used in a process of continu- training issues, facilitating their correc-

The focus of the second and this third erwise be practically obtained. In fact, ous improvement. tion before they result in a loss.

article is Key Performance Indicators. metrics are one of the greatest strengths

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are and bene? ts of using an LMS and that is Individual Exam Question Metrics Learning Content Access Metrics the foundation of any CI process. KPIs one of the reasons that most large train- LMSs can be used to deliver exams, One of the most informative and useful are measurements used to evaluate ef- ing organizations use an LMS. Because and while doing so, are able to record LMS metrics is a learning page access fectiveness and ef? ciency. This is criti- the use of LMSs is now rapidly expand- various kinds of metrics. The exam met- log. This metric shows every learning cal - unless we have a way of measur- ing in the maritime industry, it is time to rics often found to be the most compel- page in the system and indicates, on av- 16 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • MARCH 2016

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