If a training project is to have long-lasting value, then it should be connected to specific business results that you can measure. In this step of the ADDIE analysis phase, ILLAFTrain’s training specialists help clients identify the key business metrics they want to improve through the project. Training projects can't solve every business problem, but a good training project should be able to articulate its goals in ways that can be measured.

We believe that it’s important to align each training project with your company's business goals. When you define what success will look like, you’re more likely to achieve those results. So, if the training project will be successful, how will it affect people and how will it impact the company's bottom line?

• Vague business goal—we want to teach a new process to our team members
• Specific business goal—we want to improve team member productivity by encouraging them to use best practices
• Highly specific business goal—we want to improve team member productivity by 5% through increased adoption of these three best-practice procedures 
  

  It's easy to write training around vague business goals, but it's difficult to measure their impact on your company. It's also nearly impossible to measure their return on investment. When you map the project to specific business goals, you ensure that the project focuses on measurable results. You'll also be able to present your project in a way that will appeal to your company's senior leadership and even the company's CFO.

ILLAFTrain's training specialists help clients select achievable goals for their training projects. We believe that clients should set the project's business goals, since they know their needs best. We encourage a dialogue between the following groups:

• The project's owner
• Senior leadership or executives who are supporting the project
• Other stakeholders involved in the project's success

During the discussion, our training specialists share their knowledge and their experience with training projects. We guide the discussion and encourage the participants to address the tough questions:

• Is the proposed goal realistic?—neither too high nor too low
• Will the project have enough time for development and implementation?
• What internal elements will need to support the project?
• Have those elements committed to the project?

The project's goals must match the client's commitment to them. We've seen companies set high training project goals that became unrealistic—because the project didn't receive enough time, resources, or cultural support.

Let's imagine that a pharmaceutical company wants to update its training program for newly-hired account managers. ILLAFTrain's training specialists ask the client to define success. The project owner talks with the senior leadership, and they agree that ideally the program needs to focus on three product lines. A successful project would improve key performance metrics by 15% for each line.

However, the company intends to hire a new class of account managers in ninety days, and the new course must be ready within that timeframe. ILLAFTrain's training specialist recognizes that the project's goals exceed the time available to create the course. So, the training specialist shares this information with the client. The client then can choose between the following options:

• Reschedule the hiring date for the new account managers and allow more time for course development
• Add additional training specialists to the project
• Reduce the scope and focus on a 15% improvement for one product line
• Update the training for all three product lines but set a lower performance metric goal

Each of these choices comes with trade-offs that go beyond the project's success. These options will affect the client's business and the bottom line. Our training specialists offer advice that help clients make informed decisions about their training projects.