When was the last time you heard a term in your business but couldn’t really say what it meant? “Performance support” is popping up more and more, but can you really define it? Share the basic concepts underpinning it? Describe the business results other companies are experiencing?

In this session, you will learn a “primer” in the traditional sense: “a small introductory book on a subject.” You will explore examples of performance support tools, including a short, contextual history lesson. Finally, you will explore the state of performance support tools and tech, whether your budget is shoestring or enterprise-level.

In this session, you will learn:

• About the power of performance support to extend learning beyond the classroom
• About the existing performance support body of knowledge related to methodology and architecture
• About performance support tools and vendors that can address all budgetary constraints
• Where to go for more information or to become a practicing performance support professional

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, project managers, managers, and directors. No prior knowledge of performance support is needed.

Technology discussed in this session:
Performance support vendor platforms: Assima, Ancile, Panviva, Ontuitive, Epilogue, etc.; performance support systems built with Panviva and Ontuitive; and tools like HTML5, xAPI, and SharePoint.

The National Park Service (NPS) had a milestone year in 2016. That centennial year didn’t just kick off a second century of stewardship of America's national parks—it also catalyzed a renewed focus for the NPS on employees. To better address the challenges this group faced, the NPS decided to shift its L&D paradigm to a broader learning and performance ecosystem approach.

In this case study session, you’ll explore the integration of ecosystem theory and practice as you learn how the NPS has worked with internal and external partners to transform from a traditional, training-based approach to a multifaceted ecosystem approach. You’ll learn more about why an ecosystem approach works, how to develop an ecosystem solution for your organization, and how to measure its success. You’ll walk away with lessons learned about ecosystem planning and implementation, as well as practical advice for getting started.

In this session, you will learn:

• How a learning and performance ecosystem approach aligns with contemporary challenges and opportunities for organizations, teams, and individuals
• How to build new capabilities to develop, manage, and measure the impact of ecosystem solutions
• How to mobilize the L&D community and its key stakeholders and customers around transforming the way we approach learning and development
• How to initiate the change with pilot projects and strong sponsorship

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, managers, directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executives, etc.).

Technology discussed in this session:
N/A

Knowledge retention for traditional training events is often low. Don’t worry about it. Instead, invest where all learning and performance support really happens—the classroom (10 percent), from colleagues (20 percent), and on the job (70 percent). The magic happens when you can develop and maintain all content in one effort and use it everywhere; that includes at your fingertips—when, where, and how you need it. 

In this session, you’ll discuss why this “magic” works and how it can satisfy any workforce, wherever they work and however short their attention span. You’ll uncover how performance support is personal to what people are doing and who they are. At the end of this session, you’ll not only know why learning at your fingertips is so effective, you’ll also walk away with examples and models of how it can work in any organization.

In this session, you will learn:

• About examples of specific organizational victories and failures
• About scenarios to satisfy all aspects of workforce enablement—conceptual learning and procedural enablement and compliance
• About the maturity model for workforce performance support

Audience:
Novice to intermediate designers, managers, directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).

“If you taught them this, why don’t they do it?” Educational services staff at Saint Vincent Hospital got tired of hearing this question and started looking for a new learning paradigm for the institution. They found a solution in performance support. By blending learning opportunities and performance support for associates before a class, during a class, and on the job, organizations are able to significantly impact job performance.

This session will discuss the principles of performance support (PS) and the process of gaining institutional buy-in for PS. You will learn the benefits of providing PS across a learning ecosystem and how PS was successfully blended into the learning continuum for several projects. Finally, you will examine the metrics used to measure the success of the implementation. Details will be provided and examples will be shared.

In this session, you will learn:

• The difference between job aids and true performance support
• The benefits of providing performance support throughout the learning ecosystem
• Steps to implement performance support throughout the ecosystem
• Potential metrics for determining the success of the implementation

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Ontuitive’s LearningGuide Manager.

In this session, you will learn how to create and deliver formal and informal learning content with a single holistic solution. Come see a demonstration of the product that Brandon Hall rated the Gold Winner in the performance support category. You will also hear how companies are consolidating their content development, management, and delivery systems to a single, easy-to-manage global solution to address a wide range of learning and performance support needs.

Real-life examples of using xAPI in practice are hard to find, making the move from concept to practice very difficult. As the conversation around xAPI shifts from “just imagine” to “just do it,” designers and developers need more practical examples to build upon.

This session will cover how to use the Experience API (xAPI) in an enterprise environment. You will learn how to tie together multiple systems to evaluate performance of users and utilize predictive analytics to automatically identify performance gaps. With xAPI as the common language for learning systems, opportunities open up for learning professionals that did not exist in the past, and this session will focus on utilizing xAPI for the five moments of learning need.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to apply xAPI within the five moments of learning need
• Lessons from integrating xAPI across enterprise applications
• About a use case for xAPI that you could use within your organization
• How to start sifting through the big data of xAPI and applying it to Kirkpatrick’s levels of evaluation
• How to apply examples of xAPI to job role assessments

Audience:
Intermediate to advanced designers, developers, and directors. This session is designed for attendees who know what xAPI is, and are looking for ways to go beyond the traditional analytics with SCORM.

Technology discussed in this session:
xAPI, electronic performance support systems, and learning record stores.

Enterprise employees need critical information on the job at the time of need. How do today’s learning professionals leverage mobile technology and deliver the right content to the right users at the right time? They have to take into account the complete user experience, including user context, device capabilities and limitations, mobile interface design, and more. How do all of these variables translate into effective mobile performance support?

In this session, you will learn a foundational strategy and guidelines for effective performance support in the digital age. Binders, printed product bulletins, and laminated sheets are being replaced by mobile technologies, including hands-free devices such as watches and smart glasses. You will examine how user-centered design can produce training deliverables that resonate with users and can greatly affect performance support requirements. The session will also explore new technologies and design disciplines such as industrial design and deep learning. You will learn about real-world case studies in sales and retail performance support and the lessons learned.

In this session, you will learn:

• About the essential principles needed for effective performance support
• Why mobile technology allows for unprecedented performance support
• How to analyze and evaluate a target audience for strong user experiences
• How the environment affects the user experience, and how to design for the right context

Audience:
Novice designers, developers, project managers, managers, directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.). Attendees must have a willingness to change existing processes and habits and to embrace new technologies and realities about today’s learners.

Technology discussed in this session:
Cloud-based prototyping solutions and mobile application rapid development softwares.

The world is at a tipping point: Technology connects people, social approaches build community, and the “social age” drives ever more change. But what if people can’t cope? Failure is seen at an individual, organizational, and technical level. How can people become resilient and truly socially dynamic, fully adapted to face the ever more diverse and disruptive challenges they face?

In this session, you’ll explore how emergent technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and semantic engines will intersect with evolved social approaches to learning and leadership to create more resilience in the system. You’ll also be introduced to the notion of buffering, which is an approach to avoid catastrophic failure, and is where organizations should be looking in the next three to five years. This session will be of interest to those with an eye on the future, willing to explore possible future states and to help their organization make wise choices around technologies and approaches.

In this session, you will learn:

• About the notion of resilience and its importance for organizations in the social age
• What it means to be socially dynamic
• Ways to face new challenges in the social age
• How emergent technologies may interact with social approaches to learning and leadership
• About approaches to avoid catastrophic failure

Audience:
Intermediate to advanced designers, managers, directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.). Participants should have curiosity and a willingness to engage in conversation.  

Technology discussed in this session:  
Wearables, geolocated technologies (beacons, adaptive and co-created systems, e.g., Waze), augmented technologies, and conversational channels (Yammer, etc.).

The busy nature of the retail setting makes it a challenge to find ways to extend learning beyond formal training. While this time crunch is real, there’s also a real benefit in being able provide ongoing support for newly learned skills, as this practice and reinforcement can allow people to master new skills faster and with more accuracy. So how do you balance this with the constraints of a busy environment like retail? The solution is one that can seamlessly blend into people’s job responsibilities, providing the guidance they need at the moment they need it—performance support.

In this case-study session, you’ll take a closer look at how Sears Holdings Corporation effectively developed and launched a low-cost performance support system into their retail organization. You'll learn about the development side of this project, including how they were able to create a budget-friendly performance support solution. You’ll then explore how its ultimate solution was integrated into its associates' work interface, providing them with quick, just-in-time access to performance support information. Finally, you'll see how they measured the business impact of this project, including through tracking patterns in usage reviews, reduced upfront training time, and decreases in error rates. You’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of how performance support can work in the real world and ideas for how you can begin to craft your own performace support solution.

In this session, you will learn:

• How Sears Holdings Corporation determined the key components that needed to be a part of its performance support system
• What to consider when developing a cost-effective approach to performance support
• How to allow for continued content updates to your performance support solution
• Options for measuring the business impact of performance support

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, managers, directors, and senior leaders (VPs, CLOs, executives, etc.).

Technology discussed in this session:
POS performance support system.

Sales employees are successful only if they have time to sell and, more importantly, can complete the process to close the deal. But it takes a long time to get a new salesperson up to speed on a company’s sales procedures, applications, forms, deadlines, and more, and during this process it can often feel to them like drinking from the information firehose. How can we help them quickly get the information they need to do their job well while also preventing them from being overwhelmed by content?

In this session, you’ll explore a powerful tool for addressing this dilemma and improving sales: performance support. You’ll look at how, by implementing performance support, you can walk your salespeople through every step in the company’s process, provide a single source of truth for them to get everything they need to do their job, and ultimately help deliver the signed deal.

In this session, you will learn:

• How performance support can decrease training time for new sales hires while also reducing errors
• How performance support can reduce questions from new hires on policies, systems, etc.
• How to use this solution to provide a single source of information for new and experienced sales reps and ensure consistency
• How to design your performance support solution to provide the right information at the right time

Audience:
Novice to intermediate designers, managers, directors, and senior leaders (VP, CLO, executive, etc.).

Are you overwhelming new hires with thousands of policies, procedures, and fact sheets in your knowledge base? New hires rarely even know what they’re looking for, much less how to find it. This frustration prevents them from gaining confidence and delays achieving mastery in the job. And let’s face it—even experienced employees can struggle from time to time finding the right piece of information in the knowledge base.

In this session, you’ll learn how to create knowledge maps (specifically, structure and application maps) based on the schemata of experts and top performers. You’ll see how your maps can help new hires build a visual representation or mental model of their job and what it takes to be successful. Then, see how to leverage your maps to explain the organization of your new-hire curricula. Finally, see how your maps can be used to organize your knowledge base, providing logical access to tools that new hires need in training and on the job, including microlearning modules.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to create a knowledge structure map
• How to create a knowledge application map
• How to use knowledge maps in your new-hire training
• How to leverage knowledge maps to create curated pages in your knowledge base or knowledge management system

Audience:
Intermediate to advanced designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Knowledge management systems, mind-mapping software, and Adobe Dreamweaver.