2023 is just around the corner, and if you're a learning and development manager who wants to make an impact, you need to start planning now. What will the world look like in 5 years? What new technologies will be available? How can you stay ahead of the curve and help your team learn and grow? In this blog post, we'll discuss 5 ideas for learning and development managers who want to make an impact in 2023. Stay tuned - it's going to be a great year!

1. Complete a Needs Assessment
   
   Determine what training your team and employees need, and want
   
   A needs assessment is the first step in any training initiative. It involves taking a close look at the business and identifying the areas where employees need development. Once you know what areas need improvement, you can create a tailored training program that meets those specific needs.
   
   Employee enagement is a key factor in learning and development. When employees are engaged, they're more likely to participate in training activities and apply what they learn to their work. One way to increase employee engagement is by using storytelling techniques in training programs. Stories are a powerful tool for teaching and engaging employees.
   
   Focus on Soft Skills Development
   
   The world of work is changing, and soft skills are becoming increasingly important. As a learning and development manager, it's important to focus on soft skills development. This means offering training programs that teach employees essential skills such as communication, problem-solving, and collaboration.


2. Identify Trainers including Vendors
   
   Examine the Past Performance of Vendors and Solicit Proposals
   
   When it comes to training and development, it's important to have the right trainers and vendors. But how do you identify the best ones? It can be a daunting task, but with a little bit of research, you can find the perfect fit for your team.
   
   One way to identify trainers is by examining their past performance. Have they been successful in previous training initiatives? What was the feedback from participants? Another way to identify trainers is by soliciting proposals. This involves sending out a request for proposal (RFP) to several potential vendors. The RFP should outline the specific needs of your team, and vendors will then submit proposal that meet those needs.
   
   Offer In-House Training Programs
   
   In-house training programs are a great way to develop employee skills and knowledge. They allow employees to learn about company policies and procedures, as well as new technologies.
   


3. Request a Budget AFTER You Have Proposals

To make an impact in the world of learning and development, you need to have the right tools and resources. And to get those tools and resources, you need a budget.

But getting a budget for learning and development can be difficult. Many managers struggle to make their case for increased spending on training. They may feel that their team is already stretched too thin or that there isn't enough money available. But if you can make a strong case for learning and development, you're more likely to receive the funding you need.

One way to make your case is by highlighting the benefits of training. Show how training can improve employee productivity, reduce turnover and boost morale. You can also point out how training can help employees stay up-to-date with new technologies and trends in th industry. By making a strong argument for learning and development, you're more likely to receive the funding you need to make an impact.


4. Schedule Classes

To get the most out of training, it's important to schedule classes in a way that works for both employees and managers. This involves finding a balance between employee needs and company goals.

When scheduling training classes, it's important to consider the needs of employees. Employees need time to attend class, complete assignments, and practice new skills. They also need time to ask questions and receive feedback from instructors.

At the same time, it's important to consider the needs of managers. Managers need time to plan class schedules, approve attendance, and track progress. They also need time to evaluate the effectiveness of training programs.

Finding a balance between employee needs and management needs can be difficult, but it's essential for successful training initiatives. By scheduling classes in a way that meets both sets of needs, you're more likely to see positive results in terms of employee productivity and company growth.


5. Inform and Enroll Participants
   
   Employees must know they are scheduled so they can plan their time appropriatey
   
   One way to inform and enroll participants is by sending out invitations to the class. These invitations should include the date, time and location of the class, as well as a brief description of the training program. It's also important to set expectations for attendance. Employees should be aware of how many classes they are expected to attend and what will happen if they miss a class.
   
   Finally, it's important to track progress. Managers should keep track of which employees have attended class and which employees are still missing assignments. By keeping track of these things, managers can ensure that all employees are getting the most out of their training programs.
   

If you're looking to make an impact in the world of learning and development, then consider enrolling in one of our training programs. Our classes are designed to help employees learn new skills and stay up-to-date with industry trends. And our instructors are experienced professionals who can help you get the most out of your training.

When it comes to learning and development, it's important to think ahead. By planning and implementing these five tips, you're more likely to make an impact in 2023. So start planning now and see the positive results in the future.

When he reward for your hard work turns into a terrifying "opportunity" to be video recorded, you could get derailed worrying about the impression you're going to make and your credibility.
With the boom in YouTube's popularity and marketing importance, and the continued growth in consumers preferring to keep up by watching over reading, your skill on camera is more critical than ever. Research has proven that learner retention from video is significantly higher than from text. Here are some stats on video that you should know:

• Learner retention¹: 65% video vs. 10%-20% text
• People are 75% more likely
  to watch² a video than read an email
• Visual are processed 60,000 times faster³ in the brain than text.

If you are asked to speak to a reporter, tv news crew, or anyone with a video camera, you can make or break the impact of your message without event knowing it. Your appearance, behavior, and subconscious actions can conflict or undermine your spoken word. Whether you're representing your industry, company, department, or your own experience, we're sure you want the message to be accurate and meaningful.

At Merit Career Development, we recognized the need to offer these insights to our clients and teamed up with BTK Communications, a recognized leader in video production to create this workshop for you. Barbara T. Radler, the founder and CEO of BTK Communications, has been helping professionals be their best on camera for almost 3 decades. She and her team worked with us to create this experiential program that will be held in a studio-like setting with a professional director, camera crew and teleprompter operator. Participation in this program will change your professional trajectory forever!

During the workshop, participants will learn, in detail, insider tricks and tips from preparing to be on-camera, day-of on-camera production, and post-production impact. Specifically, you will learn through experience:

1. The impact of sleep and alcohol on being your best on camera
2. How to impact the impression you make with your clothing and color choices, hair style, make-up, and more
3. Engaging the viewer with body language, eye focus, and specific mannerisms
4. How to vary your voice's tone, pace, and volume to control the points of emphasis
5. How your posture and gestures impact the spoken message (what to do and what NOT to do)
6. When and how to use Silence
7. Production and post-production tips

Where else are you going to learn these important insights and have the opportunity to apply them immediately with a camera crew and teleprompter operator?
As you may have learned in your youth, you can never get a second chance to make a first impression, so you want to give this your best effort. To bring this important training experience to your leaders and influencers, contact Jim Wynne at (610) 225-0193 or at jwynne@meritcd.com.

Sources:

1. https://www.ragan.com/infographic-why-visual-content-is-better-than-text/
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/02/03/video-marketing-the-future-of-content-marketing/?sh=5d2d66e96b53
3. Forrester Research https://www.panopto.com/blog/answer-transparency-isnt-town-halls-technology/

What if you could reduce your training costs by up to 40% while increasing employee engagement and retention by up to 60%? Would you be interested in learning more?

While you're probably familiar with "e-learning", you may not know as much about Adaptive eLearning. What's so important about Adaptive eLearning? This is personalized instruction that adapts to and builds upon the employee's existing knowledge. It by-passes redundant (and boring) review periods found in most e-learning courses that are designed for the masses.

The goal of any great training program is to engage the learner and to teach them things they don't know by linking it to things they do know.

Adaptive eLearning is based on discoveries in the last 10 plus years of cognitive neuro-science. It recognizes that every person is unique, has had different experiences, and therefore different levels of knowledge on various topics. Instead of trying to teach everyone the same content, Adaptive eLearning takes advantage of this disparity in two distinct ways:

• It tests a person's level of knowledge, and, more importantly, their confidence in that knowledge. By doing so, it recognizes each person's knowledge and how comfortable they are with it.


• IF a person knows the knowledge and is confident in that knowledge: no further training in this area is required.

The second point highlights the question, why spend time training and boring people on stuff they know? They should be trained on stuff they don't know! The graph below is illuminating. Many people are confident in their knowledge but may not be competent or proficient in that subject. The green lines indicate a person's knowledge level, whereas the red lines indicate missing knowledge areas. The yellow lines indicate their confidence in that knowledge area. As you can see: many people may be confident in their knowledge, but may not actually be competent.



Adaptive eLearning recognizes this disparity and responds appropriately to each person by training the individual learner exactly what they need to know!

The Benefits of Adaptive eLearning:

For Your Business

• Improved employee productivity
• Higher employee engagement
• Measurable capability and capacity (Lower unconscious incompetence), see chart above.

For the Learner:

• Faster time to proficiency
• Eliminate frustration of unnecessary training
• High self-awareness of strengths and development areas
• Enhanced and personalized learning experience

For the Training and/or Human Resources Department:

• Measurable outcomes
• Real-time quality feedback
• Real-time content updates
• Improved teaching effectiveness
• Elimination of the "one-size-fits-none"

Merit Career Development has partnered with the leader in adaptive eLearning, Area 9, to deliver world-class training in the most efficient manner possible and provide our clients with more delivery options than ever. For more information, contact Merit Career Development today. We'll help you achieve the best training program you've ever had, with a lower expense and higher learning retention rate. Contact Merit Career Development today to learn more.

The onslaught of allegations related to Harvey Weinstein may have helped the topic of Harassment gain global attention, but it’s not showing any signs of slowing down. Every day, more and more people are sued over allegations of harassment and retaliation. It has become very important for everyone to recognize the workplace factors that enable harassment to take place, the difference between annoying and harassing behavior, and what our legal responsibilities are to both the alleged perpetrator and victim.

What exactly is harassment? Often harassment takes place when the offender has more, real or perceived “power”, than his or her target, and physically, verbally, or visually uses this power against the will of his or her target, often without intent.

If an employee is made uncomfortable by the actions of an internal or affiliated member of the organization, it is essential that management take it seriously and investigate the complaint. Both the alleged perpetrator and victim need to be included in this investigation to accurately assess the situation and identify next steps. The bottom line is that ignorance of a manager’s responsibility does not excuse it. And it could result in costly and embarrassing law suites. Yes, a manager who observes, or is aware of a harassment complaint who does not explore the details and take any necessary action, may become personally liable.

Harassment is conducted verbally, physically and emotionally. Even if no one complains and you know this abuse is taking place, you have responsibilities. Does your company have a harassment policy with examples of objectionable conduct and management requirements?

The adult course design experts at Merit Career Development have partnered with the legal specialists at Ufberg & Associates, Northeastern Pennsylvania’s premier management-side labor and employment law firm, to produce a 90 minute Webinar that details:

• The state of sexual harassment, retaliation, and bullying
• What defines harassment
• When does harassment occur
• Management responsibilities when harassment, retaliation and bullying are reported
• Preventing harassment, discrimination, bullying and retaliation

This short, information-packed course, is a must for every business. To schedule a webinar at your convenience, contact Merit Career Development today.

After 20 years in the training business, you know you can count on Merit Career Development for fresh and relevant content, engaging program activities, and proven-effective delivery methods that best help training “stick.” We assure you that our programs will have immediate application to your workplace, producing an immediate ROI. It’s a modest investment for a smashing return!

New courses in response to marketplace demand include:

Project Leadership	Communicating using DISC
Project Change Management	Negotiating and Influencing
Problem Solving with Root Cause Analysis	Identifying and Managing Risks
Preventing Harassment in the Workplace	Agile Project Management

New and aspiring leaders will benefit from our Handling Employee Performance Problems and Termination, Business Communications and Team Performance (which is also offered for experienced managers.) Visit a complete list of courses or download the catalog here. Our annual training needs survey (again) demonstrated the highest interest in courses that increase proficiency in leadership, strategy and management – even among Project Managers. We have a robust selection of these courses from Fundamentals of Leadership to advanced topics, such as 360-Degree Leadership.

Our project management courses have been updated to align with the 6^th edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) guide. Every course description in the catalog includes a listing of the number of credits by organization. See inset for example of accreditations per course.

Need help bringing training to your organization?

Thousands of studies have been conducted that validate the connection between investing in employee training and development and the increase in loyalty, morale, and retention. Lower turnover reduces costs and prevents unanticipated gaps in performance. Most important, high morale and a loyal staff translates into more satisfied customers and a better bottom line. And after all, aren’t satisfied customers what keeps your organization in the black?!

Our facilitators are expert at tailoring course(s) to the needs and experience levels of your staff. Find out how, by contacting Jim Wynne, for a no obligation discussion at jwynne@meritcd.com or 610-225-0449.

FREE Tips

Check out our LinkedIn Friday Facts. These nuggets are excerpts from our courses that people enjoy sharing with their friends and colleagues. It will be worth your time.

This past December, we invited our entire database to participate in our annual, 3-question Training Planning Survey. A majority of the people on our list work in, or support, project management. A trend we’ve observed is that each year a growing number of PMs are interested in developing their leadership and management skills; greater than the number interested in project management training. Out of 30 course topics listed, the top choices were:


Out of the top 17 courses considered for 2018 training, 11, or 2/3 are “professional development”, only five are project management courses, and one, Microsoft 365, is a general administrative skill.

Course	Response Percentage
The Nine Principles of Self-Leadership	28.89%
Leadership Skills for Non-Supervisors	28.89%
Managing Organizational Change	26.67%
Performance Management	24.44%
Persuasive Presentations	22.22%
PM with Microsoft Project	22.22%
Microsoft Office 365	22.22%
PM Training with Simulation	20.00%
PM Fundamentals	20.00%
Creating a Culture of Innovation	20.00%
Effective Customer Communications	20.00%

Click here to see the complete list in order of planned interest.

LEARNING POINT: People working in or with project management, recognize the need for leadership and management training to improve their performance. Fortunately, Merit’s professional courses are not only very enjoyable and informative, and like our PM courses, they qualify for PDUs, CEUs, CPEs, and CLPs.

Training Formats

We saw a rather dramatic shift this year from our previous surveys in terms of training/learning format preferences. In the December 2017 survey, the web-based learning format was most preferred at 52.27%; significantly more than the full day, on-site format at 31.82%. These top choices flipped for the number one position from 2015.

In 2015, “Full day” was the top choice selected by 54% of respondents and web-based, self-paced learning was second choice at 41.7%. Below, you can see the other variations that occurred over the past two years.

Training Format	2017 Response Percent	2015 Response Percent
Full day, live	31.82%	54.2%
Web-based, self-paced learning	52.27%	41.7%
Series of one-hour webinars	36.36%	37.5%
2 or 3 sequential days	13.64%	12.5%
2 or more sequential 1/2 days	15.91%	12.5%
A single series of 1/2 day webinars	13.64%	12.5%
Several whole or half day trainings offered weekly	9.09%	8.3%

LEARNING POINT: Web-based, self-paced learning options were preferred over in-person instruction. Our respondents were also more interested in learning from a series of one-hour webinars, which are also self-paced, independent training formats, than full day, live sessions.

"Influencers" in Selecting Training Sessions

When respondents were asked to rate the importance of the following traits in their decision to select a course, on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning Not at all Important and 5 meaning Very Important, the educational Topic was clearly the most important trait — and we did expect this.

The surprises were related to how important the location of the course is and how relatively unimportant the credentials are. Please see the chart below:

Considering there are about 600,000 certified Project Management Professionals (PMPs) worldwide that need 60 PDU credits every three years, and similar figures apply to SHRM and CPA credit requirements, we expected that earning credits would have ranked higher in importance.

So, we would love to hear your thoughts on why these trends are moving in this direction.

• Why do you think people are seeking independent learning opportunities more than in-person learning events? Is the freedom to choose their best time more enjoyable than in-person learning where people share their experiences?


• What are the two most important criteria in your course selection … and why?

Please leave your comments below, we’d love to hear your feedback. Thank you very much for reading and for giving us your thoughts!

Previously, we wrote about how resolving conflict often has the side benefit of building a cooperative bond — even loyalty — between the factions. As each side gains a deeper understanding of the others’ viewpoints, respect builds and morale improves. Cooperative, low stress interactions, create a fertile environment for productive brainstorming, ultimately boosting the health of your organization.

Being respectful to others, being open to hearing their perspective, and taking the time to understand their objective are very important, but you’ll need more knowledge in your toolkit to dispel conflict when the conflict gets tough. So, let’s dig deeper today.

How can you demonstrate that you are being respectful and open and trying to understand the other’s perspective?

Here are the top 5 proven techniques you can add to your toolkit:

1. Ask questions about the other person’s recommendations or point of view in a sincere, non-judgmental manner. Drill down to make sure you totally understand all of their objectives, concerns, and potential obstacles that you may both face.
2. Replay or paraphrase their points back to show your understanding, and ask for confirmation that you “got it.”
3. Make sure your body language is open and consistent with your words. If they’re not, people instinctively believe your non-verbal message over the spoken word.
4. Even if you don’t agree, be sure to acknowledge that you hear and understand the other person’s points.
5. It wouldn’t hurt (and yes, it could really help) to verbalize some of your “opponents” points that you think are good, smart and, or useful. A sincere compliment, or statement of approval and recognition will go a long way towards resolving conflict.

In Part 3 of this series, we’ll examine the five conflict styles that help people understand their own responses as well as diffuse conflict with others. Specifically, we’ll look at the five conflict styles that Kenneth W. Thomas and Ralph H. Kilmann identified and can be assessed in the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), a globally accepted, widely used diagnostic assessment for resolving conflict.

Understanding the subtleties of conflict and personality styles goes a long way towards elevating an organization’s harmony and effectiveness. At Merit, we frequently facilitate multiple Conflict Management training sessions for our clients where we adjust the level of detail to group (i.e., customer service reps, new managers, and the senior team.) For more information, please contact Jim Wynne at jwynne@meritcd.com or call 610-225-0449.

For a good portion of my career, I thrived on being a marketer. From my early days as a market researcher, an account manager, and eventually an agency executive, I loved the strategy and process of creating great concepts with compelling messaging that influenced buyers’ behavior. Managing a creative team, a client team, or corporate team, is sometimes burdened with conflict. Handling conflict was not my favorite part of the job, ever!

I aspired to broaden my career and went back to school for a Masters in Leadership Development about 12 years ago. Through a confluence of introductions, opportunities and also being an adjunct instructor at Drexel University, I joined one of my cohort’s businesses, Merit Career Development. Initially, I began helping them with a new branding initiative, but in an “Ah Ha” moment we realized that I’d likely be a strong trainer for Merit, too. We were right. I have been running corporate trainings for Merit now for five years and I love it! But here’s the surprise: one of my favorite courses to facilitate, is Conflict Management (followed closely by Critical Thinking & Decision-Making.)

Why do I now enjoy talking about managing conflict? Because it makes sense to me now! And I also realize how much value it provides in driving better ideas and solutions. If we didn’t have conflict, and we all agreed on everything, we would live in a pretty boring, uni-dimensional world. How could we effectively cultivate new ideas or innovation without conflict?! It would be much tougher! The process of resolving conflict is very important, as well. It helps build and strengthen relationships, trust, and influences the development of new solutions to the challenges we face every day.

How Do We Make Conflict Good and Useful?

Ultimately, it comes down to three important things:

1. Being respectful towards the person or people who have a different opinion.
2. Opening yourself to hearing another perspective (opinion, solution, recommendation, etc.)
3. Taking the time to truly understand the other opinion

Learning to listen and take the perspective of the person you are in conflict with, or reframing your perspective, as we discuss in the Critical Thinking course, is extremely helpful. It can be enlightening. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and give their idea a chance to be a winner to best understand the opportunities that may exist.

The results of working through conflict can be similar to a great brainstorming session; not all ideas are good or practical, but they often result in a better idea emerging through conversation and compromise. When this happens, the best part is that there is not one winner and one loser; everyone is a winner and feels ownership in the solution.

Good luck with conflict. Embrace it and become a better person by managing it with respect. You just may like the outcome!

Look for Part 2 of this series next month where we’ll share proven tips for recognizing different conflict styles and how to most effectively respond to them.

To learn more about the author, Gail Cooperman, or the workshops she teaches, click here. If you would like to bring any of our trainings to your location, please contact Jim Wynne at jwynne@meritcd.com or call 610-225-0449.

We all know that kids are pretty smart these days; just watching my neighbor’s 3-year-old son find Elmo videos on my cell phone makes that clear. But we’d still like to think that as grown-ups, we are brighter, more intelligent and better decision-makers than 6^th graders. But are we? We had the opportunity recently, to conduct a project management experiment with a 6^th grade class and, well, we were in for quite a surprise.

For more than 15 years, Merit Career Development has trained thousands of individuals to help them improve their project management (PM) skills. In 2010, we incorporated SimulTrain®, a computer-based, online simulation tool, into all of our PM workshops whether it is a one-, two- or five-day program. SimulTrain always provides an engaging, hands-on, and fun learning experience that significantly boosts skill retention. Essentially, adults; PMs, nurses, accountants or other professionals who want to master these skills, really appreciate this program! But 6^th graders??

Through a confluence of circumstances, that began with an invitation from the Keystone PMI Education Foundation Coordinator, Mr. Myles Miller, and the Keystone Chapter of the Project Management Institute, we supported a pilot with 6th graders at the Eyer Middle School in Pennsylvania’s North Penn School District. The parents and students were quite interested in learning the life skill of project management. While some of us were doubtful that our workplace-related program would resonate with these young students, we had enough people willing to give this a try that we scheduled the program. (You can see SimulTrain in action with adults.)

For several weeks before the competition, Myles instructed the students about PM fundamentals and common workplace terminology. When the big day arrived, the students formed teams of four and competed for the best scores throughout the event. In addition to Merit bringing the technology and leadership to the school (the same that is provided for adults), Buckeye Pipeline and the PMI Keystone Chapter sponsored this program, providing the funding for food, t-shirts and trophies for the students.

John Juzbasich, Merit’s CEO, facilitated the SimulTrain “competition”, and confirmed that he ran this program the same way he does for the adults. He provided an overview of the simulator screens, the project at hand — in this case planning a soccer event — timed intervals for the program, and review periods. Scoring took place throughout the competition.

We were amazed at how well the students grasped the technology, the project management concepts and the “game” overall. They did really well and seemed energized, enthused and anxious to play this again. When looking at their scores in each category, we saw that the students performed roughly on par with most of the adults who’ve participated. John Juzbasich insisted that he did not adjust the pace or in any way, make it easier for the kids than the adult version we regularly deliver. Don’t just take my word, so please click through to these short videos and see for yourself.

The simulation project management competition also generated interest from many families whose children did not have the opportunity to participate the first time this was held, prompting a follow up event scheduled for Spring, 2017. Because the interest is so high, the school is planning to make SimulTrain a regular part of the Eyer Middle School curriculum. A number of universities are also interested in adding project management with simulation to their curriculum. The University of Scranton recently held a competition among their engineering students. There is a similar day scheduled at Lehigh University next month.

Everyone benefits by learning project management skills for school, work and life planning. If you want to expose your child or yourself to SimulTrain, the best project management learning program available, contact Jim Wynne at 610-225-0449 or jwynne@meritcd.com.

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) asks the Chief Executive Officer (CEO): “What if we spend time and money training our employees and they leave the company?”

The CEO responds: “What if we don’t and they stay?”

Taking time and resources to train your personnel is often looked at as a necessary evil. Training employees takes them away from their day-to-day tasks and the cost will be reflected on the bottom line. Adding to the challenge of supporting training, is the uncertainty of the return-on-investment at both an individual and organizational productivity level.

As an executive who is considering training your team, the most important question you should ask is not: Should I train my team? but rather: What method of training should I use? Different training methods result in varying levels of content retention. Of course you want to ensure that your organization achieves the greatest value from training, so relevant content as well as deploying the use of experiential learning techniques should both be priorities.

As the image to the left illustrates, participatory learning, especially using simulation for practice, provides the highest level of retention for training, second only to “teaching others.”

What is simulation-based learning? It is an instructor-guided, interactive learning environment that replicates an actual business, technical, or educational challenge. It permits the learners to practice resolving issues in a relatively worry-free atmosphere. Not only is it authentic and relevant to the learners’ work, but it provides a safe environment to learn; mistakes won’t result in costly repercussions. It’s ideal to spur on innovation, too, because it allows for creative problem solving.

Simulation-based learning is the most effective technique for developing every professionals’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes, whilst protecting the organization from unnecessary risks. It is useful in resolving practical dilemmas, and provides four real-time benefits.

1. EXPERIENTIAL & REPETITIVE LEARNING. While in traditional lecture-based training, the desired outcome is merely explained; in simulation learning, individuals achieve an outcome from first-hand experience. Adults, like most people, learn better through experience. In the simulation, individuals have the opportunity for repetitive practice, which helps increases retention.


2. KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATION. A key facet of any learning is that understanding is increased when it is linked to some already known piece of knowledge. Simulation-based learning, because of its participatory nature, has the added benefit of being able to psychologically link concepts and allow participants to link knowledge areas through their actions.


3. RISK-FREE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. Regardless of our attitude, learning research validates that we learn by making mistakes. In fact, they are invaluable to the participant. If executive decision makers can participate in relevant and realistic simulations, they can safely make mistakes, learn from them, and promptly apply their learned knowledge to their real work challenges, avoiding costly mistakes or unintended consequences.


4. ABILITY TO ADJUST THE LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY. The technology provided in most simulation-based learning tools are designed to allow the difficulty level to increase as the competency of the individuals and teams improve. This provides additional flexibility and continual learning opportunities for a varied level of experienced personnel.

Simulation-based learning is the most effective learning technique for both your employees and your organization. Your training dollars are better invested with simulation training because of higher learning retention. Further, because your team will practice with relevant and practical scenarios, the potential for catastrophic mistakes is mitigated.

If you’re looking for a relevant, engaging interactive learning environment with simulation, call Merit and ask about our SimulTrain^® project management training experience. Contact Jim Wynne at jwynne@meritcd.com or call him at 610-225-0449.