How Do You Approach a Needs Analysis?

We often don't do formal needs analyses in my group, but we sort of informally/mentally do them as we are interviewing our SMEs during the kickoff phase of our projects. At its simplest, we're asking "What are we asking learners to do?" Focusing on "doing" rather than "knowing" helps us create situations that give learners a chance to practice the skills they are learning, rather than just passively consume facts about them.

When we do perform a more formal needs analysis, an important guiding framework for us is Carl Binder's "Six Boxes" model. It provides a structured way to identify which aspects of a business problem can be usefully solved by training, and which parts would be better solved with non-training solutions. This allows us to recommend a package of solutions, rather than just a training course, because very often what the institution needs is not just another training course--it may need training, but usually also needs help with setting expectations, ensuring tools and resources are available for people to implement what they've learned, and so on. The Six Boxes model structures and categorizes the nature of these other needs.