How productive is your training? The obvious answer might be: 'More productive than not training'. The chances are that it's like advertising - 50% is ineffective but you don't know which 50%. In a world of knowledge workers, with knowledge constantly changing can you afford not to train?

So what is training?
It is the process whereby knowledge is shared - inefficiently. The inefficiencies arise in four forms.

• First, reliance is placed upon people's memories. Course attendees carry away notes which go in the cupboard and a few retained topics that fade with time.
• Second, and related to the first, how much knowledge is retained after lunch. Frequent breaks are used to try and keep the class awake but how attentive they are is open to question.
• Third. think of the process whereby an attempt is being made to get a point across.
  Some of the audience may not understand the point. Obviously there is the need to ask a question. This is, however, more difficult than it seems.
  To ask a question involves taking a risk. The individual has little way of knowing, at that immediate point in time , whether it is their lack of understanding or the instructor's lack of presentation that is causing the problem. Also, it is possible the point may be covered in greater depth later on. Either way the individual has to balance their need against their potential embarrassment.
  Whilst they're doing this they are not paying attention. With the Good2use knowledge process, the individual is in charge of the class. They can ask questions whenever they like without the class rolling ahead without them.
• Finally, if any of the class find the imparted knowledge incomplete or poorly explained when back at the sharp-end there is usually little or no way of feeding that back.

In many ways it is a Catch-22. The best time to attend course is once you're knowledgeable enough not to need the course.
By having the course notes as a knowledge base, augmented by 'students' as they use the knowledge base. These problems are solved.
Those parts of the knowledge base which grow solve the question as to which knowledge is useful. It isn't necessary to rely upon fuzzy memory. And if you don't understand something when it matters you can ask.