For any L&D project, Need Analysis is a must. You will not want to put yourself in a situation wherein you end up creating a solution for something that didn't even require one on the first go.

Need Analysis aims to help you verify your set business goals, the areas that require training, and the skillsets required to achieve the goals.

Before you start working on any project development, the first step is to analyze its related content. You need to analyze the need for the project, the target audience for whom the project is to be developed, and the tasks and topics that should provide as building blocks for the success of the project.

We, at The Learning Palette, follow a systematic course of action to ensure our clients are provided with effective quality training.

Need Analysis is conducted at the beginning of any development project. It helps determine the requirement of the project by analyzing the gap between the current set of skills that your employees hold and the desired set of skills that you want your employees to have, and thereafter provide the best solution.

As to why Need Analysis should be performed?

You will be sure that the decided solution will meet the business goals, while prioritizing amongst the various training solutions. Need Analysis will help you recognize the right set of employees for particular training. The provided training sessions will be engaging and meaningful and will lead to an increase in employee efficiency. Your employees will hold a new and improved set of skills when they get back to work after the training, which will help your company evolve significantly.

If you think that Need Analysis will be a time-crunching process and can be done without, you're missing out on the point here. Here is how a Need Analysis is performed. This will help you understand the process better and decide why it is so essential to perform a Need Analysis.

Discuss the Business Goals

The first step in the Need Analysis process is to discuss the business goals. These goals may be business-wide or they may pertain to specific departments. This step helps us get a better understanding of you, your company, and your expectations so that we can meet them with the best solution. It also provides you with an idea of how we work, whether we're on the same page as you, and if you agree with our recommendations and solutions. This step helps get rid of any discrepancies in the project plan while building trust between your organization and us. 

2.       Recognize the Required Skills

Now that we know the set business goals, the next step is to recognize the skills required to meet the goals. We will need to pin down the areas affected by the goal and identify the missing skills or inclusion of a new skillset to meet the required goals. 

3.       Evaluate the Current Skillset of your Organization

On the other hand, we also need to know the current skillset held by the employees of the concerned departments. We can look at the past records, meet with managers, and hold discussions to determine the current skill set of the organization. 

4.       Identify Knowledge Gaps

With the last two steps, we can attain information on what current employees do and what they are expected to do. With the comparison between the two, we can identify the missing skillset or knowledge gaps and, thereafter, provide the training solution best suited for your organization. 

5.       Plan your Training Solution

This is the last step of the Need Analysis process, we have identified the needed solutions, and now is the time to plan them. Under this step, we plan and prioritize the training solutions. Some solutions may be to level up an existing skill or it may be an introduction to a new skill set altogether. Prioritizing is necessary for better results. Once prioritized, deadlines for each training solution are set and a project plan is created.

At The Learning Palette, we follow the Map It Strategy by Cathy Moore, which is a streamlined approach to business training solutions. It focuses on performance more than information. With this, we aim to help you with the most suitable training solutions based on your needs.

Need Analysis includes three major analysis procedures:

·       Stakeholder Analysis

With Stakeholder Analysis, we propose to present the stakeholders with what is required, by consulting with them. A question-and-answer session with all the probabilities on the table will help us understand what the stakeholder wants and with that, we will be able to recognize and suggest what their organization may need. Stakeholder Analysis will help identify stakeholder wants, expected outcomes, target audience, and the point of measuring success.

·       Target Audience Analysis

You want to provide your learner with the best learning experience and for that, we need to know our target audience. We need to know which type of learning experience best suits them. Knowing about the work-life of the target audience helps us understand the availability of tools and technology that can be used by the learner. We need to identify the related time constraints as well. The most important thing to identify is how the target audience would like to learn. All of this can be achieved with Target Audience Analysis.

·       Task and Job Analysis

Task and Job Analysis is performed to identify the relevant content for the training solution. It helps pen down the learning objectives and training structure for the solution. Task and Job Analysis helps identify the job tasks that the employees may be required to perform in addition to their current job profile.

The Need Analysis process has benefits that can be enumerated as:

·       Identify the Problem Before it's Too Late

Need Analysis helps identify problems that may have not yet surfaced but may pose to be a problem in the future. Once such problems are identified through knowledge gaps, they can be treated on time without any delay or significant impacts.

·       Recognize Unidentified Areas of Training

While doing our research for the discussed areas of training, we may be able to identify areas that may have not been considered earlier but may need attention. Through Need Analysis, we can discover significant areas that may have hindered your organization's working in the future.

·       Makes sure you are working in the Right Areas

Sometimes, you may feel that an area requires up-gradation of skill but it may not be the case. Through Need Analysis, you will be able to save both time and money by recognizing areas that do not need further training.

·       Identify the Right People for the Training

Identifying the right set of employees for a particular training solution is essential. You do not require all your employees to undergo every training session. This may lead to a significant waste of time and effort for both the employees and your organization. A target audience should be identified for each training solution for best results and you can do this with Need Analysis.

·       Prioritize Needs

Your organization may need several training solutions to meet the desired goals but all of them cannot be met at the same time. You need to prioritize which training solutions should be taken care of first and which ones can be kept for later. Need Analysis will help you identify the current needs and the training solutions that should be prioritized accordingly.

Here is a bonus Need Analysis Questionnaire for you: