The Minds in Action

Job Task Analysis Workshop

The relevance of your training program is critical to its success.  Your training program must help students develop skills that are relevant to their jobs and allow them to apply the learned skills immediately!  Your training program must deliver the right skills, at the right level, to the right audience at the right time.  By conducting the Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop, you create educational objectives that ensure your training program provides value to your students and your organization.

The Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop serves as the foundation of a successful training program.  The Job Task Analysis Workshop allows you to fully analyze the responsibilities of individuals in a specific job role quickly and effectively.  During a four-day workshop, participants will validate your job role description, identify the tasks performed by an individual in the job role, map the "best practices" processes used to complete these tasks, and identify critical tasks and skill gaps.  Led by an experienced Minds in Action facilitator, workshop participants will then define the level of competence required to successfully perform the job and develop the specific knowledge, skill, and attitudinal objectives that will serve as the foundation of your training program.  In only four days, you will have a complete and relevant set of objectives that will be used to craft a valid and relevant training curriculum.

The Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop is a proven methodology that has been used to create over 60 certification exams and training programs.  The creator of the Job Task Analysis Workshop, Ray Talke, is a recognized expert on Job Task Analysis techniques and has been invited to speak about the topic at many professional conferences, including Results 2001 and the Association of Test Publishers 2002 conference, Computer-Based Testing: Assessment at Your Fingertips.  The Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop is the only methodology that can validly define the full knowledge and skills domain of an individual in a specific job role in only four days!

Overview:

The Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop is a four-day workshop facilitated by an experienced Minds in Action facilitator.  The workshop is composed of 12 to 21 job incumbents (individuals actually performing the job that is the subject of the Job Task Analysis Workshop) and subject matter experts (individuals who possess unique organizational knowledge or have a stake in the success of the job being analyzed) who will perform a thorough analysis of the specified job role using processes and guidance provided by the Minds in Action facilitator.  During the Job Task Analysis Workshop, participants will perform the following activities:

	Validate the job role definition and revise, if necessary.
	Identify the tasks performed by an individual in the specified job role.
	Map the "best practices" processes used by individuals in the job role when completing the identified tasks.
	Determine the standards for successful completion of the task by individuals in the specified job role.
	Identify critical tasks within the process maps.
	Identify skill gaps that affect typical individuals in the job role.
	Create a terminal objective for each task, identifying the task to be performed, the environment or conditions under which the task is performed, and the standards used to evaluate mastery of the task.
	Create enabling objectives for each of the tasks, identifying the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to master the task.
	Create the criteria used to assess competence in the job role.

Following the Job Task Analysis Workshop, Minds in Action will create and deliver a document detailing the results of the Job Task Analysis Workshop.  You are then ready to create a valid and relevant Professional Certification assessment, test or learning curriculum.

Purpose:

The Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop is a critical component in the development of any successful Professional Certification Program or educational curriculum.  The Job Task Analysis Workshop may be used for:

Curriculum and Course Development.  It is essential that courses delivered to adults help them develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are relevant to their jobs and can be applied immediately. 

The terminal objectives defined in the Job Task Analysis are designed to anchor a learning unit.  The terminal objective defines the task to be performed, the environment or conditions under which the task is performed, and the level of competence expected of the individual when he or she completes the learning unit.

The enabling objectives, defining the actual knowledge, skills, and attitudes the learner must master to complete the task, form the foundation of individual lessons within a learning unit.  By constructing lessons to address each of the enabling objectives, the course developer can ensure that the learner will be able to master the task to the level of competence defined in the terminal objective.

The "best practices" process maps defined during the Job Task Analysis Workshop provide much of the content that should be included in the lessons.  Critical tasks, likely skill gaps, and the objectives that address them are identified in the process maps.  Course developers will enhance the relevancy of their course materials by referring to these process maps as they develop courseware.

And most important, a curriculum built from the Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop will allow your  learners to develop the skills needed to be successful in their jobs.  Skills developed during training will be relevant to your learner's needs, and because critical tasks and skill gaps are developed during the Job Task Analysis Workshop, your learners won't have to waste their time wading through irrelevant information.  Your training programs will allow your learners to develop the skills they need, when they need them.

Professional Certification Program Development.  The most critical factor affecting the acceptance and success of a Professional Certification Program is the perception of how effectively the certification program validates relevant skills that are used on the job.  The Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop ensures that your Professional Certification Program targets the appropriate audience and that your certification tests and assessments are appropriate measures of an individual's skills.

During the Job Task Analysis Workshop, participants will validate the job role description provided by the sponsor of the Professional Certification Program.  This ensures that your program is targeted to the appropriate audience.

Participants in the workshop will identify the tasks performed by a certified individual on the job and map the "best practices" processes required to complete these tasks.  The criteria required to successfully complete each task will be defined, allowing you to create certification test and assessment items at the appropriate level.  This portion of the Job Task Analysis Workshop ensures that your Professional Certification Program is developed to assess the performance of relevant tasks that are actually used on the  job.

A valid Professional Certification Program test or assessment is designed to determine if an individual is qualified to hold the certification credential or less than qualified.  It is critical that your tests and assessments discriminate between qualified and less than qualified individuals.  During the Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop, participants will identify the tasks most critical to success on the job and skill gaps that affect typical individuals on the job.  This allows you to craft an effective test or assessment that evaluates the most important components of success on the job and omits the evaluation of superfluous information that is irrelevant to determining success on the job.

Certification test questions must be written to objectives that validly reflect the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required on the job.  During the Job Task Analysis Workshop, participants will define both terminal and enabling objectives that will be used as the basis of your certification tests and assessments.  Terminal objectives define the task that must be performed, the environment or conditions under which the task is performed, and the conditions that constitute successful completion of the task.  Enabling objectives define the specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes that must be mastered by a certified individual on the job.  Certification test questions written to enabling objectives that support the mastery of the terminal objective serve as valid and relevant predictors of job performance.

A certification test created without a valid Job Task Analysis is like a house built without a foundation - both are destined to collapse.  The Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop provides you with a strong, valid, and relevant foundation on which to build your certification tests and assessments.

Competency Management.  Many organizations are finding it challenging to develop competency management and employee career development frameworks.  As business circumstances change, so do the professional needs of the organization.  Job roles evolve, and new roles emerge.  The Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop clearly defines the requirements, tasks, and competencies required of an individual in a given job role in your organization.  This understanding allows you to recruit the right individuals for the job, develop your staff to take on new responsibilities, and create competency management and career development frameworks.  By doing so, you can ensure that the right people are in the right jobs and that they will be productive contributors to your organization's success!

Process Mapping and Process Reengineering.  Unlock the best practices in your organization!  During the Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop, your participants will define the tasks performed by individuals in a job role and map the processes used to complete these tasks.  This provides you with documentation of the processes used by individuals in your organization.  This information may often be provided to accreditation organizations who require that you develop and document replicatable processes.  If your organization is involved in a process reengineering effort, the process mapping conducted in the Job Task Analysis Workshop can identify process gaps that plague your organization and provide a forum for your subject matter experts to plug these gaps and develop best practices processes.  In addition, the learning and test objectives developed during the Job Task Analysis Workshop provides the foundation for learning and assessment interventions to ensure that the best practices you develop will actually be implemented in your organization!  The Minds in Action Job Task Analysis gives you the power to discover and disseminate the best practices of your organization.

Benefits:

Sponsoring a Minds in Action Job Task Analysis Workshop can provide the following benefits to your organization:

	Valid course and curriculum learning objectives that are relevant to individuals in the targeted job role are created effectively, so that your learning interventions focus on transferring skills that are relevant to the learner and don't waste time by transferring superfluous information that won't be applied on the job.
	Valid Professional Certification Program test and assessment objectives that are relevant to the targeted job role are created quickly and efficiently.
	Job role descriptions and requirements are clearly documented, allowing your organization to more effectively conduct your recruiting and employee development activities.
	Best practices processes are documented, allowing your organization to leverage the skills of your best practitioners across your organization.
	Participants in the Job Task Analysis Workshop gain a feeling of inclusion, and become advocates for the programs developed from the Job Task Analysis Workshop results.
	The Job Task Analysis Workshop allows participants to interact with, and learn from, others in the same profession.
	By including business partners or organization members as participants, your organization builds productive relationships among these individuals.
	By conducting a Job Task Analysis Workshop, your organization is demonstrating its commitment to building a valid and successful Professional Certification Program or training program.

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Last modified: 05/06/07