First Things Fast: A Handbook for Performance Analysis

This thorougly revised classic provides guidelines for HR and Training professional on how to quickly determine performance needs before investing precious time and resources. When trainers, consultants, and problem-solvers need to figure out what's wrong with an organization—and they need a solution fast—they need this book.

The world of learning and performance has changed significantly since the first edition of First Things Fast was published more than a decade ago. This thoroughly revised and updated second edition of the best-selling classic recognizes a world chock-full of technology, economic strains, and opportunities. How do learning and performance professionals plan in this shifting context? How do they take advantage of new human and Internet-based resources? How do they bring their recommendations forward and add more value, no matter where they work? These questions are addressed throughout this new edition.

This important resource is a practical guide that is filled with job aids, design templates, and examples offering step-by-step guidance to the basics of performance analysis.

This new edition includes:

• New questions and templates that reflect the shift of learning and support from the classroom to the workplace, and the blends that provide learning and support in both environments
• Fresh approaches for using wikis, blogs, and online surveys to gather information
• Innovative ideas for tapping into the power of social networking and the possibilities presented for analysts
• Information on the critical link between analysis and evaluation and new guidelines for both activities
• A wealth of new illustrative case examples
• Insightful commentaries from successful leaders in the field who explain how they use analysis to advance individual and organizational strategy

"Allison Rossett combines thought leadership for the profession with practical guidance. This book, the second edition of a classic in the field, is filled with proven practices and ready-to-use tools making this a resource you'll use frequently." -Dana Gaines Robinson, Coauthor, Performance Consulting ANDSTRATEGIC BUSINESS PARTNER

"What I appreciate about this book is that it is a straightforward, practical guide to planning, and it embraces new technology and the convergence of learning and work." -Nancy J. Lewis, Vice President and Chief Learning Officer, ITT Corporation

Allison Rossett is a professor of educational technology at San Diego State University and a consultant in workforce learning and performance and technology-based systems. She is the author of the best-selling Handbook of Job Aids (Pfeiffer) and Beyond the Podium (Pfeiffer), both of which are winners of the International Society for Performance Improvement's Instructional Communications award.