This includes regular meetings during the year (POAs); exceptional meetings (launch); and face-to-face training events (including initial sales training).

We’re a long way into the era of none-too-glamorous e-learning apps, and basic webcasts are a commodity and a yawner. But now we’re moving into a time when internet access is increasingly everywhere, wireless, and fast; when laptops and iPads are video-equipped; when mobile devices break down barriers to access.

Many of my clients are exploring new-generation virtual learning strategies, such as two-way video virtual classrooms and the like. We’re also going to need to move into some interesting digital design work – technology that serves up our content in more dynamic and user-friendly fashion.

What is your company trying out, or looking into? Let’s talk about emerging approaches and new best practices – I’m happy to sit down with you and dialogue about what I’m seeing in the industry at large, and how your strategic plans may unfold in the future.

You can easily reach me via e-mail (stevew at impactiviti dot com) or phone (973-947-7429). Or video Skype if you prefer (I sure do – my handle there is stevewoodruff).

And, here are a few freshly-posted job openings (training) for you to consider:

National Sales Trainer, Daiichi Sankyo, NJ

Director/Sr. Director of Training, Aveo, Boston

Director, Knowledge Mgmt and Training, Amerisource Bergen, Chicagoland

Senior Manager, Commercial Training, Seattle Genetics, WA

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:: Are Walnuts now Drugs? Ask the FDA! (Nanny state alert)

:: Made-up Disease (YouTube)

UPDATE: Some more jobs that have been posted in the past week or so, in addition to the original list!

Director, Global Training and Development, Customer Management, J&J (NJ)

Sales Trainer, Stryker, NJ

Manager, Sales Training and Development, Eisai (NJ)

Manager, Sales Training, Aptalis (NJ)

Director/Sr Director, Commercial Training and Development, Regeneron (NY)

Dir, Global Sales Training and Development, Alexion (CT)

Sales Training and Program Mgr – Becton, Dickinson (Baltimore)

Assistant Skills Development, Sales and Marketing Director, Astellas (Chicago)

Dir, Sr Global Quality and Compliance Training, Allergan (CA)

It’s been a rough year for trainers, but it seems like the job opening spigot is beginning to open as we approach the end of 2011.

Here’s a list of some fresh opening for you to explore (Impactiviti has no further information or “inside track” on these listings – they’re posted here as a service to the Impactiviti network):

Training Manager, Specialty Products, Eisai (NJ)

Sales Training Specialist, Otsuka (NJ)

Associate Sales Training Director, Shire (PA)

Associate Director, Managed Markets Training, B-I (CT)

Assistant Director, Oncology Sales Training, Astellas (Chicago)

Corporate Medical Sales Trainer, Recruiter (Chicago)

National Sales Training Manager, Allergan (CA)

Director, Sales Training and Development, Somaxon (CA)

Brand Trainer, Genentech (CA)

Sales Training Consultant, Avanir (CA)

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I’ve been spending a lot of my time lately with clients and partners working on digital strategies, including multi-year blueprints, next-generation platforms, and development approaches. It can be quite complex – and I live/love this stuff! For someone with a day job in pharma training, sales, and marketing, it’s difficult to take a long-term strategic view of our rapidly-moving technology environment and formulate a clear digital strategy.

Yet we must.

Pulling back the veil a bit from the image of these huge, money-generating global pharmaceutical companies, what you see behind the firewall is, in the vast majority of cases, a digital mess. This mainly because of what I call Wandering Accretion Syndrome (WAS) – the adding together of multiple systems and platforms duct-taped together over time with very little overall architectural design.

This means a jumble on the back-end, AND an interface and usability jumble on the front-end for users in the field and home office. It’s not pretty.

With the rapid adoption of iPads, the growing acceptance of video solutions, and the typically slow-moving reaction time of internal IT depts. (which now also have to interact with a growing variety of hosted and cloud-based solutions), you have an INCREASED need for a strategic blueprint. It all starts with a 30,000 foot view of business goals and plans, joined to a realistic understanding of the A –> B shift that needs to occur, and a synthesis of multiple avenues of needs into a plan that will accomplish the most effect with the least pain and overlap.

A digital strategy is, in reality, simply part of a business strategy. Nothing more, nothing less.

The adoption of iPads, or other game-changing initiatives, provides a unique opportunity to pursue a well-thought-out digital makeover strategy. I hope a lot of my clients will pursue that open door. The alternative is perpetuating an environment of one-off apps and systems – just running on a new tablet. That would be a lost opportunity for digital success.

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The interrupt-driven model of having drug reps come to doctors’ offices for fewer and fewer minutes of discussion, plus dropping off of samples, is rapidly losing market favor. It’s costly and increasingly inefficient for the drug companies, and it fills offices with non-paying people jockeying for time and attention in a marketplace where both are scarce.

So is there a better way? The industry is experimenting – with things like e-detailing and the like. And healthcare professionals are experimenting – for instance, many of them are simply barring reps from the premises.

Hmmm….

One start-up (contract sales) services company that I’ve been talking to has an interesting model – make the process doctor-driven. The (contract) reps are called in by the doctor’s office when needed for drug sample replenishment, and they are not there to sell, but to drop off samples and acquire an e-signature (tablet). The tablet also has software that the doctor pages through to request more information, set up an appointment with a trained sales rep, schedule and e-detail, contact a Medical Affairs person, etc.

I could see this approach having value for drugs that are near the end of their patent cycle, when promotional efforts are going to be scaled back, but a drug manufacturer still wants to have a presence in the marketplace. There may be other places for a contract services approach like this as well. But the major point is, all contact is driven by the healthcare professional. And there is potentially a big gain in efficiency – highly-trained reps are not idling away time hoping and praying to see 8 docs a day for a few milliseconds each.

What do you think? Does this have value? Serious drawbacks? Let me know your thoughts! (stevew at impactiviti.com)

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When covering these events, I tend to give immediate, real-time impressions and factoids via my @Impactiviti twitter account, then after a few days reflection, write up a blog post giving higher-level observations and thoughts. This post is that!

1. The Mobile Bandwagon – The exhibit hall was filled with companies showing off mobile tech, and one entire extra conference day was dedicated to mobile. As well it should be – mobile is rapidly becoming the new normal. Frighteningly, we saw plenty of statistics showing how woefully behind the 8-ball many pharma (and other) companies are in having even their basic web sites mobile-optimized – let alone having a well-thought out mobile strategy. The awareness that mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) are rapidly moving into first-screen status simply has not sunk into the place where practical implementation is being done. That will change!! (note to pharma clients and vendors – this is the lowest-hanging fruit imaginable).

2. Mobile is huge – The adoption rate of mobile devices among doctors (especially iPhones and iPads) is breathtaking. These devices are being integrated increasingly into the healthcare delivery chain. Pharma companies are (or should be) looking for ways to add value and provide service outside of merely peddling drugs. Get some innovative thinkers working on mobile approaches – not mere e-detailing or e-signature apps, but whole new ways of providing information and connectivity among patients, healthcare professionals, and industry. This will happen and is happening via mobile – be part of it or be left out of the equation (hint: you don’t want to do that).

3. Compliance and mobile – Not only is mobile-optimization a far easier task to tackle than thorny culture-shift issues like social media, but it may even become a regulatory issue. Did you know that information optimized for a standard website may not show up properly on a mobile device? It’s not hard to foresee a time in the near future when digital information presentation has to be vetted for fair balance, accuracy, etc. across platforms.

4. Sales forces are going to go mobile. And, most exciting to me, I’ve been in contact with a company that reached out to me after I wrote this post in August about having an intelligent “middle layer” engine to make sense of iPad apps/deployments in pharma. They showed me last week what they’ve developed, and I am very encouraged…if you’re looking at deploying iPads to the field, we should talk! Maybe we can keep you from the iPad “freaking mess” I described in that post…

OK, have I made my point? MOBILE IS HUGE! Now, we did discuss many other digital initiatives at the conference, including social media and the like, but I really want to highlight the lowest-hanging fruit that will have the most near-term impact. And that’s mobile. Mobile is not simply “another channel.” It’s the new normal.

Now, onto two other observations – categorize these under “soapbox ramblings”:

- A lot of folks still don’t effectively engage the audience when presenting. We really need to improve. Please read this post and apply as needed. I know we can do better. Some of the presenters, however, were outstanding (including Olivier Zitoun, Aaron Blackledge, and Seth Perlman – I’m sure there were others but I couldn’t be in every track!)

- As these conferences get larger, it’s increasingly difficult to foster an environment of open sharing and discussion. I did lead one “unconference” session, which was quite lively (and could have gone on for much longer – we were just getting warmed up!). Over the past 18 months, I fear that we’re starting to slip back in our more cutting-edge pharma events into the old default mode of up-front presenter and passive audience. We’ve got to pro-actively design sessions to maximize engagement way beyond the old, “I think we have 5 minutes left for questions…” mode.

Oh, and for those who care about such things: Shwen Gwee and I finally found our Texas-style BBQ “home” in Philly. It’s called Percy Street BBQ. Highly recommended!

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Each major step forward feels like magic.

This week, Apple releases the iPhone 4S, and the most exciting aspect of this iteration in my mind is the voice recognition technology called Siri <— (great NY Times article by David Pogue – I urge you to read it). We are (finally!) moving solidly into the era where we start shedding the very unnatural interfaces of command lines, QWERTY keyboards, and mouse clicks, and begin (as Gene Roddenberry foresaw in Star Trek The Next Generation) using touch and voice – the way humans are meant to communicate.

What does this mean for us in pharma land? Well, the changes will be revolutionary over the coming 5 years, but let’s focus on one thing that concerns the training world – performance support out in the field.

Imagine employees being able to talk to their digital communication devices and retrieve needed clinical information, product specs, news, supporting videos, updated data streams – all on-the-spot and on-the-fly. Pipe dream? No – we have a lot of the raw capability already in our digitally networked environment; what we’re lacking is the intuitive interface and robust connectivity to bring it all together at the point of need.

And we’re almost there. iPads, Siri, Wi-Fi, intelligent search – you can see all the ingredients converging. And Apple has done more than any other company to stir in the magic sauce – intuitive user design that works.

Training is going to look very, very different in 2016. This is a great time to be along for the disruptive and magical ride!

I spend time with e-patients and the question is, “How can we change the world?”

Big difference.

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Today, we give some concrete guidance on helping avoid this unfortunate behavior.

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Here are seven ways to increase your chances of articulating training impact for success:

1.  Have Solid Learning Objectives. Writing out the learning objectives ahead of time and stating them to your stakeholders helps keep the conversation on track when you feel like it’s being derailed.

2.  Provide Visual Support. A one-page overview or chart with the learning objectives and linked solutions demonstrates you have thought out the plan and have a comprehensive learning solution. For example, the following might help in articulating impact with Sharon:

When Sharon asks you to ‘cut it down’, you can use a visual like this to demonstrate how removing one or more of these learning solutions will compromise the end goal. For example, if you remove part 3, then the representatives may be able to sell using the studies but may not come across to customers as being clinically oriented if they can’t communicate the impact of new treatment guidelines. If you remove part 4, you also remove the additional ‘positive pressure’ of a certification and subsequently some of the accountability of the learners. You also can’t measure the end result at that time.  For even more impact, add a third column with the amount of time it will take each activity to run.

3.  Shift versus cut. Sometimes Sharon agrees with you, but there really is a time constraint during a live meeting. Instead of cutting down the workshop, you could shift the certification to happen in the field post the live meeting. The impact is still positive, because you give the representatives more time to practice and internalize what they learned. The manager can then administer the certification during the next field visit and give personalized feedback in a one-on-one setting. Another way to shift is by moving some of the up-front workshop parts to be conducted via web or teleconference before arrival at the meeting. Then, the live workshop time stays protected while the learners still get what they need.

4.  Provide options. While preparing for the discussion with Sharon, try to anticipate her reaction to the best case solution and prepare one or two alternate options to present. Make a list of the pros and cons to each, considering cost, time to develop, impact on the learner (less vs. more time off territory) because sometimes your best case solution isn’t possible due to time, travel, or money restrictions. By preparing options, you have already thought through how to address the possible shift in resources without compromising the impact. You might choose to present all your options up front, and then recommend one of them. This positions you as a trusted business advisor who is preparing the stakeholder to make an informed choice.

5.  Practice. Communication skills are probably what helped get you to the role you are in now, so hone those skills by doing a few run-throughs for the presentation or discussion. Review your plans, anticipate the questions, and most importantly, practice talking through the pros and cons of each. Get a trusted audience or run by the solutions with other team members who know the person well. Oftentimes they think of additional aspects you may have missed.

6.  Get support and tag team. If you are the new trainer, get your supervisor or an experienced trainer to accompany you for backup. If you are the leader with a team member going to a presentation like this, don’t let them fly solo. Discuss ahead of time how you can collaborate and participate – maybe they would like you to handle communicating the cons to some of the options while they handle the pros.

7.  Project confidence. You can be the most prepared with the knowledge of the plans and the details, but if you exude confidence throughout the conversation, the positive impact can be huge. This may be easier said than done, since some of our stakeholders tend to hold higher level positions than us and can be intimidating. I’m always shocked to learn how trainers seem to believe they don’t have the right to be confident in front of a higher level stakeholder. As long as you have confidence with respect, it doesn’t matter what the title on their business card states. In fact, credibility points can be earned when you clearly state positive or negative impact, because it comes across as believing what you are stating is the right thing to do for the business.

Why is it so important to effectively state the impact of our solutions? On the downside, not doing so can mean a partial solution with inconsistent results, and that’s when training gets blamed. At the end of the day, if we agree to a partial solution we are the ones held accountable for the results. On the upside, stating the impact effectively can mean achieving the desired outcomes and success.

So, the question is – what do you do to articulate impact?

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Today, part 1 sets up the issue. Next week, part 2 gives some concrete guidance on helping avoid this unfortunate behavior.

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Picture this:  ‘Sharon’, a sales leader in your organization, has told you ‘the reps can’t sell clinically. Can you put together some training on this?’ (sound familiar?) Sure you can! You reach out to key stakeholders, conduct a needs assessment and confirm that the representatives do, in fact, need some help in this area. You then work with your learning team to construct a proposal consisting of pre-work and an assessment, a live 1/2 day workshop, concluding with a certification by the managers. You are proud of this proposal because it is thorough and meets the objective to improve the reps’ knowledge and skill in this area.

You are excited to share the proposal with Sharon. After presenting the plan, Sharon is excited too. She says, ‘This is great! Cut it down to a 90 minute workshop and we’ll roll it out at the next sales meeting.’ You cringe when you hear this last part – and you have heard this before, right?

You know that it is not the right thing to do, but in the moment you can’t express all the reasons why. If you could find the words to explain, how do you do it without damaging the relationship with Sharon, or losing credibility as a learning leader? I’ve witnessed both inexperienced trainers and seasoned learning professionals make the mistake of simply replying ‘sure, we can cut it down’, only to regret it later. I cringe when I think about the times when I have also uttered these words.

Why do we sometimes answer this way when we know we shouldn’t? For the inexperienced or new trainer, it is often a lack of understanding about the impact of this response. They don’t necessarily realize that ‘cutting it down’ also means reducing the chance of meeting the learning objectives, which is the reason why you are doing the training in the first place. For the seasoned learning professional, the motivation could be to keep Sharon happy and give her what she wants, because they are looking to secure a spot on Sharon’s team in the future (feel free to insert ‘Mike the marketer’ in place of ‘Sharon the sales leader’). It may simply be an ‘eager to please’ or conflict avoidance mentality that many of us have. After all, we are in the business of helping people to succeed in their roles, so it can be difficult to push back.

The solution to responding is being able to effectively articulate the impact. This means not only articulating the downside of doing it wrong, but communicating the upside of doing it right. Sharon came to you for a solution.  Unless Sharon has spent time in a learning role longer than 2 years, it’s unlikely she realizes the impact of shortening the learning plan.

There are some best practices that can help you to articulate impact for success. First and foremost planning ahead is paramount. In this scenario, planning ahead means in addition to doing an appropriate needs analysis, you need to be able to articulate a clear picture of the outcome desired as well as how to get there. Next week we’ll look at some practical ways to successfully articulate impact.

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