Training Needs Analysis Questionnaire
Training Needs Analysis Questionnaire
Related Course
If you find this questionnaire interesting, you may wish to look at this Personal Development Training Course
Thank you, Example - below are the results of your Training Needs Analysis Questionnaire.
Do you know the big picture vision of your organisation in terms of the goals for the next one, to three years?
You have an understanding of the direction of the organisation. This allows you to make plans and organise your resources, both of people and materials and to plan ahead in a strategic manner.
Development Action
Although you already have a clear view of the organisational vision and plans you could act now to further refine the big picture into specific projects. Begin to assign deadlines to the major steps and think about who should form the project teams that will achieve them.
Have you a written set of professional standards that you hold yourself to every day, even on the days you do not feel like it?
You said that you have not yet decided exactly your code of conduct and by implication, how you want to be perceived by others and so your daily performance is variable depending on your mood. Your mood is dependent on how things are going and that means your mood is variable and ever changing. This inconsistency is not ideal because people like certainty. Uncertainty is a de-motivation.
Development Action
Because you have not yet decided on your personal standards when dealing with the pressures of life, you might take one hour to sit down alone and write at least twelve sentences in answer to this question: To what personal standards should I hold myself to, every day, in terms of my communication, conduct and mental attitude, every day even on the toughest days?"
Are you a goal-focused individual?
You are goal focused, which allows you to concentrate and make good progress. The mental habit of goal focus is the precondition of successful leadership and so you would do well to play to this strength.
Development Action
You have a sense of goal focus, which should now be put to best use in two ways:
Become more ambitious in selecting your goal. Think bigger. How could you do twice as much in half the time and effort?
Consider how you can communicate your goal to others who need to know. You probably do not work alone. Some people need to know your goal. Make sure you inform those people whose cooperative help you will need.
Do you know what SMART targets are?
You said you do not know how to formulate well written goals that are SPECIFIC, MEASURED, ACHIEVABLE, REALISTIC AND WITH A CLEAR TIME DEADLINE. The danger is your goals amount to wishes that are too vague to be a motivating force.
Development Action
Because you do not know how to formulate well written goals that are SPECIFIC, MEASURED, ACHIEVABLE, REALISTIC AND WITH A CLEAR TIME DEADLINE. The danger is your goals amount to wishes that are too vague to be a motivating force.
Consider taking the following action: Buy a book, or research on the web or enrol on training that will show you the importance of goal setting and explain exactly how to set well formed targets.
Are you able to listen attentively, without interruption to somebody with whom you disagree?
You are able to maintain an open mind and listen to people with whom you disagree. This is good for two reasons: it allows you to demonstrate respect and it allows you to gain a greater understanding of other possible ways of perceiving the same event. This will have the effect of broadening your perspective and developing the virtue of tolerance.
Development Action
You are able to listen to those with whom you disagree, which is a powerful communication skill. Now add to this to the ability to ask more questions and to encourage conversation. Try to listen more than you speak, and you will gain many advantages.
You only learn when you are listening, not when you are talking.
You can never "put your foot in it" by listening.
You will be seen as a great conversationalist and pleasant company by listening well.
Do you sometimes talk too much?
You said you know the virtue of restraint. You do not talk for too long on the subjects about which you know but little.
Development Action
You know enough to restrain your tongue and not to talk too much. Now, add to the list of restraints a refusal to be drawn into divisive office discussions of petty politics, gossip, malicious rumour and degradation of others who are not present.
Do you too frequently fail to speak up when you know you should say something?
There are times when you know you should speak up, but you are nervous of the consequences. In these times realise that leadership demands moral courage. When faced with such demands, keeping quiet would reveal a weakness of character.
Development Action
Never let fear stop you from expressing your version of the truth. Over the long stretch this policy will earn you the title of an “honest, straight communicator”. You should strive to earn this title.
Do you sometimes say to yourself 'I know what I mean, but I can't explain it'?
You are a person who thinks in words more than pictures and so you have no problem explaining your ideas to others. This is an advantage. But remember that there are many visual thinkers who prefer to see diagrams, images and other visual representations, rather than words or numbers.
Development Action
You are able to explain yourself verbally. Remember to reinforce your message with plenty of visual references, for the benefit of those people who think in pictures. Animate your words with body language, stories, pictures and diagrams to help the visual thinkers understand your message.
Do you take time to define the meaning of your most important words and phrases to ensure people understand exactly what you are saying?
You know that it is important to prepare your ideas BEFORE the meeting. You take the time to prepare your message. This makes you a more persuasive and confident communicator.
Development Action
You know that clear definitions of concepts and ideas are important to you. Now, begin to ask other people for a similar level of clarity. When in difficult situations with people, ask them to define the meaning of their ideas before you leap in and tell them that they are wrong.
In this way you will save yourself 20% of the arguments you have caused by varying interpretations of common words.
Do you spend more time talking about the causes of problems than how to solve them?
You already realise that one should spend only 20% of the time talking about the causes of a problem and 80% of the time thinking about solutions to that problem. This puts you ahead of many people who spend too long worrying about who they can push the blame to, not about how they can solve the situation.
Development Action
When you are problem solving you know enough to not spend too long on the history of the problem, and more time on solutions. You are cool under pressure and ask solution based questions such as:
- What are the facts we do know?
- What are the facts we do not know and need to discover?
- What is the time deadline we are working to?
- What is the best outcome or goal, given the facts?
- What are the resources available to us?
- What are three possible plans of action?
- Of these what is the best option?
- What are the first steps?
- Who is doing what?
- What are we waiting for? Let’s go!
Now develop your skills by categorizing information. Learn to demand facts, not guesses. Do not build plans on guesswork. Find the facts. When you have the facts, sort them into categories:
- Relevant to the problem v not relevant
- Important v trivial
- Reliable v unreliable
Strive to focus on information that has passed all three tests. You work only with information that is Relevant, important, and reliable.
Do you have many days when you are busy all day, but relatively non-productive?
If you have many days when you are busy all day but feel that events conspire to make your days relatively non-productive, you must check your methods. Are any of the following true?
You do not have a clear "plan of action" worked out.
You are too easily distracted from your plan.
Nobody else around you is planning ahead.
You allow yourself to start too many things at once.
Development Action
If you find yourself working busily but you feel you are not achieving the results you need, you should attend a time management course and learn to refocus on the most important goals and priorities tasks. You need to reverse the trend and:
Always have a clear "plan of action" worked out.
Learn to be not easily distracted from your plan.
Inspire others around you to plan ahead.
Stop initiating too many tasks at once and making minimal progress on any.
Are you able to name the differences between: a goal, a to-do list and an action plan?
Many people do not know the difference between the meaning of the: a goal, a plan, a to-do list, and an action plan. They get these four things mixed up and thus confusion reigns!
Development Action
Teach others the difference between a goal, a plan, a “to do list” and an action plan:
A goal is the target for which you are aiming: your stated ambition.
The plan is the means by which you will achieve the goal.
The “to do list” are the infinite number of actions that your plan creates as a logical consequence of its steps.
The action plan is the small number 2 -10 things on your “to do list” that make it on to today’s ACTION plan.
Do you start so many tasks at once that you are forced to spread yourself too thinly and therefore make only minimal progress on them?
You said you have the tendency to start too many projects at once. This will cause you to spread your energy too thinly across too many activities. As a result you will not make enough progress on any of them.
Development Action
Learn to make priority decisions and to focus more effort into a fewer number of higher value projects. You will be able to concentrate your powers to such a degree that you make good progress. This requires that you learn to say "no" to certain things and people. You have a limited supply of time, and energy. Invest them wisely and you will get maximum returns.
Consider attending a good time management course.
Do you operate according to a written plan?
Many people who do not plan claim that their job does not allow them to plan, because "you never know what is going to happen next". That may be true for you on a moment-by-moment level, but not strategically. If you do not have a plan for your career, your team, your family, anything can and will happen. If you have a plan you will be able to take more control over the direction your external results will take.
Having no plan will cause you to become the product of your environment
Even though you cannot predict nor control what will happen in the short term, you must set goals and formulate practical detailed plans for their attainment. The goals and strategic plans generate pro-active tasks that you should schedule in and commit to. Of course your plans will be upset by events, but the events will not be enough to ruin your plan, only delay it.
Walk away from those people who claim they are unable to plan, because they really mean they are unwilling to plan.
Leadership requires planners - if you do not know how to plan, learn by attending a time management planning course.
Do you put things off that you know you should do, because you are 'not in the mood'?
Too often you have a task that you know you should attend to, but you tell yourself "I’m not in the mood right now, I'll do it tomorrow" and you put it off.
The error here is the failure to recognise the fact that the mood will follow the action, once you start the action.
Emotion is created by motion. In other words, begin the work, and your mood will begin to change as you work.
Development Action
Decide to use your will power. Begin a task that you feel you want to delay because you are not in the mood. Develop personal initiative and become a self-starter.
Initiating the effort and expecting your mind and body to respond with enthusiasm after you have started. This is a major skill that all successful people have mastered.
Your development demands that you become a person of self-motivation, irrespective of your transient moods.
Are you easily distracted?
You are a person who is not easily distracted. You can maintain your concentration for extended periods without losing focus. This is one of your most valuable assets.
Development Action
You can develop this skill to an even greater level in the following way:
Pick a mental activity, which you would consider enjoyable.
Begin the activity and note the time you start.
Work until you lose concentration; note in writing, the amount of time you worked without a break in concentration.
Next time try to beat your record.
In this way you will learn to control the focus of your mind: an invaluable asset.
Do you plan ahead more than one month?
If you plan ahead more than one month, let me congratulate you because you are in the top 20%. Most people do not plan ahead. You are doing the right thing because by planning you are less likely to be caught out by deadlines creeping up and surprising you.
Development Action
You plan ahead more than a month. Your development opportunity is to extend the period into the future that your plan covers. There are some industries that have 20 - 50 year plans (Forestry for example). Your future is not set, and so it can be determined by you: by means of a well-written plan. Sit down tonight and work out a plan for the next six months
Do you know how to use decision matrix to organise priorities and make decisions?
98% of people do not know how to use decision matrices. That omission makes their decision making process reliable, and prone to emotionalism and guesswork. You said you do not use a decision matrix to help make decisions. This is something you can easily correct by learning three types of simple decision matrix: The "What is the correct priority order?" matrix; the "Yes or no" decision matrix and the "Which one" decision matrix.
Development Action
You said you do not use decision matrix to make decisions and so your decisions will not be as accurate as they could be.
Go online and look up decision matrix: or go on a good time management course.
Do you have the correct balance between work and rest?
You have the correct balance between work and rest. That means that you will be able to sustain the efforts you are making over the long stretch, which means ultimately you will be more productive.
Development Action
Recuperation and rest should balance work and effort. Make sure that your out of work activity is conducive to recuperation, repair and growth (i.e. good food, exercise and sleep) be sure that your "rest " is not really another attack on your bodies recuperative ability (boozing, late nights and overeating).
When in a conflict situation, do you act calmly and carefully?
When in conflict situations you sometimes lose your cool and say too much. Or you might be one of those people who cannot handle conflict so you keep quiet for too long. Either way, you are allowing emotions to rule where reason should.
If you are too emotional in a conflict situation, it can all get very messy.
You must learn to control your passions, when passions are aroused, and handle the conflict rationally.
Development Action
Learn the laws of rational conflict management. This will enable you to defuse difficult and emotionally charged situations with the minimum fuss and with the very best possible results. Look at the corporate coach group web site for the next course on conflict management and learn the proper way to handle conflict.
- Get the timing right.
- Stick to the facts.
- Don’t make it personal.
- Give them the solution with the criticism.
- Keep it brief.
When in a conflict situation, do you try and avoid saying anything for too long in the hope it will sort itself out?
You said that when facing a conflict situation, you often wait for too long before saying anything. You do this because you know that there are many people that react emotionally when they are in a conflict situation, and you don't want to risk having things turn out badly.... so you say nothing. You hope that things will sort themselves out with no action on your part. This is an error. They will not get better on their own. And people will misread your saying nothing as compliance.
Development Action
Learn to handle conflict situations early and calmly, before it has time to get worse. Tell people what they are doing wrong. Tell them what you expect in its place and ask for them to agree to a new course of action.
Learn the proper art of conflict management. If you are unsure on technique, sign up for one of the courses available on conflict. Most of all develop the confidence to speak up early.
Do you use highly charged language in an attempt to let the person know how you 'honestly feel'?
You said that you do not use highly charged language when you are in a conflict situation. This is a good habit. Use objective, fact based, non-emotionally charged language. Keep your negative feelings non-verbalised and focus on behaviour, rather than character.
Development Action
Although you are able to control your language when you are in a conflict situation, your next challenge will be to check your body language. When you are in a conflict situation, notice your gestures: no pointing. Notice your facial expression, notice your voice tone: try not to shout too loudly!
Can you, right now, name the difference between a reason and an excuse for not doing something?
You are able to name the difference between a reason and an excuse for not doing something.
A reason for not doing something indicates the explanation is true, valid, takes into account ALL the facts and is a reasonable interpretation.
An excuse is an explanation that is emotional, untrue, does not take into account all the facts and is an unreasonable interpretation.
Development Action
You are able to differentiate between a reason and an excuse for not doing something.
Your development relies on developing your ability to gain the reputation to respond positively to reasons, but not to excuses. Do not respond positively and give concessions to people who offer you excuses. If you give concessions to people who give excuses, what will happen?
Do you know what self-concept is?
The self-concept is the sum total of the thoughts, feelings and beliefs that a person holds about him/herself, their ability, character and potential.
It is the single most important aspect of a person because it defines the limits of what they believe they can and cannot/ will and will not do.
Development Action
Learn always to protect the person’s self-concept when you are in a conflict situation. The self-concept is the sum total of the thoughts, feelings and beliefs that a person holds about him / herself, their ability, character and potential Learn to protect their ego and you will find conflict management much easier.
Do you know the difference between objective and subjective language?
You said you know the difference between objective and subjective language.
Objective is fact based, verifiable by observation. Non-evaluative, non-emotional language.
Subjective language is the opposite of objective language: Subjective language is emotionally charged, opinionated, evaluative and not directly provable by the senses.
Example objective: "You were twenty minutes late for the meeting. Please be on time for the next meeting."
Example subjective: "I am angry with you for being so unprofessional by arriving twenty minutes late for the meeting."
Use objective language: it is safer.
Development Action
Although you know the difference between objective and subjective language, we will guarantee you do not always use the distinction. On occasion, we all blurt-out emotionally charged, highly evaluative and divisive words.
Do you know the importance of letting the other person save face?
You said that you do not always think about the other persons need to save face. You may even delight in beating people in arguments and proving them wrong. An examination of thousands of instances proves that this way represents an error:
In beating the other person in a way that damages their credibility, status or self-esteem, you may create bad feelings, which may manifest themselves later.
Development Action
Realise that when correcting someone or arguing in a conflict situation, you should never try to beat the other in a way, which results in the other being humiliated.
Always leave room or argue in such a way as to allow the other person to change without losing face. By allowing the person to save face change is more likely to occur
Consider enrolling in a good conflict management course.
Do you know exactly how your mental attitude directly affects your material results?
You are aware of how your attitude affects the results that you experience.
Your attitude is the sum total of your thoughts, feelings and beliefs about any issue.
Your feelings and thoughts control your actions and your actions drive your results.
So your habitual thoughts tend to manifest themselves in your experience: your thoughts become, to a certain degree, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Development Action
Take more conscious control of your thoughts. In any situation you have the power to control only one thing, the content of your mind.
If you believe you cannot win, you are lowering your chances of winning.
If you believe you can win, you are increasing your chances of winning.
This simple principle is one of the most difficult skills to master and it is a lifelong task. Control your mind and you will control everything else: your feelings, your communication and your actions.
Do you know how to control your mind so you can retain a positive mental attitude during difficult times?
In the previous question, you said you knew the importance of attitude, but that is not the same as being able to direct your attitude towards the positive. Knowing that you should think positively does not tell you how to think positively.
Development Action
In order to think positively follow the following steps:
Think about the future, not the past.
Use your imagination to create images in your mind of the best possible future, which will create feeling of confidence.
Refuse to use your imagination to create images of a bad possible future, which will create feelings of fear and anxiousness.
Become more aware of your mental state. What are you thinking about?
Concentrating on thoughts about "The bad- past" will make you angry.
Concentrating on thoughts about "The good- past" will make you nostalgic for the good old days.
Concentrating on thoughts about "The bad-future" will make you anxious and fearful.
Concentrating on thoughts about "The good- future" will make you feel positive, confident and motivated.
Is your mood dependent on how the day unfolds?
For many people, their attitude is a result of outside circumstances. That is okay if everything is going well, but what if things are not going well? If things are going badly and you "lose it" emotionally, you are no longer in the best position to handle the bad situation. Leadership requires you to become stronger in the face of setbacks and difficulties, not weaker.
Many people allow their internal emotional state to be too dependent on outside circumstances. In order to feel strong, people need to praise them, the sun needs to shine, and plans need to work out as expected. They are in trouble, emotionally, whenever people are mean to them, the sun disappears or plans do not work out. Begin to recognise the importance of being in conscious control of your own emotional state. We might call this skill, stress management.
Development Action
Learn to take responsibility for your own emotions and recognise that they are a product of your thinking, not the product of other people’s actions or omissions. You feel what you feel because of the thoughts that you allow to dominate your mind. If you think bad thoughts you feel bad, if you think good thoughts you feel good, if you think mixed thoughts, you have mixed feelings. In particular, be aware of your emotional response to set backs and disappointments. Make them a call to thought and action rather than a reason to get depressed and give up.
Are there people or specific business situations that you find particularly unnerving?
You said that people don’t unsettle or unnerve you. The person may have higher status and yet status on its own does not unnerve you. The other person may be rude or overbearing and that does not faze you. The person may possess higher education and this does not upset you. You are able to create confidence in yourself by thinking empowered thoughts. This is a valuable ability you possess.
Development Action
You have the ability to create confidence in the company of people or situations that are unsettling to others. The ability to induce a feeling of confidence is a high value skill. Your development is to ensure that confidence does not over stretch itself into arrogance or overconfidence.
Arrogance is more easily dealt with because it is a communication style: If you are full of confidence it does not mean you should brag about it. If you are full of ability it does not mean you should tell everyone. In fact, the confident person is often more interested in demonstrating competence rather than talking about it.
Overconfidence is more dangerous because it represents a departure from logic. It indicates that your emotion of confidence is no longer based on a firm grasp of the situation and the facts surrounding it, but rather what you feel to be the case. Feelings on their own are not enough! Gut feel must be supported by rational argument. How many errors have been made by overconfidence that was not borne out by the facts?
Do you feel you would benefit if you could develop more self-confidence?
You said that you believed that you would benefit if you had more self-confidence. Self-confidence comes from two sources:
Your level of specialised knowledge.
Your 'self-image'.
So you can gain confidence by improving your knowledge of the situation, and/or improving your self-image.
Development Action
To gain confidence, commit to learning more specialised knowledge relating directly to your profession. Then your lack of confidence can never be because you do not "know your stuff". But it may be you are well educated but still lack confidence, consider the following points:
Stop telling yourself 'I can't' and start asking the question 'How can I?'
Or 'Who can help me to learn how to...?'
Do not compare yourself against the impossible standard of perfection. Many people who lack confidence feel insecure because they are comparing themselves against the standard of perfection: which means they can never measure up: meaning they feel less than worthy. Compare yourself to a human (not god-like perfection) standard against which to measure yourself. Practice, practice, and practice. Confidence comes from experience and experience comes from practice. Do not let the lack of confidence deter you from throwing yourself into the practice of a skill. You cannot get the confidence from experience from waiting.
Do your current dietary, exercise and drinking habits build outstanding levels of vitality and good health?
You said that you do not necessarily have the right diet and exercise programmes that will promote good health and high level of energy. Remember that without energy you can have nothing else. Your profession requires a great deal of mental and physical energy. That needs to be created by proper nutrition and exercise. It means that you eat drink and do the right things and NOT the wrong things!
Development Action
Your emotional state is governed by two things: What you think about, and the state of your physical body. In order to feel positive in spirits, you must be healthy and be able to create energy.
Health and energy is a product of your diet and exercise habits. If you have a poor diet and exercise habits you will not have enough energy to have good spirits. Resolve now to make positive changes in your diet by the following methods: -
Reduce the amount of bad foods you eat
Reduce, as much as possible (as close to zero consumption as possible) all social drug use, (alcohol, cigarettes cannabis etc).
Increase the amount of fruit and or fresh vegetables and fish.
Resolve now to add one form of physical exercise that is either a form of straight conditioning, weights or swimming, or a form of aerobic conditioning, jogging, walking and tennis.
Do you have methods that allow you to shield yourself from negative influences?
You said you have methods to shield yourself from negative influences. The negative influences we mean are the following:
Fear induced by TV 'news' (We are all going to die......)
Fear induced by politicians (They will get you; they will steal your future....)
Fear induced by well-meaning relatives and friends (It will not work - what makes you think you can do it).
Having methods to shield yourself from negative influences makes you more emotionally resilient. You will need to be resilient in order to weather the storms that will inevitably come your way.
Development Action
Keep working on yourself to enhance your ability to absorb setbacks, disappointments and trouble, without losing your enthusiasm, confidence and desire. Do this by:
Switching off depressing TV or pointless bad news or fear programming and replacing it with:
Energy building activity or
Simple rest and recuperation.
Are you able to use your communication skills to consciously raise the spirits of others who are flagging?
You said you do not necessarily raise the spirits of those who are flagging
In this regard there are three kinds of people: The first kind is the people who are up one minute down the next: Volatile. On a good day, great, on a bad day equally terrible: Unpredictable: It depends on what is happening. Maybe up one day, down the next, because most people are. The next kind of person can and do inspire people towards the positive. This person will raise your spirits no matter what the situation is and no matter what kind of day they are having. They are careful and recognise the need to be a source of inspiration to others. The third type is depressed, cynical and depressing. NO matter what is going on, you can be sure this type will suck the life out of the project with cynical doom laden pessimism. They claim they are not being cynical they are being "REALISTIC". Let me ask you an important question: Have you become cynical over the years?
Development Action
Develop yourself by becoming an inspirational person, to the degree that you find it possible:
Talk of the future not the past.
Claim that we can, and think of practical plans to achieve it.
When you are criticising other peoples plans be sure to tell them an alternative practical plan which can take the place of the plan you are criticising (Don't just tell them what cannot be done, tell them what can be done).
Seek out those people who are cynics and promote them to the role of critical thinker. (Don't try to make a cynic an optimist he will never make it).
When people are facing a problem situation, do you focus first on finding out who is responsible?
Whenever there is a problem situation you have an option about where to put the focus of the conversation:
Option one is: Find the solution to the problem
Option two is: find the person who is to blame.
You said your focus is on finding the person to blame. The error here is one of timing. You may need to discover who is responsible, but your most urgent priority is to find the solution. Responsibility and blame can come later.
Development Action
The next time a problem arises, ask the following kinds of questions:
What are the facts of the situation?
What facts do we not know and need to find out?
Given the facts, what is the goal?
To achieve this goal what recourses do we need and have?
What is the plan?
What is the first step?
Avoid the use of killer questions such as: Who can I pin this on?
Are you able to criticise others in a way which makes them feel like they are learning, rather than being told off?
Nobody is perfect. We all require constructive criticism. Some people make criticism a learning experience and some make criticism a painful experience. You said that you are not necessarily able to make your criticism sound like a learning experience. It sounds too much like a scolding. This is bad news for you and your organisation. Leadership requires you to correct people with sensitivity.
Development Action
Correct people with sensitivity by the following methods:
Get the timing right (do it soon, one to one if possible and briefly)
Use factual language
Give the person the reasons for your criticism
Give the person a solution to the criticism
Listen to their reasons and give them due consideration
Gain an agreement
Don't criticise for entertainment value
If you want some help with this, sign up to our next leader manager training seminar.
What Next?
If, having read the report, you would like to discuss any aspect of these results, please contact us.
We recommend you take a look at our management courses.
