Russ Powell Consulting > Projects
Russ Powell Consulting > Projects
Project Examples
Faster, Better, Cheaper eLearning (Sun Microsystems)
After deciding to use Dr. Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan’s innovative four-door approach to eLearning, Sun Learning Services hired Russ to lead a team of instructional designers and subject matter experts to create this program for them. Russ worked with Sun sales and methodology experts, and a team of technical developers, to create an instructional program that combined Thiagi’s four-door model with elements of Sun's internal sales processes (e.g., account planning, opportunity management, business- and territory-planning).
During Russ’ tenure with the Sun Learning Services (SLS) instructional team, they won ASTD's BEST Award for organizational excellence and placed #11 on Training Magazine's worldwide list of the top-125 training organizations.
Work samples:
White Paper on the Four-Door Approach - This from an industry presentation about the four-door model
Job-Aid - How to enhance your LinkedIn profile
Building Core Competencies (U.S. Coast Guard)
As project leader, Russ played a dual role of project manager (planning, executing, tracking, and completing project tasks) and instructional designer (analyzing, designing, developing, implementing and evaluating instructional materials).
He also ran train-the-trainer sessions and served as an adviser to military and civilian personnel on training-related issues.
”Russ helped the staff at TRACEN Petaluma re-design two major training programs. He helped us complete the design and development of these programs in record time, exceeding our expectations. He helped raise standards for training here on the base.”
Work samples:
Instructor Guide - Excerpts from a lesson on wound closure (Health Services)
Job-Aid 3 - How to Open a Sterile Pack (Health Services)
Job-Aid 4 - Excerpts from a patient assessment job-aid (Health Services)
Front-end Analysis - Excerpts from a set of New-Performance Planning Worksheets (Electronics Technicians). This is a rather raw document, but it illustrates some of the rigor behind many USCG analyses.
Simulation Video - Illustration of patient encounter simulation (Health Services)
Getting Sales Reps Up-to-Speed Faster (NetApp)
After helping the training manager clarify her objectives, Russ worked with her and NetApp sales experts to build fictional case studies based on real success stories from the field. He also created interactive classroom activities that supported the objectives.
The sales training manager anticipates a marked increase in effectiveness of the new hires as well as increased retention of new employees.
Increasing Call-Center Sales Skills (Broderbund)
After analyzing their needs, Russ designed, developed and implemented a performance intervention that included training and coaching components based on techniques used by best-of-breed call centers.
The programs contributed to a significant increase in sales in all three of her call centers—Inside Sales, Customer Service and Technical Support. In one center, they observed a sales-per-rep increase of over 500% within the first six months.
Building Critical Skills, Decreasing Turnover (Nelson)
After working with the Director of Learning to pinpoint the organization's needs, Russ helped him create a state-of-the-art corporate university that used eLearning and instructor-led components, as well as one-on-one coaching, to build professional development skills, industry-specific knowledge, and technical skills among employees.
“Russ has both a highly disciplined approached to design and a learner-centered approach to facilitation. The combination of these traits differentiates him from many in this field. I was always confident he would produce as promised. He has impeccable character and is a pleasure to work with. I endorse him without reservation.”
Doing More with Less (NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center)
A senior manager at a NASA Space Flight Center wanted to boost the professional development skills of her employees, some of whom were working on Space Shuttle projects.
After the intervention, three important sources of feedback suggested the program had been successful: (1) feedback from participants’ managers stated that the program had helped employees develop the requisite knowledge and skills; (2) the senior manager reported that the program had exceeded her expectations, and quoted anecdotal feedback suggesting that employees were indeed finding ways to do more of their most important tasks in less time; and (3) the next time the Space Shuttle took off... it was on time!