How Project Management and the Kirkpatrick Model Can Elevate Your Training Design
In project management, every successful initiative starts with a discovery phase understanding needs, defining scope, and planning. Why should training design be any different?
My experience leading a Project Management Office (PMO) has shaped how I approach training. Applying project management principles to training design ensures that every step is intentional, purposeful, and aligned with organizational goals. But there’s an added layer that makes it even more impactful: the Kirkpatrick Model.
Before even designing your course, it’s critical to meet with stakeholders and define what success looks like. Just like in project management, you don’t want to be an order taker you want to design with performance improvement in mind. This is where the Kirkpatrick Four Levels of Evaluation come into play. You need a clear evaluation strategy before you create a single slide. What does the organization need? How will training drive results?
Start with the Right Questions
During the discovery meeting, ask questions that connect training to business impact:
“What is the business problem we’re trying to solve?”
“What behaviors need to change to achieve success?”
“How will we measure whether the training achieves these results?”
This ensures you’re not just designing for knowledge transfer but for measurable outcomes.
Starting with the end in mind, the Kirkpatrick Model emphasizes the importance of defining desired outcomes early in the process. It's not just about what learners will gain it’s about how their learning will impact the organization. This foresight should guide every aspect of training design, much like how a project manager carefully navigates through each phase of a project.
Embed Evaluation into Design
Incorporate evaluation touchpoints into your training design:
Include reflection points where learners identify how the content applies to their roles.
Design post-training activities for managers to support behavior change on the job.
Plan for follow-up surveys or observations to measure long-term impact.
By treating training with the same strategic importance as a project, you guarantee value for both learners and the organization.
The Takeaway
By combining Project Management principles with the Kirkpatrick Model, you create training programs that are not only well-organized but also results-driven. This approach ensures that every step from discovery to evaluation adds value to learners and aligns with business goals.
So, how can you apply these principles in your next training initiative? Start with a discovery meeting, define success, and let the Kirkpatrick Model guide you to measurable outcomes.