Purpose of Table-Top Training Program Design

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Step 4. Prioritize topics or training blocks for development efforts. Identify which

topics already have sufficient training material to teach them and which

tasks need to have training material developed.

Step 5. Determine the course content. This sets the training content for each

topic prioritized for development.

Step 6. Identify additional content. Examine regulatory requirements to list

additional content mandated for inclusion in the training program.

Step 7. Identify applicable existing training. Identify training materials that can be

modified or used "as is" which may already exist locally with vendors,

universities, or at other facilities that have similar job positions. This

avoids unnecessary duplication of development efforts.

Step 8. Write terminal and enabling objectives for each topic.

3.4 Purpose of Table-Top Training Program Design. Table-top training design has been

used to design training programs at various levels including professional, technical,

skilled, and semi-skilled. Table-top training program design is based on the following

three premises:

Expert workers are better able to describe/define their job than anyone else.

Any job can be effectively and sufficiently described in terms of the tasks that

successful workers perform in that job.

All tasks have direct implications for the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that

workers must have in order to perform the tasks correctly.

A carefully chosen group of expert workers (subject matter experts, a supervisor, and a

safety analyst) from the job form a TTTD team. A facilitator guides the team through

the session to complete the program design (some up-front time is involved in properly

planning the table-top training design). Brainstorming is one technique used to obtain

the collective expertise and help the team reach consensus.

Since the team consists of people with expertise in their job, team members do not

need advance preparation. Generally, team members find working on the team to be

both professionally stimulating and rewarding.

It must be stressed, however, that some job positions may not have any "experts."

This is especially true when a new position is created or at facilities that are in the early

stages of operation. In these cases, the facility may decide to use a method other than

table-top training design.