I'm drowning in electronic paper...S.O.S! (long)

[Lisa Comeau <COMEAUL -at- CSA -dot- CA>]

To all of you wonderfully helpful Techwhirlers out there...(can you sense the sucking up?) ;-)

I recently posted a request for info on Training Plans. The info I got has been extremely helpful, and I thank all those who replied.

Now that I am actually in the throes of writing (or is it "throws" as in "throws it across the room"?) I have hit quite a few snags.

The information I received from some of you conflicts, and not many people could give me insight as to the layout of the document. Now it seems to be getting a little out of hand.

Here's what I have so far:

Executive Summary (brief statement of the situation, problems, resources, and the basic intent of the document)

Introduction (why we need a training plan-basically a statement about how we have to keep our employees up to date, and to do that we have to...)

Considerations (information about learning, types of learning, what type we need to implement)

Objectives (just-in-time training, empowerment of employees, access to skills...)

Audience Statement (who will be trained, their education level, their job descriptions)

Content, Format, and Schedule of Delivery (The courses themselves-this is the longest part, it has to be the most thorough, so I know I can't cut it...)

Resources (existing and needed to make the training go off without a hitch)

Time line (time needed to: prepare courses, instructor learning, deliver information, follow-up)

Action Plan (what we need to do)

Recommended Methodology (how to do what we need to do)

Conclusion (blah blah...this is why we have to follow the plan...blah blah)

Maybe I can't think straight because everyone and their dog comes running into my office all day long (I hate cubicles) but I can't seem to figure if I'm going too far here, or what. Can I put some of this info together, or can I throw some of it to the wayside (where it will hopefully rot in the blazing sun)?

If it IS supposed to be set up this way, I will resign myself (and my boss) to the fact that it's going to be reeeeeeely loooooong, and he'll have to wait for it. (He won't mind, this is a long-range document with worldwide training involved here). I just don't want everyone to have to read 100 pages on the fact that our organization has been remiss in their duty to train their people in critical implementation issues.

Besides, I'm the "new kid on the block", and there's going to be a great deal of resistance to this plan as it is. I don't want to have 1100 people phoning me b*tching about the length of it when most of them will give no credit to the information contained in it as it is. It's the ones who matter that I want to get the point across to, but many of them are directly influenced by these no-goodniks, so I have to please all of the people-this time.

Any insights, comments, questions, would help me alot. (Flames you can keep to yourself!)  :-) (See, even my attempts at humor are suffering!)

Thanks in advance.
__________________________________________________________
"The words which escape from my hands do not escape from my lips, and so noone near my cubicle can hear me scream."

Lisa Comeau
IS Super-User/Trainer
Certification and Testing Division
Canadian Standards Association
Rexdale Ontario, Canada
comeaul -at- csa -dot- ca