Buying vs. Creating Training Materials

One of the main differences between buying off-the-shelf training materials vs. developing them on your own is the amount of time you’ll spend on the project.

Purchasing off-the-shelf training content will require minimal time to adapt to your organizational needs and save you a ton of time.

On the other hand, developing in-house training can be quite time-consuming. Think about the fact that in-house means that you or your team will be responsible for creating all of the lessons, activities, assessments, case studies and so on.

If considering creating your own training course, you need to account for the value of the research and development time. For example, if you are compensated around $100 per hour for your time, the course would need to reciprocate that amount of value if you are spending 60 hours creating the content.

Often when looking at the cost of your time, it ends up being more cost-effective to purchase professional, pre-made training materials. However, if the task or concept is specific to your company, it may be more appropriate to spend time doing the development.

If you have support team members that are subject matter experts, you can delegate the training materials creation tasks to those individuals. An alternative choice would be to hire a consultant to consult with your team and create professional training material.

Regardless of your decision to purchase pre-made materials or create them, it is important that the quality of the materials align with the outcome you are looking to create.

There are several things to consider here when looking at quality:

Professional Look

The look and feel should be visually appealing, in a way that fits your audience. For example, if you are training a group of warehouse shift workers, the presentation should have helpful images and examples that demonstrate the concepts.

Creates Credibility

The presentation and materials need to support your credibility. This means the content design not be distracting or overly detailed. The materials need to be relevant and serve a valuable purpose in the adult learning cycle.

Let’s demonstrate an example.

If you are teaching a class on sexual harassment, the images in your slideshow shouldn’t depict inappropriate actions. Using such imagery would undermine your credibility by opening the door for potential distractions.

The images should be professional and support the learning process. If you are creating content, this is especially important to keep in mind as the content must align with your organizational goals.

If you are training a class on a serious subject matter involving safety procedures or regulations, often it may be appropriate to consider a packaged course that includes all the required material. As a trainer, you can always adapt the course as needed to meet learner needs.