Performance support tools: Delivering value when and where it is needed

Some call them Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSSs). Others prefer Performance Support Tools (PSTs) or decision support tools. One might call EPSSs or PSTs job aids on steroids, technological tools that provide critical information or advice needed to move forward at a particular moment in time. Characteristic advantages of an EPSS or a PST over a nontechnology job aid include users' ability to quickly access large amounts of information, support for simultaneous multiple users, support anywhere and at any time when the delivery technology is available, distributed updates and refreshment, and personalized feedback and guidance. Today data, information, examples, and experiences are as central to organizations as manufacturing plants were in the industrial age. The challenge, of course, is to collect and maintain substantive resources and then to deliver those resources to employees when and where needed. There is little published research on performance support, in large part because it is an emergent form. These authors decided to take a closer look at performance support in action by soliciting the opinions of individuals involved with it. Although limited by a small number of respondents, this study offers a great deal as six individuals reflected on their performance support initiatives. Recommendations and implications of this study are also discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 4 figures.)