Demystifying L&D Buzzwords, part 3
- Irina Ketkin
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Welcome back to our series where we unpack all those L&D buzzwords that get thrown around like everyone just knows what they mean. (Spoiler: not everyone does—and that’s totally fine.)
If you missed the previous articles, check out Demystifying L&D Buzzwords, part 1 and Demystifying L&D Buzzwords, part 2.
Now, in part 3, we’re digging into the language of learning strategy and measurement—the kind of terms you’ll hear in conversations about planning, implementation, and proving impact. We’ll look at:
Learning Journey
What is it?
A learning journey is exactly what it sounds like—a planned path that guides learners from where they are now to where they need to be. It usually includes a series of touchpoints and a mixture of learning methods, like videos, workshops, coaching sessions, peer learning, self-reflection, on-the-job practice, and more.
Learning journey usually suggests that it isn’t a one-off event or session. It’s a series of connected experiences designed to build knowledge, skills, and confidence over time.
Think of it like a travel itinerary: you’ve got a starting point, a destination, and meaningful stops along the way.
Why it matters?
If you’ve ever tried to kick an unhealthy habit or stay on a diet, you know that people don’t change their behaviors overnight (though wouldn’t it be nice if they did!). A single webinar or a training module won’t turn someone into a confident coach or a strategic thinker. Learning takes time, repetition, and reflection.
A learning journey creates the kind of structure we need to make sure learning sticks and behaviors actually change. It allows us as designers to pace the content, reinforce key messages when and where it matters most, and offer multiple ways for learners to engage, apply, and grow (kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure). It also helps avoid information overload because you’re not trying to cram everything into one session.
For L&D professionals, mapping out a learning journey means thinking long-term and from the perspective of the learner. Instead of just delivering content, you’re designing an experience that truly supports change.
Example
Let’s say you’re building a leadership development program for new managers. Instead of one 2-day workshop (of which they’ll forget 90% by next week), you decide to map out a 3-month learning journey:
Week 1: Kickoff webinar to set expectations and introduce the core competencies.
Weeks 2–4: Self-paced videos on topics like giving feedback, setting expectations, and time management.
Week 5: Live session with role-play practice and peer coaching.
Weeks 6–10: On-the-job challenges, like running a team meeting or having a development conversation.
Week 11: Peer reflection circle or buddy check-in.
Week 12: Final wrap-up and action planning session.
Each step builds on the last. Managers have time to try things out, reflect, and come back with questions. Learning journeys create space for real development—not just knowledge, but growth.
Learning Management System (LMS)
What is it?
A Learning Management System (LMS for short) is a platform used to host, manage, and track learning content. Think of it as your digital home base for training. It’s where learners go to access courses, watch videos, complete quizzes, download resources, and track their progress.
It’s also where L&D teams upload learning content, assign learning paths, send reminders, and collect data (like who completed what and how they scored).
Some systems are simple. Others are full-blown ecosystems. Either way, if you’re working in L&D, you’ll definitely bump into one (or five).
Why it matters?
An LMS makes it possible to deliver learning at scale. Whether you’ve got 10 learners or 10,000, you can share consistent content with everyone, automate reminders, and see what’s working and what’s not by collecting immediate feedback.
It’s especially useful when your teams are spread across locations or working remotely. You don’t have to schedule sessions or chase attendance—it’s all in one place and available on-demand.
And let’s not forget the data. Completion rates, quiz scores, time spent in a course—it’s all there, ready to help you improve your content and report back to stakeholders.
Example
Let’s say your company just hired 100 new people across 6 different countries—and they all need to go through onboarding.
Instead of scheduling 20 Zoom sessions, you upload all onboarding content—videos, checklists, intro modules—into your LMS. You set it up so new hires are automatically enrolled when they join. They go through the content at their own pace, complete a short quiz at the end, and their manager gets notified when they finish.
Meanwhile, you can see who’s done what, what they struggled with, and where to improve next time.
Learning Objectives
What is it?
If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know how to get there? Learning objectives help with this. They are clear, specific statements that describe what the learner should be able to do after the training. Not what they’ll know, understand, or be exposed to—but what they’ll do.
One of the most popular models to help with creating learning objectives comes from Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy. It’s a classic L&D tool that helps you choose the right action verbs based on the depth of learning you’re aiming for. There are 6 levels that progress from foundational knowledge to higher-order thinking skills:
1. Remembering: Can the learner recall the information?
2. Understanding: Can the learner explain the main concepts?
3. Applying: Can the learner use the information back on the job?
4. Analyzing: Can the learner distinguish between different parts?
5. Evaluating: Can the learner justify their decisions?
6. Creating: Can the learner create a new product or service?
Bloom’s Taxonomy helps make objectives practical and measurable — not fluffy and wishful thinking.
Why it matters?
Without clear objectives, your training or learning experience can easily lose focus. You might end up with nice content that looks great but doesn’t lead to real results.
Good learning objectives help:
Keep your content relevant and focused
Choose the right methods and activities
Measure success at the end
They also make it easier to communicate expectations to stakeholders, facilitators, and learners themselves.
Bonus: if you’re working with SMEs or business leaders who love to say “We just need a training on X,” solid objectives can help you gently push back and ask, “What exactly do you want people to be able to do differently by the end of the training?”
Example
Let’s say you’re creating a course on giving feedback. Instead of a vague objective like “Participants will learn about feedback”, you go with:
“By the end of the session, participants will be able to structure and deliver a piece of constructive feedback using the SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact) model.”
That tells you:
What learners need to do (“structure and deliver a piece of constructive feedback”)
How you’ll design the activities (perhaps you can include a role-play or practice scripts in the form of job aids)
What success looks like (they can actually deliver feedback, not just talk about it)
And because you’re using Bloom’s Taxonomy (in this case, an apply-level verb: deliver), it’s action-focused and measurable.
A great learning objective is the compass for your entire learning experience—and Bloom’s helps you point it in the right direction.
Learning ROI
What is it?
Wouldn’t it be great to walk into the HR Director’s office and say “Our learning and development programs have had a great impact on the business,” and then proceed with some of the most important numbers – increased employee engagement levels, decreased number of customer escalations, improvement in product manufacturing and quality control. To be able to say all of these, you need to measure the learning’s return on investment (or ROI for short). Learning ROI is a way to measure whether a training program (or any learning intervention is worth the time, effort, and money that went into it. In other words: Was it actually worth it?
It’s not just about how many people showed up or liked the session—it’s about whether the learning led to real, measurable business results. This could mean faster onboarding, fewer customer complaints, better sales performance, improved safety records—you name it.
Some people try to put a financial value on the learning impact. Others look at behavioral or performance shifts. Either way, ROI is about showing that learning made a difference.
If you want to learn more, check out “A quick guide to measuring the ROI of Learning”.
Why it matters?
L&D budgets aren’t always safe or guaranteed. If you can’t show impact, it’s hard to get support from senior leadership. Learning ROI helps you make a business case for what you’re doing. It proves that training isn’t just “a nice thing to have”—it’s a driver of real results.
It also pushes you to think beyond the event. If you’re designing with ROI in mind, you’ll ask tougher questions:
What business problem are we trying to solve?
How will we measure success?
What’s the cost of doing nothing?
That kind of thinking leads to more strategic, focused learning solutions—and stronger relationships with stakeholders.
Example
Let’s say you need to design a training program for the sales team to improve their negotiation skills.
Here’s how you might show ROI:
You track performance before and after the training (e.g., average deal size or close rate).
You gather feedback from sales managers on behavior change.
You link improved performance to revenue growth—for example, if close rates go up 15%, that’s a concrete win.
You compare the financial impact to the cost of the training (including analysis, design, and delivery).
If the investment was €10,000 and it led to an extra €60,000 in closed deals over six months, that’s a 500% return. That’s not just learning that feels good—it’s learning that pays off.
Learning Transfer
What is it?
As the name suggests, learning transfer is the process of applying what someone learned in training (or another learning event) back on the job. It’s the moment when knowledge turns into action for them and theory becomes a real-world change.
In L&D, this is the ultimate goal. We’re not just teaching people to know stuff. We want them to do things differently, better, and more confidently as a result of the training. And, of course, that should tie back in with the organizational goals and strategic plans… but hopefully that goes without saying!
Why it matter?
Because from an organizational standpoint, learning without transfer is just a waste of time and money.
You can have the most beautifully designed course in the world, with stunning slides, slick videos, and top-tier facilitators—but if people walk away and do nothing differently, then what’s the point?
Learning transfer is where the real impact happens. It’s what moves us from “That was a nice workshop” to “I used that feedback model in my one-on-one yesterday, and it worked.”
For L&D professionals, focusing on transfer means asking:
What barriers might stop people from applying this?
What kind of support do they need after the session?
How can we reinforce the learning over time?
Example
Imagine you run a training on active listening for team leads. You can certainly stop at the end of a 90-minute workshop. But if you want to support the transfer further, you can do a few more things, like:
Give learners a checklist to use in real conversations that week.
Ask them to reflect and share what worked (and didn’t) in a shared space or buddy system.
Have their line managers follow up during one-on-ones to ask about the techniques they’re using.
Send a quick reminder email two weeks later with a mini tip and challenge.
Now the learning is alive and integrated into their day-to-day. It’s showing up in real conversations, with real people, in real time.
That’s learning transfer: the bridge between the classroom and the workplace—and the difference between a nice experience and lasting change.
Wrap-Up
That brings us to the end of part 3—and hopefully a few more lightbulb moments as we dig deeper into the world of learning strategy and impact.
The more you understand these terms, the more confidently you can design, talk about, and evaluate learning that makes a real difference for your learners and your business.
In part 4, we’ll tackle even more terms that often come up in everyday L&D conversations. Catch you there!
