Every day, corporate learning and development (L&D) departments are asked to solve a wide range of people, process and performance challenges. But the real question is this:

How many of those challenges truly call for a training solution?

When a training function is fully empowered with the right questions, tools and influence, they can determine whether L&D is truly the best path or if another function is better positioned to address the issue. This is where a strong intake process comes in.

An effective intake process is far more than a form or a checklist. It’s a strategic capability that enables the L&D team to diagnose, filter and direct requests to the function best equipped to address them, even if the best path forward isn’t training.

When to Rethink the Intake Process

At its core, intake is a conversation with the business, not just a process or set of questions.

When these conversations aren’t approached strategically, the intake process can quickly become transactional and focused on fulfilling requests rather than solving business problems.

Common warning signs that you need to rethink your intake process include:

• Too much focus on the topics and content of the training
• Treating intake like filling out a form rather than having a rich consultative conversation
• Focusing on the requester’s stated solution rather than what’s best for the organization
• Using a low-level L&D person to do the intake process instead of a senior practitioner who’s skilled and highly experienced in performance consulting and needs analysis

One simple but powerful change is to make the intake process a strategic conversation early on and to assign the right person to lead it.

Asking the Right Questions

Before creating training, it’s essential to ask the right questions at intake. By diagnosing the true nature of the request, L&D ensures it’s focused where it delivers the greatest impact so work can be redirected when needed to the department best positioned to provide the right solution.

To guide the questions, I find it valuable to walk through each of Carl Binder’s Six Boxes^® and ask:

1. Do employees know what is expected?
2. Do employees have the necessary tools and materials?
3. Are consequences aligned with results?
4. Do employees know how to do their jobs?
5. Are employees able to perform physically and cognitively?
6. Do employees want to perform?

By answering these questions, L&D can pinpoint potential gaps, identify the root cause of the performance gaps and put solutions in place that lead to improved performance.

In addition to understanding the performance gaps and root causes, L&D needs to ask questions about the solution’s potential impact:

• How many employees will this solution affect or touch?
• Was this request budgeted for, or is it an emerging need?
• Is this solution required? And if so, can employees test out by demonstrating competence and mastery?
• Is this an immediate need, or does this prepare employees for a future need?
• How should this need be prioritized relative to other requests?
• What are the consequences and risks of doing nothing?

Not All Problems Are Training Problems

Once you ask the right questions, you can quickly determine whether the request belongs with L&D or another function. For example, learning leaders can say: “Before we build training, can we take a step back and make sure we’re solving the right problem?” Or: “It might be training, but let’s first look at what’s really driving your performance gap.”

The goal is simple: confirm whether training is truly needed and, when it isn’t, route the request to the team that owns the lever for change (communications, HR, IT, facilities, analytics and others). Sometimes the best next step is simply clarifying expectations through an awareness piece that can be developed by L&D, corporate communications or an HR business partner.

Here’s a breakdown of common challenges and how they may be best addressed:

Rather than reaching out to a central function, some requests may be best handled by a manager. Things L&D might turn away include:

• A simple communication through email or Microsoft Teams, or a department meeting
• Something that can be handled by shadowing or on-the-job (OJT) training (a list of topics to cover in the OJT can be helpful)
• A performance discussion where there are existing resources
• A career discussion: Where does the employee want to go next, and what can help them get there?

The Intake Process Is Your Strategic Superpower

A thoughtful intake process ensures that L&D is focused on where it matters most: building knowledge, developing skills, driving performance and supporting growth. It also gives us the confidence to say, “This isn’t a training issue,” and redirect it to the function that can make a real difference.

Often, training is an expensive solution that takes workers off the job. Conducting a thorough diagnosis and arriving at the right solution — perhaps one that is less time- and resource-intensive — can give the training department credibility. By thinking big picture and doing what’s best for the company in the long term, L&D leaders preserve the notion that, when training is used for the right reasons, it really works. This positions L&D as consultative and partners rather than order takers.

Training is powerful, but it isn’t the right fix for every workplace challenge. We’re often asked to “create a course” or “run a session,” yet those requests are frequently just symptoms of deeper issues. That’s why, before building training, we need to ask the right questions — and be ready to say, “Training isn’t always the answer, but we’ll help you get to the right place and build the right solution.”