Training employees internally is certainly a valuable process, yet in many cases, there is also someone on the outside who is better informed, better educated, and better suited to broaden a workforce’s collective skill sets and bring in new ways of thinking. Bringing in external parties to conduct training can yield drastic improvements in productivity, but these programs can also be costly. It’s important that management consider several factors before deciding to bring in a third party. First, management should ask how this particular training program will further the strategic goals of the company. Even outside-the-box ideas should be considered with the company’s end game in mind. Outside training can, and should, be disruptive. Second, management should ask if the lessons learned from the training program will be shareable. Training shouldn’t be focused on just one (or a small group) of employees. To get the most out of training, those participating in the program should come back and share what they’ve learned. Third, management should assess if outside training can solve a company-wide problem, such as internal communication or time management. Often these large-scale problems will take an outside source to correct.