“We are spending more than 30 hours a week, every week, training new team members.”  

This was the answer the client gave when asked, “What are some of the problems you hope this training will solve?”  

The Evolve Learning team lead was conducting the kickoff meeting for a new training for a nation-wide services company. Their small (but mighty) leadership team were spending a significant amount of time training – in addition to their regular duties.  

When the decision was made to scale the company and services, the team knew training was the first problem they had to solve. Our meeting, at the end of October 2022, was the client’s opportunity to figure out how this could be done. With a goal to hire and onboard 28 business representatives by the end of the year, we knew this project would be unique.  

Additional project requirements:

  • Quick Turnaround: Time was of the essence! A training plan and updated materials had to be in place within 45 days of the project start date.  
  • Efficient: The training program needed to reduce overhead and increase efficiency.  
  • Flexible: Training had to prepare new team members to be able to begin working within the second week of employment. However, with new people continuously being hired it was a challenge to train everyone at different stages of their learning journey.  
  • Modality: They had video and PowerPoint and were delivering via VILT but they needed other stand-alone modalities. Also, with no Learning Management System, everything needed to be delivered via SharePoint and MS Teams.  
  • Scalable: We had to find a way to reduce the time the leadership team was spending delivering training. We also needed to eliminate the “bottle-neck” affecting when new hires could be trained.  

How did we do it? Continue reading to find out more about our process to help complete training that enabled an organization and helped them to scale. 

Rapid Analysis and Design

Having a limited amount of time is never an excuse not to follow best practices. We started with an analysis. This included a deep dive into existing training materials, attending live training sessions, meeting with trainers between sessions, and asking trainers to record their sessions. We set expectations with the client early, and they were aware that analysis had to be kept to one week. Leadership made themselves available for meetings and provided us with all the information necessary to create a plan. 

A learning plan was designed at the conclusion of our analysis. Not all the requirements for the training could realistically be met by the deadline of mid-December 2022. Instead, we took a phased approach to the training. The project was broken into 3 phases. Phase 1 would be our current focus and relied heavily on existing content, such as videos and PowerPoints that the client had previously created. The strategy for Phase 1 was a blended learning delivery. New hires would get a mix of self-guided learning (videos, eLearning, guides), on-the-job training, and performance support materials. 

Phase 1 of the training plan was centered around the development of a participant workbook, known as the “Success Guide for New Hires.” This workbook held: 

  • Links to existing videos   
  • Job Aids for completing software-related tasks   
  • Links to 4 eLearning modules   
  • Links to 2 new videos  

With the Phase 1 plan in place, it was time to create the training materials. 

Mobilizing Quickly

We finished the analysis and design within 2 weeks and then quickly moved to the development phase by the second week of November. We had approximately a month to deliver Phase 1 of the project, and the holidays were upon us. To mobilize quickly we used a flexible resource model to complete this project.  

What is a flexible resource model? This model allows us to use the right resource, for a specific amount of time, at the right time in the project to ensure timely delivery of projects.  

The Learning Project Manager oversaw development from start to finish. She began by working with the Learning Consultant to put the project plan in place, first identifying the learning objects that were needed, then prioritizing deliverables by the length of time it would take to create.  

Instructional Designers and eLearning Developers were dispatched immediately to write new training content for the videos and eLearning modules. The graphic designer created templates for the workbook and modules. Development tasks were organized into chunks and assigned to multiple team members, allowing us to develop deliverables simultaneously and utilize each resource’s skillsets. The team shared each of their contributions in a single location so that it could be organized into a funnel, from the creators to the Development Lead, who organized the information into the workbook, and finally, to the Project Manager who performed a quality assurance check on the workbook. 

Finalizing the Training

Despite the short timeline, we were able to successfully test the learning objects. We shared the materials we had developed with the leadership team to use in their new hire training, collected feedback, and made updates to the materials as soon as that feedback was received. We also used the information gathered during pilot testing to solidify our plan for future phases of the project. Phases 2 and 3 of the project include:   

  • Turning the workbook into a comprehensive blended learning program  
  • Developing additional videos, explainer animations, virtual instructor led and performance support materials. 
  • Building the coaching and mentoring program 

Even with the limitations, we delivered the final training materials early and included everything that was planned for Phase 1! That consisted of: 

  • Comprehensive Success Guide for New Hires 
  • Links to the existing videos on YouTube 
  • Job Aids to guide employees through the completion of 10 activities 
  • Links to 4 eLearning modules on Review 360 
  • Links to 2 new videos on Review 360 

Outcomes

We not only met our training delivery deadline of mid-December, but we even delivered the learning objects early. We accomplished this by keeping our goal clear: to support a rapid and cost-effective learning program transformation that is sustainable and scalable. We committed to enabling the organization by utilizing the training materials they already had in place and enhancing their training with additional learning objects. This ultimately gave their learners, the new hires, the ability to take responsibility for their learning goals by reducing the amount of support required by the leadership and training team. 

Process was the key to our success. We followed the “tried and true” method of conducting an analysis and organizing materials before designing and developing. We set expectations with the client early and worked with them to create a plan of action. Items that would have been “nice to have,” but were not necessary at the outset, were placed in the Phase 2 or Phase 3 plan to allow the initial steps to move as quickly as possible. 

Our ability to accomplish a significant amount of development in a short period of time came down to our approach. By breaking up the work into smaller chunks and utilizing a flexible resourcing model, we were able to rapidly deliver multiple learning objects. The success of this approach is due to the organization and communication facilitated by leadership throughout the project. 

The client successfully met their goal of rolling out a cost efficient and scalable learning plan. But we aren’t done yet!  

Stay tuned to learn more about what we accomplished in Phase 2.