From Darkness to Light: Securing Buy-in for Your Onboarding Dream
We all know when it comes to talking to executives, they usually want very few details: How much will it cost? How long will it take? This is especially true when it comes to training, which unfortunately is still used as a reactive measure instead of a preventative measure. A well-planned and executed onboarding experience […]
How to Not Look Stupid: The Value of QC
In our fifth episode we discuss a topic that I am particularly passionate about, Quality Control or QC. These are the unsung heroes of our projects, as they inspect and review our work for grammatical and spelling changes, as well as functionality and accessibility. Take a listen to see why we think this is a […]
QC: The Unsung Heroes of L&D
Let’s talk about Quality Control (QC) reviews. I usually start with a joke or a story, but this article has undergone a few rewrites, and honestly, I am struggling with how to get my point across. But I think I have landed on something I can be happy with. I have struggled writing this article […]
Analyze This
I have written about the importance of analysis. I have reinforced that information in a couple of other posts. Some of you are still not convinced. <RETRIEVES SOAP BOX> So! Let’s try a story. (20x more likely to remember!) Once upon a time, there was a fancy prince who wanted to implement an onboarding program for […]
Herding Cats: The Life of a PM
In our fourth episode we welcome guest star, Sarah Meyer! Sarah is one of our fantastic Project Managers, or PMs, and she shares what it is like to try to keep IDs, SMEs, Stakeholders, and even other PMs aligned while a project develops. This is the fourth and final position deep dive, going into how […]
5 Things IDs Can Do to Improve Their Project Management IQ
As an instructional designer, you likely have a fair amount of project management tasks. Effective project management is crucial for the success of any learning development project, yet few IDs have any formal training in PM. Let’s explore five simple areas that will improve your project management IQ and enhance your skills. 1) Learn the […]
The Life of a Project Manager: Herding Cats
What do you want to be when you grow up? This question comes up a lot when you’re a kid. For me, when I was young and teachers or adults asked me this, I remember thinking – who KNOWS? Do I have to pick just one thing? What if I change my mind? It didn’t […]
Top 10 Tips for Creating a Successful Onboarding Experience
I have never experienced a formal onboarding program. Not one. And I am old, so there have been several jobs—corporate, government, consulting, etc. The closest I came to it was when I worked for a major university. They had an “orientation” for everyone who had been recently hired (for me, “recent” was nearly six months) […]
Making the Case for L&D Project Managers
Have you worked with an L&D project manager? You probably just said no. In our industry, it’s common for members of the design team to take on not only the roles of designer and developer, but also project manager. Adding a PM to your team that is well-versed in learning development has many benefits. First, […]
Lessons from the Journey: SME to ID
It was the early 2010s, and I was climbing up the side of a house, holding a length of cable over my shoulder. The cable ran along my customer’s yard, extended across the street, and connected to a hook that was roughly 25 feet in the air on the nearest power pole. I was helping […]
All About Production: The Life of an SME
In our third episode we deep dive into what life is like as a SME, both customer-facing and corporate. Jeremy and Tara both came from a SME background, so they share what their day to day life was like in their previous roles, and how that affects their view on training. They also end the […]
Let Us Show You the Money: The Life of an ID
In our second episode we start our conversation about each of the roles that we identified in our first episode. We go into detail about Jeremy’s current role, the Instructional Designer. We share how IDs work with clients and how IDs utilize research-based development processes throughout the project lifecycle to make effective learning. What IDs […]