What are best practices for managing training content to ensure things stay updated as often as needed? (What system, software, or process has anyone found to work well?)
My current job focuses on mostly compliance training, so updates are on an annual or bi-annual basis, depending on the course (unless something big comes along and changes the laws). I love my review calendar because I can chart out my entire year starting in January.
When I did software training, we kept it super simple and tracked our inventory of courses on a shared spreadsheet. Each course had a "Last Updated" date assigned and a priority number. The list could be sorted by what was oldest, then given a priority on whether the content or style needed to be updated. We would also keep an eye on upcoming software releases because any courses affected by new/enhanced features would need to take top priority whether or not they were on the older side. Since we were in that spreadsheet often, it was effective in helping us project plan each week/month.
Hi Philip! Great question! Kalena gave some awesome suggestions. I want to add my +1 to spreadsheets. I've used Google Sheets to manage and keep track of course updates at a few different companies. I made this free course spreadsheet template. It can easily be imported into Google Sheets. I included a few dropdown options, but you can also add your own columns.
This is very helpful. I like that you included how software releases can affect training. Do you maintain your review calendar in excel or somewhere else?
I work for a state agency, so the review calendar has very little variance year to year. We strive to only release training on the 1st or the 15th of the month for consistency (though holidays/weekends may push the date back 1-2 days). Our Legal & Compliance division publishes the dates for the upcoming year in late Fall on a PDF, though there is a spreadsheet that details which laws/statutes affect each of our compliance modules, how often they must be reviewed (legally), as well as identifies the SME. At this point, though, I rarely reference the spreadsheet.
Thanks, Kalena. I am involved in some compliance-related training updates along with creating other non-compliance-related content. The electronic document filing system that was used before I got here has no rhyme or reason and there has been no tracking of updates. The update requests have been reactionary rather than proactive. I'm working with the team to make it easier to find, reference, and update content. Thank you for your tips!
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My current job focuses on mostly compliance training, so updates are on an annual or bi-annual basis, depending on the course (unless something big comes along and changes the laws). I love my review calendar because I can chart out my entire year starting in January.
When I did software training, we kept it super simple and tracked our inventory of courses on a shared spreadsheet. Each course had a "Last Updated" date assigned and a priority number. The list could be sorted by what was oldest, then given a priority on whether the content or style needed to be updated. We would also keep an eye on upcoming software releases because any courses affected by new/enhanced features would need to take top priority whether or not they were on the older side. Since we were in that spreadsheet often, it was effective in helping us project plan each week/month.
Hi Philip! Great question! Kalena gave some awesome suggestions. I want to add my +1 to spreadsheets. I've used Google Sheets to manage and keep track of course updates at a few different companies. I made this free course spreadsheet template. It can easily be imported into Google Sheets. I included a few dropdown options, but you can also add your own columns.
Thank you, Kalena!
This is very helpful. I like that you included how software releases can affect training. Do you maintain your review calendar in excel or somewhere else?
Thank you, Sarah. I also grabbed your eLearning maintenance checklist. This should be very helpful to get us started.
I work for a state agency, so the review calendar has very little variance year to year. We strive to only release training on the 1st or the 15th of the month for consistency (though holidays/weekends may push the date back 1-2 days). Our Legal & Compliance division publishes the dates for the upcoming year in late Fall on a PDF, though there is a spreadsheet that details which laws/statutes affect each of our compliance modules, how often they must be reviewed (legally), as well as identifies the SME. At this point, though, I rarely reference the spreadsheet.
Thanks, Kalena. I am involved in some compliance-related training updates along with creating other non-compliance-related content. The electronic document filing system that was used before I got here has no rhyme or reason and there has been no tracking of updates. The update requests have been reactionary rather than proactive. I'm working with the team to make it easier to find, reference, and update content. Thank you for your tips!