I work in an injection plastics manufacturing facility that is making big changes, fast. The training department I work with has been told by upper management that they want to put two week deadlines on the courses we are making.
Are there any course designers out there that are working under these same time restraints? If so, what are your tips and tricks for busting out courses so quickly?
Or is upper management just being unrealistic? If so, what sort of statistics can I present them that will make them realize that they are being so?
I could see spitting out mini courses every two weeks while working on some bigger ones in the background. E.g. here's a video on how to do this very specific task, and so on.
I would ask for a couple of weeks or so of planning. I would start getting very task specific.
What tasks can we train on their own (e.g. without context of other tasks) in a 3 minute video? Those would be the ones you could spit out easily every 2 weeks.
Which ones will take some more planning, SMEs, etc? Those would be the ones you work on in the background.
In addition, you could look at an option where you start becoming dependent on managers. Some of the "courses" you create could really be strategy guides for managers on how to train and assess on a particular task. You'll knock out a few birds with one stone that way.
Unfortunately these are mostly larger projects that require planning with SME's, usually about 20-30 minutes in length. But with such strict deadlines, I really feel like we need to have the two week deadlines once all of the information is set to go. I don't think there's any possible way for me to hunt down SME's for info and design a course all in 2 weeks.
The suggestions are extremely helpful, I'm just trying to gather some info for the meeting we have coming up regarding the topic. Our group is trying to work on streamlining our process to get the time down as much as possible, we are averaging a month to a month in a half at this point. The big bosses want two weeks on a project, but all they see is the bottom line of what's being produced, not the leg work behind it all.
Is it possible? Yes. Is it prudent or sustainable..... That's a better question.
Those sorts of crazy timelines require significant compromises. The business leaders may or may not be willing to make them when you help them understand the pros and cons. But as always.... work first to discover what's behind the 2-week mandate. Is there a change-management imperative? Is there a financial mini-crisis that needs addressing? What's driving the sense of urgency. Once you know that, you know what compromises should be made and how to best set up the team to hit the mark.
One other specific piece of advice... State what your team can do, and in what time. Do NOT assume responsibility for other pieces in such a short timeline. Explain clearly that your team will need X days after Y is completed. If Y is delayed, so too will your output be delayed. For example.... SME approval is a common bottleneck. In a shortened timeframe you may wish to partner with the decision makers saying something like "We can execute that part in 3 days, but we are going to need your help with the SMEs leadership to ensure their piece can be done in the allotted time frame. If not, we can't move forward". Additional options here include asking for things like a dedicated SME to be tasked to your team 100% for the duration of the training push. Provide these sorts of options to reinforce you are willing, but will need the cooperation of others beyond your control.
I think that is unreasonable, unsustainable, and setting you up for failure. There is a saying, "Cheap, fast, good - pick two" You can have it fast (and two weeks is fast) but it won't be cheap and if it is cheap it won't be good. Are the procedures already completed and approved? I've had instances where I'm trying to develop training and the procedures aren't finalized yet, this can lead to major changes needed down the road. As Bob said, SME feedback and approval is often the hold up, I've also had management take their time on approving courses. You will need to document when the course was sent for approval and when the approval was received. When requesting feedback and approval I would include a statement such as, "Your timely feedback is required, if we do not hear back from you within 24 hours your approval will be considered granted." You are also going to need a very strong team with a variety of skills, embedded SME's, and someone at the Senior Management level who has the clout to make things happen.
It depends on the project if the procedure is a work in progress or not, I think they would be understanding of the hold up if a SME keeps changing things up on us. And fortunately our department supervisor does have some pretty high influence with the higher up's, so we do at least have some muscle behind us getting managers and SME's to cooperate.
I know cutting down our time on projects will be feasible, but I don't know if the two week deadline is feasible. Maybe two weeks of solid working with everything provided and ready to go, but not if any hiccups arrise. I do appreciate the feedback.
We may be saying the same thing, if so I apologize. But I would again suggest that if this timeframe proves to be required, you serve up the very language in terms of YOUR pieces instead of the entire project. You can commit to Design done in 3 days and development done in 4 days for example.... not delivering the whole project complete in 14 days.
This may seem like semantics or nuance, but it's more than that. If helps focus everyone (including stakeholders) on what's involved. And if you are being held responsible for the overall project timeline and given a crushing deadline.... you may be left holding the bag instead of the folks who could not deliver.
People have different options on the time it takes, but my organization typically takes about 12 weeks to develop a full scale 45-60 minute eLearning course from scratch.
In my opinion, with the time they're giving you they probably shouldn't expect more than a basic powerpoint presentation without any audio, video, or interactions.
Very well put, Bob. Thank you very much. I plan on creating a very specific spreadsheet to track our work hours on each project, vs time that was spent waiting on SME's pieces of the project and other various hold ups.
I think when I heard two weeks, I thought everyone was being unrealistic. But I guess if i can explain it to upper management that it will be two weeks OUR work time, that is a much more feasible option.
To me, this is about management setting their expectations for delivery, and also about training setting the expectations for the product and the resources needed for that delivery.
Look at it this way; there are three ways that you can deliver a training product: GOOD, FAST, or CHEAP.
Management gets to choose any two of the three.
If they want it GOOD and FAST, it isn't going to be CHEAP, because you'll need extra resources to pull it together in a shorter amount of time.
If they want it GOOD and CHEAP, it isn't going to be FAST, because you'll have to spend the requisite amount of time in development and production.
And lastly, if they want it FAST and CHEAP, well, it's not going to be GOOD, because you're not applying either the time or resources needed to make it good.
Obviously, this argument needs to be made in a manner so as not to fall on one's own sword of logic (else it'll become your replacement's problem to solve).
Just as a clarification question - are they expecting a product every 2 weeks? Or for you to actually work within two week time frames? This may be something to clear up with them.
For example, you may be working on several projects at once and they could take a couple of months at a time - however you will have scheduled them in a way that something releases every two weeks. There will be overlap in working schedules - but while one product is out for review or QA, you'll be jumping on something else. Frankly, they don't even need to know you're starting a project - as long as every two weeks you've released something.
Of course, then the question is when is the first 2 week project due :)
I do believe they want us to actually work within the two week time frames, but I would tend to think that as long as they are getting a new course every 2 weeks they would be content. We shall see. Definitely food for thought though. And I'm not sure when the first two week project is due... I do have about 3 projects in the works currently, so it sounds like that has the potential to put me on good pace for release as long as my SME's fulfill their end.
Yikes! Please share on your progress and success! It would be nice to hear about you specific process that allowed you to deliver so it can be shared. You are not alone with these types of unrealistic demands.
Cary and Dave already mentioned the cheap/fast/good tripod. You might also consider that "good" is open to interpretation. It could refer to quality (certainly the faster and cheaper you make something, the lower the quality is going to be), but it could also refer to level of interactivity and/or the complexity of the product.
For example, producing a fully interactive simulation with video content and branching scenarios within two weeks is unrealistic. On the other hand, pushing out a trumped out slideshow with a few multiple choice questions in those same two weeks is much more realistic.
13 Replies
What length of courses are they expecting?
I could see spitting out mini courses every two weeks while working on some bigger ones in the background. E.g. here's a video on how to do this very specific task, and so on.
I would ask for a couple of weeks or so of planning. I would start getting very task specific.
What tasks can we train on their own (e.g. without context of other tasks) in a 3 minute video? Those would be the ones you could spit out easily every 2 weeks.
Which ones will take some more planning, SMEs, etc? Those would be the ones you work on in the background.
In addition, you could look at an option where you start becoming dependent on managers. Some of the "courses" you create could really be strategy guides for managers on how to train and assess on a particular task. You'll knock out a few birds with one stone that way.
Here are some timing tables, I know there's more out there too.
Unfortunately these are mostly larger projects that require planning with SME's, usually about 20-30 minutes in length. But with such strict deadlines, I really feel like we need to have the two week deadlines once all of the information is set to go. I don't think there's any possible way for me to hunt down SME's for info and design a course all in 2 weeks.
The suggestions are extremely helpful, I'm just trying to gather some info for the meeting we have coming up regarding the topic. Our group is trying to work on streamlining our process to get the time down as much as possible, we are averaging a month to a month in a half at this point. The big bosses want two weeks on a project, but all they see is the bottom line of what's being produced, not the leg work behind it all.
Lorrielle,
Is it possible? Yes. Is it prudent or sustainable..... That's a better question.
Those sorts of crazy timelines require significant compromises. The business leaders may or may not be willing to make them when you help them understand the pros and cons. But as always.... work first to discover what's behind the 2-week mandate. Is there a change-management imperative? Is there a financial mini-crisis that needs addressing? What's driving the sense of urgency. Once you know that, you know what compromises should be made and how to best set up the team to hit the mark.
One other specific piece of advice... State what your team can do, and in what time. Do NOT assume responsibility for other pieces in such a short timeline. Explain clearly that your team will need X days after Y is completed. If Y is delayed, so too will your output be delayed. For example.... SME approval is a common bottleneck. In a shortened timeframe you may wish to partner with the decision makers saying something like "We can execute that part in 3 days, but we are going to need your help with the SMEs leadership to ensure their piece can be done in the allotted time frame. If not, we can't move forward". Additional options here include asking for things like a dedicated SME to be tasked to your team 100% for the duration of the training push. Provide these sorts of options to reinforce you are willing, but will need the cooperation of others beyond your control.
I think that is unreasonable, unsustainable, and setting you up for failure. There is a saying, "Cheap, fast, good - pick two" You can have it fast (and two weeks is fast) but it won't be cheap and if it is cheap it won't be good. Are the procedures already completed and approved? I've had instances where I'm trying to develop training and the procedures aren't finalized yet, this can lead to major changes needed down the road. As Bob said, SME feedback and approval is often the hold up, I've also had management take their time on approving courses. You will need to document when the course was sent for approval and when the approval was received. When requesting feedback and approval I would include a statement such as, "Your timely feedback is required, if we do not hear back from you within 24 hours your approval will be considered granted." You are also going to need a very strong team with a variety of skills, embedded SME's, and someone at the Senior Management level who has the clout to make things happen.
It depends on the project if the procedure is a work in progress or not, I think they would be understanding of the hold up if a SME keeps changing things up on us. And fortunately our department supervisor does have some pretty high influence with the higher up's, so we do at least have some muscle behind us getting managers and SME's to cooperate.
I know cutting down our time on projects will be feasible, but I don't know if the two week deadline is feasible. Maybe two weeks of solid working with everything provided and ready to go, but not if any hiccups arrise. I do appreciate the feedback.
Hi again Lorrielle,
We may be saying the same thing, if so I apologize. But I would again suggest that if this timeframe proves to be required, you serve up the very language in terms of YOUR pieces instead of the entire project. You can commit to Design done in 3 days and development done in 4 days for example.... not delivering the whole project complete in 14 days.
This may seem like semantics or nuance, but it's more than that. If helps focus everyone (including stakeholders) on what's involved. And if you are being held responsible for the overall project timeline and given a crushing deadline.... you may be left holding the bag instead of the folks who could not deliver.
Just going to post some more links here.
Here is a good article on the time/cost it takes to develop 1 hours of online training:
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html
Theres also a couple of discussions on this forum about development times as well:
People have different options on the time it takes, but my organization typically takes about 12 weeks to develop a full scale 45-60 minute eLearning course from scratch.
In my opinion, with the time they're giving you they probably shouldn't expect more than a basic powerpoint presentation without any audio, video, or interactions.
Very well put, Bob. Thank you very much. I plan on creating a very specific spreadsheet to track our work hours on each project, vs time that was spent waiting on SME's pieces of the project and other various hold ups.
I think when I heard two weeks, I thought everyone was being unrealistic. But I guess if i can explain it to upper management that it will be two weeks OUR work time, that is a much more feasible option.
To me, this is about management setting their expectations for delivery, and also about training setting the expectations for the product and the resources needed for that delivery.
Look at it this way; there are three ways that you can deliver a training product: GOOD, FAST, or CHEAP.
Management gets to choose any two of the three.
If they want it GOOD and FAST, it isn't going to be CHEAP, because you'll need extra resources to pull it together in a shorter amount of time.
If they want it GOOD and CHEAP, it isn't going to be FAST, because you'll have to spend the requisite amount of time in development and production.
And lastly, if they want it FAST and CHEAP, well, it's not going to be GOOD, because you're not applying either the time or resources needed to make it good.
Obviously, this argument needs to be made in a manner so as not to fall on one's own sword of logic (else it'll become your replacement's problem to solve).
Just as a clarification question - are they expecting a product every 2 weeks? Or for you to actually work within two week time frames? This may be something to clear up with them.
For example, you may be working on several projects at once and they could take a couple of months at a time - however you will have scheduled them in a way that something releases every two weeks. There will be overlap in working schedules - but while one product is out for review or QA, you'll be jumping on something else. Frankly, they don't even need to know you're starting a project - as long as every two weeks you've released something.
Of course, then the question is when is the first 2 week project due :)
I do believe they want us to actually work within the two week time frames, but I would tend to think that as long as they are getting a new course every 2 weeks they would be content. We shall see. Definitely food for thought though. And I'm not sure when the first two week project is due... I do have about 3 projects in the works currently, so it sounds like that has the potential to put me on good pace for release as long as my SME's fulfill their end.
Yikes! Please share on your progress and success! It would be nice to hear about you specific process that allowed you to deliver so it can be shared. You are not alone with these types of unrealistic demands.
Cary and Dave already mentioned the cheap/fast/good tripod. You might also consider that "good" is open to interpretation. It could refer to quality (certainly the faster and cheaper you make something, the lower the quality is going to be), but it could also refer to level of interactivity and/or the complexity of the product.
For example, producing a fully interactive simulation with video content and branching scenarios within two weeks is unrealistic. On the other hand, pushing out a trumped out slideshow with a few multiple choice questions in those same two weeks is much more realistic.
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