Forum Discussion

KimberlySmith-K's avatar
KimberlySmith-K
Community Member
5 years ago

how long does it really take to build training?

Hello -  I'm in a hybrid role - training specialist/project-based HR Generalist.  Because this is a hybrid role, I need to clearly communicate the time it takes to actually build a course, whether...
General E-Learning
JudyNollet's avatar
JudyNollet
Super Hero
5 years ago

Hi, Kimberly,

Estimating development time is the hardest part about creating courses. There are so many variables: 

  • Topic/scope. How much are you supposed to cover? How difficult is the content to understand and to organize? What's already available? 
  • Interactivity. Will it be a simple, linear presentation, with maybe a few click-tell interactions? Or does it need to include branching scenarios? If so, where are those stories going to come from? 
  • Media. Will there be any audio narration and/or videos? If so, the time needed to write scripts, get them approved, and then do the production work can really add up.
  • Design. Do you have a basic design template to work with, or are you starting from scratch? 
  • SMEs. How much help do you need from SMEs? And will they be responsive? 
  • Review process. How many people have to approve the course? Will they conduct their reviews in a timely fashion? 

So five courses in four weeks? Well, maybe if they're short, easy, and everyone answers questions and completes their reviews right away. Otherwise, that seems like too big an ask (especially when you can't make it a full-time effort).