Three tips for managing your first elearning project.
January 26, 2021
You have decided to take the plunge to develop elearning yourself, you have chosen an authoring tool, and you are ready to get creative!
Before you do, take a few minutes to read our three tips to ensure your project is successful. This is your chance to learn from the elearning pros and avoid time-consuming mistakes.
- Understand it’s a project, not an action.
One of the first mistakes people make is jumping straight in and starting work on developing the module rather than taking a step back to plan.
Try to think of creating a module as a project and all the things that a project will need, such as:
- A project manager (this will probably be you)
- A project team (see tip 2)
- A project sponsor (someone to sign off the module)
- A project plan that sets out the actions and timescales for the project team.
- Involve the right people from the start.
If you involve the right people from the start, your project is more likely to succeed. This project team should include a range of stakeholders that will help to ensure your project get input from the right people; this will include ensuring the module:
- Meets your learning objective/s.
- Is thoroughly tested.
- Connects with your audience.
- Contains technically accurate information.
- Is on brand and uses the right tone of voice.
- Is signed off by a project sponsor on behalf of the organisation.
We always try to involve representatives from the following areas to meet at the beginning of a project and to feed into it at relevant points throughout:
- Communication
- Marketing
- SME’s (if you are not the content expert yourself)
- Project sponsor
- Learning and development Learners
Your project team should meet at the start of the project. This will allow you to explain the process and help them to understand their role in the success of the project and the time their input will involve.
- Establish an elearning design and development process that works for you.
A solid design and development process will help to ensure your project meets its goals, is delivered on time and on budget. It formalises for the project team (and stakeholders) what happens at each stage to take an elearning module from conception to delivery.
If you don’t have your own design and development process, we use a seven-step process that includes four reviews and sign off points. This process is the result of over 10 years of lessons learned in creating bespoke elearning.
If you need a process to help you to kick start your elearning, feel free to drop us a message, and we’ll be happy to discuss this with you, you might also find this article written for the Charity Learning Consortium useful.