I recently completed a project for a client which went so smoothly it was over before I knew it. I really enjoyed the whole process from start to finish and the course we created received rave reviews from the client, stakeholders and users. I was actually quite sad to see the project come to an end. And so, it made me ask myself, why do some projects run like a dream and others don’t?

In this particular case I think one of the main differences was the client subject matter expert (SME). She was very enthusiastic and engaged with the project right from the outset, ensuring that she was able to meet every review deadline, booking in key stakeholders’ review times well in advance and continually managing stakeholders’ expectations. Furthermore, she seemed to have a strong understanding of what’s required to create an engaging and effective e-learning course and summed this up, saying,

“The general expectation is that creating an e-learning course is easier and quicker than creating classroom training, but this isn’t necessarily the case. With classroom training you can paper over the cracks in content and keep the learners engaged by having a knowledgeable and entertaining trainer. You don’t have this luxury with e-learning. Making sure the content is sound and that the course is engaging requires focused time and effort throughout the whole creation process and is crucial to the course’s success.”

Client SMEs don’t always have this level of insight into e-learning and on top of that they’re not always able to manage their stakeholders’ time, expectations or schedules successfully. What’s more, SMEs are often working on the project in addition to their day job and might not have the time to be proactive, or might not think this is part of their remit. Simply explaining this to them at the beginning of the project doesn’t always have the required effect. It almost seems like we need to create an e-learning course for client SMEs to complete before they begin working on e-learning projects. Perhaps a course entitled, ‘How to be an e-learning project SME’ or something similar could be a useful e-learning course for us to create?!

What do you think? Have you worked with any excellent SMEs recently? Or, have you had any experiences where you’ve been able to coach your SMEs to work with you successfully? Let us know your thoughts!

Whether it’s a new client or one you’ve worked with before, the way you begin a project sets the tone for the rest of the project. Here are our top tips for ensuring every project starts with a bang!

1. Research your client before you meet them
Make a good impression by researching the client, their company culture and history, their competitors and the industry before you meet with them.

2. Arrange the kick off at the client’s offices
Kicking off the project at the client’s offices allows you to get a feel for their culture and also offers the chance to meet everyone who’ll be involved, even if they can’t all attend the meeting.

3. Confirm information before the meeting
Send out a questionnaire in advance to gather basic information such as contact details. The meeting can then focus on discussions about project aims, learning objectives and timescales.

4. Invite the right people
As well as the project managers and senior stakeholders, invite the technical manager and any SMEs. Discussing their motivation and work schedules allows you to mitigate risks early on.

5. Ask the SMEs to bring relevant materials
Discussing content and agreeing learning objectives at the meeting gives you a good understanding of the subject matter and ensures that everyone is on the same wavelength.

6. Explain the project lifecycle
Take the time to explain exactly how you will run and manage the project, clearly highlighting your expectations of client stakeholders, risks and the impact of missed deadlines or scope changes.

7. Set up weekly progress calls
Agree a time for weekly conference calls about project progress. Even if the time sometimes has to change, a placeholder helps to maintain momentum and keeps the project on everyone’s radar. Developments in teleconferencing technology facilitate this possibility.

8. Establish a project timeline
Following the meeting set up a timeline of deliverables and face to face meetings, noting any periods of unavailability. Highlighting key dates lets people plan ahead and schedule review times.

9. Create a project definition document
After kick off, write a project definition setting out the approach, learning outcomes and content. Get client sign off to confirm that everyone agrees before beginning any instructional design.

10. Don’t assume anything!
Even if you’ve worked together before, confirm everything as if it were the first project. Getting the small details right from the very start will minimise hiccups throughout the rest of the project.

Download our top ten tips for kicking off a project

Effective project management is often the deciding factor when it comes to e-learning project success. Here are our top ten tips for making sure that you always deliver!

1. Have a formal project kick off
Before you start the project, make sure you understand the learning objectives, the client’s expectations, the timelines and the risks. Also make sure that the client understands the approach that you are going to take.

2. Start with the end in mind
Define the end goal and end date first and then plan backwards from this point. If you have to deliver a working course by 20 March, when do you need the pilot? If the pilot is needed by 12 February, when do you need the first build?

3. Keep it simple
Your instinct may be to use a Microsoft project plan – resist this at all costs. Create a simple table of deliverables and feedback dates – something that is easy to maintain and easy to understand. 

4. Take an ‘it’s either done or it’s not done’ approach
Track your project using milestones – tangible deliverables which are either done or not done. Avoid using percentage complete. Ask yourself what 80% complete means, when the other 20% will be done and how much effort it will take.

5. Manage risks
The key to risk management is to ask: what could go (horribly) wrong? Once you have a list, don’t leave it in your desk draw. Actively manage it and try to mitigate the risk.

6. Communicate, communicate, communicate!
The biggest reason for project failure is lack of communication. Often people on projects just don’t talk enough, becoming overly reliant on emails, plans and reports. As a minimum, arrange weekly team conference calls or meetings. 

7. Manage the subject matter experts
Subject matter experts, who are balancing their role with their day jobs, can cause delays to your project and need to be managed. Communicate the process to them and make your expectations clear. Put your project dates in their diaries.

8. Don’t forget prototypes and pilots
Your stakeholders will really understand what you are proposing when they see it. This is a good thing and helps to narrow requirements. Therefore you should build prototypes and you should always have a pilot.

9. Don’t be shackled by the plan
Project management is a people business. Don’t spend all your time updating the plan and documenting the process. Spend your time working with your team, understanding their issues and managing the risks

10. Watch your optimism
It’s natural to be optimistic and to believe that everything will go right. Try to keep a lid on this and keep asking yourself, what could go horribly wrong and how will I manage the situation if this happens?

Download our top ten tips for managing an e-learning project

One of the biggest challenges with any project is sticking to the original plan. There’s often so much to do, often within tight timescales, and no project runs exactly as planned. There are always unexpected events that occur and throw things a little off course, which can cause delay to your project.

It can take a long time to figure out your project plan, and you’ll inevitably be keen to hit all the milestones you’ve so carefully put in place. Project managers know as well as anyone that missing deadlines - and consequently not meeting those milestones - means additional work. You may often hear “…well, we missed the sign-off by a week so we’ll just push everything else out by a week.” This is an easy conclusion to come to but actually you should first consider all possible impacts wisely before making such assumptions.

You see, missing a deadline doesn’t mean that all other milestones will automatically move out by the same amount of time. For example, say that I.T. development or a video shoot is the next milestone in your project: if your resources are ‘booked’ for a particular time period, you may well find that they can’t commit a week later due to other work. The next available slot for a video shoot with your required actors may not be possible for a while - in effect, you’ve missed your timeslot. This is why project success is quite often simply down to good planning. You must be aware of the dependencies affecting your project.

So, missing a deadline can mean a great deal more work for you as a project manager. You’ll need to review and update your project plan, request more resources, re-assess risks and issues (no doubt raising more!) and communicate the change and impact to all of the project’s stakeholders. All these tasks will be multiplied if you are juggling several projects at once, and they’ll have a definite impact on your time and project costs!

Quite often, making the project team, sponsors and stakeholders aware of the risks and consequences of missing deadlines will encourage them all to stay on track - they don’t want to delay the project any more than you do and they certainly won’t want to incur additional costs!

Part of the secret behind Saffron’s success is that we go beyond simple client and supplier relationships and instead build lasting partnerships. Here are our top ten tips for building relationships that last.

1. Be prepared
Before the project initiation meeting, find out all there is to know about the client and why they want to use e-learning. Familiarise yourself with any material provided, prepare some key questions and greet the client with a smile!

2. Listen and learn
Whilst you may have some great ideas, take the time to listen to what your client wants. By really understanding why they think a particular solution will benefit their company, you’ll be showing them that you’re someone they can trust.

3. Remember, it’s good to talk
Frequent communication is the key to a strong client relationship. Hold weekly calls to catch up on the project’s progress and try to meet face to face as often as possible - we’ve found it’s invaluable in forging trust and confidence.

4. Don’t forget - your clients have day jobs too!
It’s easy to forget that your client may not be focused on your project nine ‘til five, five days a week. Bear this in mind when planning timelines, and work with the stakeholders to build in realistic review times that work for them.

5. Blitz the jargon
A confused client is a concerned client. Always explain terms and concepts associated with e-learning and make sure that the client fully understands the processes you will be using throughout the project’s lifespan.

6. Go back to basics
Your client may never have seen a storyboard before and may have no idea how a static PowerPoint slide or Word document translates into interactive material. Explain everything and guide them through your vision of the course.

7. Provide iterative releases
An interim storyboard or Flash release of one unit not only helps the client to see how the content is being brought to life at an early stage but also offers them the chance to make changes without causing delays to the overall project.

8. Involve the right people at the right time
The technology behind an e-learning course can seem daunting for non technical people. Contact the LMS team directly to arrange early testing and try to resolve any technical issues without involving the entire client team.

9. Be close at hand
One of the most frustrating things about project management is not having contact details at your finger tips. Help your clients out by always including yours in your email signature - not only is it useful but it looks professional too.

10. Look to the future
The client relationship shouldn’t end when the project is completed. By keeping in touch to monitor how the course performs you’re also keeping the door open for any future opportunities to work together again.

Download our top ten tips for building lasting client relationships

If it’s not your day job, setting up and running a photography session can seem daunting, but it’s not as difficult as you might think. A few pieces of equipment, the appropriate preparation and a small dose of confidence are the keys for success. Here are our top five tips to make your next photo shoot go swimmingly.

1. Do your preparation

Before the shoot, list and gather all the props you need and, if you are hiring models, ask them to come with a specific wardrobe of clothes (watch out for white shirts on white backdrops!). On the day, arrive early to set up your set, lighting and backdrop. Ask someone to stand in for the model if you can, so you can test and experiment with different setups.

2. Plan the poses

During the shoot you need to get your models in several poses. It’s good to have a checklist of those poses and movements, including a series of different facial expressions to secure the whole range of shots you will need. And, if you have the time, why not add some extra ‘generic’ poses for stock photos that might be useful for further projects?

3. Get the lighting right

Light kits come cheaply nowadays and we suggest 200w/s strobes for their flexibility. You need at least one main light or flash, a fill light to cut out shadows and ideally a third backlight to light the backdrop and isolate the subject. Proper umbrellas help soften the light, and don’t forget to turn the lights off a while before packing so they can cool down.

4. Invest in the right camera

Digital cameras have increased their capability to produce high quality images, therefore a digital SLR camera should suit your purpose. The main players here are Canon, Nikon, Sony and Pentax. If you have extra budget to spend then spend it here - a good camera is worth the investment. A tripod is also a necessity to support and stabilise the camera.

5. Shoot too many pictures, not too few

Shoot as many images as you need (if not more) without fear. Memory cards can store up to 500 high resolution photos and most digital cameras can also be plugged directly into a laptop, which permits you to view the high-quality photos straight away and make the required adjustments on the next round of shots.

Download our top five tips for running a successful photo shoot

Many clients want to include video in their e-learning courses meaning that we need to become film directors as part of our day job too. But it’s not just about having a director’s chair with your name on the back. Follow these tips to ensure your video shoot runs like clockwork.

1. Get sign-off from your client
If your client can’t attend the shoot then make sure you send them recent photos of the actors you’re using and ask the actor to call them before the shoot to check voices and accents. Make sure to get your video scripts signed off by your client at least one week before the shoot.

2. Be specific about requirements
Be explicit about the hair, make-up and costume requirements for each actor. Ask them to bring along several changes of clothes just in case some of them aren’t suitable. Get them to change costume between scenes set on different days as this makes it more realistic.

3. Create your schedule carefully
Allow extra time in between scenes for costume, sound and lighting checks and changes. If you can, set up the equipment the night before to save time. This also lets you think through potential technical problems in advance, such as having enough power sockets for the equipment.

4. Choose your location wisely
Film in a location where you can maintain consistent sound and lighting throughout the day so that editing cuts within scenes will be seamless. Ensure none of the furniture is fixed in place as this gives you the option to move it around to adapt the location as required.

5. Be picky when you’re filming
Don’t be afraid to film several takes of a scene if you’re not happy with something, such as the way an actor says their lines or the intrusion of background noises. When it comes to editing it’s better to have too much footage than not enough.

Download our top five tips for running a successful video shoot

The project has been signed off and requirements gathered - now for the planning! To plan a project’s resources, you’ll need to have a really clear idea of the number and types of resources needed to spring the project into action. Without efficient resource planning things can start to fail rather quickly. Here are our top five tips to avoid that happening.

1. Define resources - who and what
So you’ve been informed of the project’s requirements and potentially even been given a delivery date. The question now is ‘who’ and ‘what’ are required to implement the project? It is important that the right people and equipment are identified otherwise you could be in a position where you don’t have the right tools for the job.

2. Schedule resources - when
Once you have clearly identified what resources are needed, it all comes down to time and availability. Determining how long a resource is required for is dependant upon two things: receiving accurate work effort estimates and taking into account the availability of that resource (consider planned absences, commitment to other projects and so on).

3. Be realistic
There’s little point in trying to fit a square plug into a round hole; it simply won’t fit. No matter how demanding the resource request is, you need to be realistic about what can be achieved in a given amount of time. It’s always best to plan resources with some contingency to allow for those unexpected problems that seem to arise from nowhere.

4. Prioritise
Changes to your resource plan are inevitable so be prepared to prioritise and make quick decisions. This needn’t have an impact on deliverables; if you take a step back and look at the bigger picture you might find that by moving something out elsewhere, things can stay on plan - it’s a bit like a jigsaw puzzle; you just need to find the best fit.

5. Plan ahead
If you often find yourself in a position where you are struggling to fit everything into your resource plan then you need to start planning ahead. Advance notice of projects in the pipeline allows you to think ahead and direct resources to fit your needs. It’s better to have things on the radar well in advance and move it out rather than not be able to fit it in at all.

Download our top five tips for managing resources

When you think of e-learning, you may not automatically think of a breath-taking, stomach-dropping, toe-curling rollercoaster ride. But I ventured up to Alton Towers last weekend and I couldn’t help but consider just how similar my fun (and sometimes frightening) moments there were to my experiences with e-learning.

At theme parks, it always begins with the anticipation of the ride. Now, if you’re like me, you might spend your time in the seemingly infinite queue thinking of what’s to come - imagining that endless vertical drop on Oblivion or torturing yourself with visions of sharp twists and loops, whilst staring at your dangling feet and legs as you tightly grip the mere pieces of metal and plastic pinning you in place.

But what does this have to do with e-learning? I found myself comparing the journey that my nerves and emotions took whilst at Alton Towers with the lifecycle of an e-learning project. The very start: the project initiation where you usually meet your subject matter experts for the very first time, loaded with the desire to impress - it’s the anticipation of that new challenge which, I think, mirrors the feeling before an unfamiliar and daunting rollercoaster ride. Then you take your seat and prepare yourself for the ride - or, in e-learning terms, you begin to structure and plan the project, its timescales and milestones.

Then, as a project progresses, you become more familiar with the content of the course and when storyboarding starts - in my experience - enjoyment grows with the increasing creativity. Similarly, at Alton Towers, I would almost settle in on a fast, exhilarating ride and really enjoy the rush, the fear, and the adrenaline. It’s the same thrill I feel when my storyboards are developed into Flash: seeing my project come to life before my eyes. Then, of course, there’s always aspects of a project that are hard to control or predict, regardless of the mitigation strategies in place, which force us to adapt - just like the sudden drops and turns that can catch us unawares on a rollercoaster.

But this is all part of the journey that, as an instructional designer and self-confessed thrill-seeker, I love. When everything falls into place for a project, the sense of reward and achievement can be overwhelming - just like the realisation that you’ve survived the rollercoaster ride and want to experience it all over again.

My colleague (and fellow contributor to the Spicy Learning Blog) Lucy and I presented at last month’s eLearning Network event on creating effective and engaging learning content. This is a dauntingly vast topic and our biggest challenge was probably stripping down everything we wanted to say to some key messages that might actually prove useful to other delegates (or, at the very least, provide some food for thought). In the end, those key messages were:

• The importance of getting it right first time and how this can be achieved.
• What good learning content really looks like.
• How to move from good learning content to great learning content.

Lucy began by talking about how best learning providers can meet the expectations of their clients. She identified three main points here.

• Taking a consultative approach: The very best client-supplier relationship are actually strategic partnerships, in which the provider doesn’t simply deliver one-off products but works with the client to identify their business needs and develop a long term strategy, and supports the client in measuring results and evaluating progress.
• Developing long lasting relationships: This depends on the provider really making an effort to understand the client’s culture - what kind of people work there, what do the respond well to, what are the organisational constraints, what kind of appetite is there for different training methods? 
• Delivering fit for purpose solutions: Of course, no partnership will survive, let alone thrive, unless the provider consistently delivers on time, on spec and on budget.

All these become more challenging when the client or audience is new to e-learning. In these cases we often have to overcome an initial resistance to or scepticism about e-learning. This can’t be done unless we really do engage with the organisation and its people, identifying the barriers and working to overcome them. More than this, though, we need to let our passion and enthusiasm for what we do speak for itself, and turn any scepticism there may be into support. It all comes back to creativity, collaboration and communication.

So having discussed why it’s so important to deliver good learning content time after time, we turned our attention to what that really means. Everyone’s got their own ideas about what ‘good’ looks like, but some words crop up time and time again - engaging, relevant and effective are three of them - so we spent a few minutes thinking about how these things can be achieved.

• Engaging: You could argue that e-learning is limited in its ability to engage, what with it being more often than not a relatively solitary activity when compared with classroom workshops. But there are elements of classroom training that can work just as well online. Elements like collaboration and discussion (using video or graphics to communicate case studies or real life events), the opportunity to practise in a safe environment at your own pace, and the conversational tone and ‘people’ aspect. 
• Relevant: e-Learning might on the whole reduce the amount of time required for training, but it doesn’t mean people don’t want it reduced even further. People don’t appreciate spending an hour completing an online training course if they can’t easily and immediately see how it’s relevant to what they do every day at work. One of the best ways to ensure and demonstrate relevance is to use scenarios based on the kinds of situation they’ll face every day, to ask them to make the kinds of choices they’ll be confronted with at work, and - crucially - to include clear and full discussion of what’s in it for them - what are the consequences of doing the wrong thing and what are the benefits of doing the right thing?
• Effective: No matter how engaging and relevant, learning content can’t be considered ‘good’ if it doesn’t deliver the improved performance and business results it promised. One way to ensure effectiveness is to make sure questions and activities are used to maximum effect: you need to challenge your learner, not trick them. And they’re more likely to remember what they learn if they are actively involved in working things out rather than simply passively receiving information (we’re firm believers in the value of test and tell, as opposed to the all too common tell and test approach).

But why stop there? Is ‘good’ always good enough? Often it’s the little things that make the difference between something good and something great. Things like taking advantage of your position as an instructional designer - you’re not a subject matter expert when you begin (though you will be by the end of the project) so you can identify with the end users. What questions do you have? They’re probably the questions the learners will have to, so they’re the questions you need to make sure you answer.

The way you use technology can be another big factor in whether you deliver something that’s just good enough or something with the wow factor. There’s just no point showing off your team’s combined technical expertise if the end result doesn’t align with the strategy. Too many fancy graphics and animations, or excessive use of video or sound effects, can actually work against you, diluting your key message and distracting from what’s important: sometimes less can be more.

Finally, don’t pigeon hole yourself! Our industry isn’t just technology focused, it’s also people focused. Just because your job title is ‘graphic designer’ doesn’t mean you can’t contribute valuably to discussions about learning strategy; Flash developers often have a budding writer inside them; and why shouldn’t instructional designers also be able to edit video? Don’t stick within your comfort zone - push yourself to learn new things, blur the boundaries between roles and teams and constantly keep yourself on your toes. Refusing to just stick to what you know and keep going as you’ve always gone before is one great way to make sure that what you produce is always moving forwards too.

Our presentation slides can be accessed here and the full event report can be found here.

Recently we’ve been recruiting for a number of Instructional Designers to support our business and I’m amazed and frustrated at the number of CVs that I see that contain the word ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation).

I can’t believe that people still use (or pretend to use) this outdated, over-rated and totally discredited model. ADDIE is based on the waterfall method which grew in popularity during the 70s. Back then we thought we knew it all. We could sign-off requirements, design and build software, test it and hand it over to users who would love it. Only when projects started to fail did we realise that software development and e-learning in particular can’t be developed using a waterfall.

Developing e-learning is a journey of discovery. At the beginning, very little is known about what is needed. Only through discussion of the business problem and exploring the possibilities can an outcome that be achieved that provides real business benefit. The Subject Matter Expert may sign off a storyboard but until they really see the content in its final format, they won’t know if it will result in the behavioural change that is required.

Agile development is a much more appropriate and sensible model for building e-learning. It’s based on the premise that requirements are discovered by the project team working closely with the Subject Matter Experts – by exploring various approaches and confirming requirements are being met all the way through the project. This way the requirements and the development are refined as the team’s thinking develops. The Agile model not only works well for large scale software projects but translates incredibly well to e-learning.

So a call to all you Instructional Designers out there – burn the ADDIE books and enter into the dynamic world of project management for 21st Century e-learning.