(Implementation and evaluation)
"We lived happily ever after"
The e-Learning village and the Finance kingdom experienced many challenges throughout the project, not least of which was trying to keep the eight cross-functional team members working as one mind by communicating standards, things that didn't work, and better ways of working. Because they were customizing the PeopleSoft application for FoMoCo, flexibility was an important quality for the team to possess. Overall, the project was a success:
- Each of the six WBTs launched on time.
- Calls to the PeopleSoft Help Desk were significantly reduced.
- The accounting books closed accurately and on time that year.
- The WBTs and their new format received rave reviews from the customer and the learners.
- The new process and templates served as a model for future simulation-based application training.
The e-Learning villagers and their customers benefited from the new process and new templates as numerous opportunities arose, both from new and existing customers, for which this new model was a perfect fit. We discovered that many software application-training projects didn't need to provide business process training. Instead, we could include "best practices" and "tips & techniques" in the simulation while teaching the task, and the e-Learning villagers continue along that path to this day.
The Moral of our re-Learning e-Learning Fable (otherwise known as lessons learned)
A proper fable includes a moral to the story. Our fable has three morals or lessons learned to pass along. Referring back to our three key actions with motivational slogans, we uncover our lessons learned:
- KEEP IT SIMPLE – Focus on the end product's vision.
Having to work within the new course shell's template provided challenges. At the time, the shell template was unique; it simply included one page for each task and was no longer using the traditional linear structure. The e-Learning villagers had never before seen this new structure in production. A working prototype was developed, but the ISD remained responsible for explaining and promoting a vision for the end product to all team members. When an idea was offered that didn't fit with the vision, it was summarily dismissed; every segment of training had to be designed with the end product in mind.
- DIVIDE and CONQUER – Continue to educate team members throughout the project.
Effective and productive cross-functional teams develop trusting relationships with one another. Honest and open dialogue among team members is critical to developing trust. Two teams working in parallel, using a new process and templates, necessitated numerous, mutually educational, conversations. These conversations covered a lot of territory, including laying the ground rules for how to work well together, how to maintain the same standards, how to educate each other on the evolving process, what is being learned (good and bad) from working with the application, and committing to upholding the teams' shared decisions and values. This continuous, internal education effort proved to make the difference between meeting and missing the aggressive timeline.
- BREAK WITH TRADITION – Remember to communicate, communicate, communicate.
The e-Learning villagers had found a faster way to communicate, which facilitated knowledge transfer from SME to ISD to Developer, by breaking with tradition and creating a new type of Web-based training course. The new script template and storyboard template gave structure to our cross-functional team communications. In addition, the communications vehicles (scripts, storyboards, document sharing, and project management scorecards) provided the much-needed discipline that kept everyone on task. According to the head SME, a key success factor for the project was the open and honest lines of communication that existed between the Finance kingdom and the e-Learning villagers. Having such transparency (and very little "red tape") allowed for quick issue resolution throughout the process.
We now reflect back on our original business case and see that it was possible, although challenging, to quickly produce new software application training for a global audience while maintaining quality instructional standards with limited time for knowledge transfer among team members. What was our secret? Some might say that luck had a part. We did experience some luck by having an abundance of professional, talented, and committed team members. Others might say we made our own luck. We also agree on that score; the new storyboard and simulation script templates guided us through the project to a happy ending.
Thank you for reading our story. We hope that our experience will give you constructive ideas and be useful as you practice your ISD craft in your village, or as you travel among kingdoms throughout empires.
