Page 12
The Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro | Tom Kuhlmann
Visit the blog at www.articulate.comrapid-elearning
The Insider says:
“E-learning pros design training to impact the bottom line.”
Rapid E-learning
Tools
Audio Video
Animation Interactions
Custom built interactions
Start with rapid e-learning tools.
Build custom course only if it makes business sense and brings increased performance.
Optionally, build custom pieces that
you can drop in.
A.
C. B.
Page 13
The Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro | Tom Kuhlmann
Visit the blog at www.articulate.comrapid-elearning
What Does My Customer Need?
Most e-learning professionals want to build exciting, fun, and engaging courses. Accordingly, this next statement might be considered blasphemous to many people who design e-learning.
Do t sta t ou p oje t fo used o the lea e s eeds. You primary goal is to satisfy your customer. In an ideal world,
you build e-learning courses that are perfectly aligned with the customer AND learner needs. However, when push
comes to shove, you need to focus on pleasing your customer first. Your customer is trying to meet specific objectives. Your
goal is to help them design a course that meets those objectives. Once you know what the customer needs, y
ou ll e a le to uild a ou se that e gages the learner.
Your customers are the ones who pay you to design the e-learning course. If you work for an organization and all of your development is internal, then your customers are other people in the
organization. They can range from your manager to other departments. If you work for an e-learning development company, your paying customers are clear.
Who Are Your Customers
Don’t start your project focused on the learner’s
needs. Your primary goal is to satisfy your customer.
Page 14
The Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro | Tom Kuhlmann
Visit the blog at www.articulate.comrapid-elearning
You might think the work you do and your level of customer service is excellent, and this may be true. However, what your customer thinks is what counts. Take garage sales for example. To one person
the stuff is junk, yet to another its a great deal. Your work is like the stuff at the garage sale. One pe so thi ks it s g eat, a othe does t.
An e-learning pro knows that success goes beyond designing a great course. It means managing the usto e elatio ship; a d pa t of that e tails a agi g the usto e s e pe tatio s a d pe eptio s.
I allet, I a
a a d that I e had fo ea s. It sa s, Al a s ai tai a se i e-first attitude. Make it a rule in
everything you do to give people more than they expect to get.
I e ade that life s otto. I al a s st i e to gi e o e
than expected —a d it s o ked. I e fou d that
managing expectations, I can manage perception.
You can manage the usto e s pe eptio by managing expectations. You do this through your
pe so al p a ti e. The easiest thi g to do is to follo the old ule to u de -promise and over-deli e . He e s a strategy that always works for me. Part of the initial client meeting is to discuss and negotiate
a project timeline. I use a generic project plan when I meet with my customers. It lays out all of the
Look At Customer Needs from Two Perspectives: Perception Practice
Perception Relates To Expectation
“Always maintain a service- first attitude. Make it a rule
in everything you do to give people more than they
expect to get.”
Page 15
The Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro | Tom Kuhlmann
Visit the blog at www.articulate.comrapid-elearning
general tasks required to build an e-learning course, from the initial meeting, to the final course implementation, and finally to evaluation. Part of the project process is to build the user interface and
course infrastructure. Keep this in mind
— ost usto e s do t k o hat t pe of autho i g tool ou use, and most really do t a e. The just a t ou to e a le to do the jo a d gi e the a fi ished p odu t.
If you use a rapid e- lea i g tool, ou o t eed to uild the i te fa e o a igatio . If ou usto
coded the interface in Flash or other authoring environment, it will certainly take you a lot longer. These a e steps ou o t eed to do ut a still keep i ou p oje t pla . The lie t does t eed to
know how much time you are saving. You just need to negotiate a timeline that works for you and ou lie t. The do t a e if ou ha d ode the use i te fa e o ou use a te plate; the a e that
the result meets their needs. Thus, he ou pla ou p oje t, keep the i te fa e desig steps i it. Assu i g ou e ot al ead i
a crunc h, ou ll eate a ushio e ause ou o t eed to spe d a lot of de elop e t ti e o
interface design, and you can strive to finish the project ahead of schedule. This has always worked for me, because customers are ecstatic when a project is finished ahead of schedule.
On the other hand, you might not let the client know how quickly you can produce the courses using the rapid authoring tool. Customers are notorious at making training development a last-minute
p io it . You do t a t to e i a position where you are getting all of your requests with impossible deadlines attached.
Page 16
The Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro | Tom Kuhlmann
Visit the blog at www.articulate.comrapid-elearning
There is a lot that has to happen to build an e-learning course and get it online. Look at the image below. Who is going to fill all of those roles? Typically,
ou usto e does t k o u h a out instructional design and e-learning technology. They just want a training course.
The customer is looking to you to get the project done, so it helps to see yourself as an e-learning concierge. Take the initiative to steer the course to completion and provide one-stop service. If some
of it is out of your control, then map out the process so that your customer can manage the project with confidence. Your efforts will be greatly appreciated.
Performance Consultant
Project Manager
Instructional Designer
IT Specialist Programmer
E-learning Expert
Be a One-Stop Shop for Your Customers
Page 17
The Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro | Tom Kuhlmann
Visit the blog at www.articulate.comrapid-elearning
‘e e e , ou goal is to a age ou usto e s e pe tatio s. If ou do t p o ide this le el of
se i e, it o t atte ho good ou ou se is if the details esult i f ust atio fo ou usto er. The e a e othe a s to a age ou usto e s e pe tatio s, su h as keepi g ou p o ises, sta i g
o top of p oje t, et . The ke poi t is that hat ou usto e pe ei es is o e i po ta t tha
what is true. You can do a great job, but if yo u usto e does t see it that a , all of ou ha d o k
fails to reflect well on you. On the other hand, you can execute on simple projects that require minimal effort and the customer is extremely satisfied.
I e take asi Po e Poi t slides a d converted them into a basic click-and-read e-learning course a d the usto e a ed a out ho g eat it as. O the flip side, I e uilt so e sli k t ai i g that I
would consider some of my best, and the customer was luke-warm about it. The happy customer wrote a letter to my director, which was passed on to the VP of our business unit, and I got a bonus.
The other customer did nothing even though they got a much better product, and I ended up with othi g fo
e t a effo t. It s all a out pe eptio .
Othe tha pe eptio , a othe ke to su ess is to fo us o the o ga izatio s eeds. You ha e a obligation to help your customer build e-
lea i g ou ses that a e alig ed ith the o ga izatio s needs.
YOU ARE THE E-LEARNING EXPERT. Put your performance consultant hat on and help the
customer align training with real business needs.
Build the Right Type of Training
Page 18
The Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro | Tom Kuhlmann
Visit the blog at www.articulate.comrapid-elearning
Many times your clients will come to you with a training request that lacks alignment with real business goals. Since you want to build meaningful cours
es that o t i ute to the o ga izatio s su ess, it s ou jo to help them purchase e-learning that works.
It s ot a out adge i g the lie t a d aki g the o pl ith ou i sights a d ideas. I stead, it s about asking the right type of questions and helping the customer establish clear learning objectives. If
you play the role of performance consultant, typically one of three things happens.
Understand Where the Business Is Going
Where are we today?
Where do we want to be
tomorrow?
Performance Gap
What type of training will help fill this gap?
Page 19
The Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro | Tom Kuhlmann
Visit the blog at www.articulate.comrapid-elearning
1. THE CUSTOMER CANCELS THE PROJECT.
