Epic Think Tank

Implementation of e-learning and blended programmes

This May, a collection of leading UK companies came together at an Epic Think Tank dinner to discuss the implementation of blended and e-learning projects. The organisations included Tesco, Pfizer, Nationwide, BP, Alliance & Leicester, Wyeth, Kwik-Fit, Telewest, Johnson Diversy and British Airways. There was a great deal of honesty about their implementation issues and as one delegate said afterwards “it is good to hear how other organisations are managing their implementations.”

The group reflected on what they would have liked to have known when they started on their projects. Below are their top tips for ensuring a smooth implementation.

IMPLEMENTATION – TOP TEN TIPS

1) Focus on the Learners

Remember to get learners involved and never forget what it is like to be a user. Think about when you last experienced an e-learning programme as a user? How did you find the time?

Remember learners don’t like change. Bear this in mind when deciding to change the deliver of learning i.e. using new approaches/logins etc.

Remember learners are different (e.g. users who frequently surf the net versus those who log in once a week, those who have good IT skills and those that don’t). And remember not everyone has English as a first language.

Above all remember users don’t do what you expect or what they are told. For example, one delegate told of a programme, which stated clearly “click here to exit”, however, the users clicked the top right hand corner X to exit, which meant nothing was tracked.

2) Get Senior manager support

The key for many delegates was setting the right expectations – for example are senior managers expecting significant return on investment? It is important to establish how success will be measured.

All delegates felt that the best area to use as leverage to get senior stakeholder buy-in to investment in learning is compliance training. In some cases an LMS was purchased primarily in order to track compliance training.

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3) Suppliers

Invest time in making sure they know your infrastructure and culture.

Build relationships with a small number of core suppliers who will support you.

Changing suppliers can be costly and risky.

4) Involve line managers

Line managers have a critical role to play in implementation and are often forgotten.

Involve them early on and explain their role in supporting the programme. Outline the benefits to them as line managers from the programme.

5) Involve the IT department

If they could have their time again some delegates felt they would have involved IT a lot earlier.

In particular, they would have allowed more time in the schedule for testing.

Make sure all likely platforms are tested, don’t forget those in the outer reaches.

Don’t assume Microsoft will make media players that are backwards compatible! Mediaplayer 9 may not run the video that Mediaplayer 6 was very happy with.

If you don’t get support from IT look at hosted solutions, many organisations now get suppliers to host learning so that staff can access from anywhere they have internet access.

6) Manage your subject matter experts

Don’t neglect the importance of managing your SMEs.

Don’t leave them to work with suppliers and don’t allow SMEs to take the final decisions on content.

SMEs are not authors, elicit their knowledge don’t give them an authoring tool.

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7) Create Champions

Tap into the passion and build a network of champions.
Invite people to be champions, you may be surprised at the response.

Champions provide a great resource on the ground to help you.

8) Brand and market the learning

Treat your programme like any other product.

Brand it, market it and sell it. Have a standard marketing strategy for example, article in staff newsletter, posters, piece on the intranet, emails, high profile sponsor, mouse mats, etc.

Whatever you do don’t brand your programme to staff as cost savings – it will take you ten years to recover.

Publicise positive feedback and celebrate successes.

9) Support informal learning

People want more Google learning, they are doing it anyway!
It is not about courses – give them learning objects such as video clips/books/links online.

Keep modules short, do you have time for 8 hours of e-learning?

10) No substitute for good project management

Finally, there is no substitute for good project management.

Have a clear schedule, build in contingencies, and identify risks.
Produce a weekly progress report, even when there is no progress. Especially when there is no progress!

Have fun!

Do you agree with these experts? Do you have your own top tips for implementation. If so, let us know.

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