New-To-Title Leadership Training
For: AT&T In-Home Expert Channel
Date: 2022
Solutions: Condensing and developing 64 hours of self-study/VLL content into 32 hours of strictly virtual leader-led content.
Demonstrated Skills: Project Management, Azure DevOps, Visio, Leadership, Design Lead, Communication (ADs, PMOs, CMs, PCs, Designers)
THE CHALLENGE
Former initial training was a 4-week 64 hours of self-study and virtual leader-led content with mentorship and on-the-job components.
Channel implemented channel-made training to cover content not included in former training.
A 4-week training was identified as too long for initial training.
The existence of two separate pieces of training (Initial Training vs. Channel-Made Training) raises concerns over consistent delivery of content and, therein, business impact.
Combining the information from both pieces of training would result in longer training.
The client wants the training condensed into a 2-week, 32-hour course.
The design team consists of 7 designers across two different design teams and with competing project priorities.
THE SOLUTION
Utilized Visio to compare the former initial training with the channel-made training and identify overlapping topics or stand-alone content.
Collaborated with the Performance Consultant and Curriculum Manager to clearly outline topics from both pieces of training that must be included in the new initial training.
Organized the outlined topics into an 8-day, 32-hour course with estimated timing for each topic and sub-topic.
Scoped the project out in Azure DevOps (agile process) and broke the tasks out into iterative cycles based on the design time availability of each of the designers.
Researched and provided links to resources and documentation for correlating lesson topics and objectives within a live document. The PC and CM were able to provide comments in the margins regarding any unique requests.
Created dynamic templates for reusable content to streamline the development process and ensure gamified learner engagement.
All communication is documented within Azure to ensure smooth transitions of tasks between designers when needed.
Customized a project dashboard with Azure DevOps to guide the weekly design sync meetings.
THE RESULTS
As of June 2022, this project is ongoing but is on track to meet the scheduled launch date.
WHAT THE PROCESS AND FINAL PRODUCT LOOK LIKE
All existing channel-made (green) and official (blue) initial training was outlined based on weeks. As you can see, both training plans spanned four weeks (columns).
All lesson topics and sub-topics were combined and categorized based on overlapping objectives. Here, the client and I were able to identify where the weight of content was distributed within the channel-made training and the formal training designed by AT&T University.
Finally, we redesigned the curricula by dragging and dropping the curricula into a day-by-day breakdown of lessons. The client and I discussed what channel-made content must be included in the new training and what, of the existing formal training, would need to be removed to ensure time for the newly added content.
I organized the project into Azure DevOps (agile process) based on chunked tasks. At a high overview, epics were used to categorize the steps of ADDIE, features were used to categorize lessons or videos to be developed, and stories categorized the actions needed to build each lesson, such as the completion of peer reviews. And, finally, tasks or bugs are categorized under the user stories. Tasks are for new content and bugs are for any peer/SME review edits.
Lessons are delegated based on like-content to designers to ensure cohesive delivery of content across lessons. Lessons are going through iterative review cycles to allow reviewers ample time to review the many lessons. The edits for each review are to be completed within the next iterative cycle, but, depending on competing priorities, no later than the last cycle.
A customized dashboard was created to facilitate the weekly design meetings. Here, I am able to track the completions of all work items and identify any lessons where a designer could use additional support to meet their deadline.
A designer was tasked to develop these beautiful slide templates based on client preferences and available assets. Once approved, I created a WordPress template for each one to ensure a consistent design across all lessons and to quicken development time. Designers are not required to use every element of each template. Everyone is encouraged to tweak each slide as needed to best fit the needs of the content, as long as the overall design isn't adjusted drastically.
This is an example of a simple reusable template I co-designed that provides a unique experience every time it appears in the training. This template gamifies the learning, prompts learners with knowledge checks, and is very quick to develop, since designers only need to edit the questions on the back of each flip card.
Two designers from another design team have been kind enough to volunteer 50% of their design time to this project. Because of their limited time with us, I asked them to develop unique videos in Vyond that speak to the most important take-aways for each day. All eight videos were prioritized by the client from 1, most important, to 8, least important. The client knows, given the tight timeline, that all videos may not get developed to prioritize the development of lessons.