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Training managers have been faced with some BIG decisions over the last year, many of them reactive. The dust may not have settled yet, but it might be time to step back and create a strategic plan for your training department. Take what you know about planning and design, and use that to develop a comprehensive, cost-effective e-learning strategy. Achieve all the benefits of e-learning as you grow and scale your initiative.
There are four phases for developing an e-learning training strategy.
Start with assessing the current state of your training department. What do you have in terms of readiness? This includes assessing each of these areas within your organization: technical infrastructure, learner capabilities, organizational competencies, budget, and organizational culture. Each of these areas fit into the first stage and are the basis for developing a cost-effective, organization-wide e-learning strategy.
In the first phase, you will also align your organization’s mission statement and objectives with the training department’s mission statement and objectives. This way you can focus on creating or converting e-learning that supports organizational objectives.
Next up is determining the future state. What do you envision the future to look like in terms of e-learning scope? Create a detailed inventory of courses. Document the current course results, assess the content and how it’s currently delivered, and evaluate the ROI including maintenance of the course.
This inventory will help you prioritize courses for conversion based on how they fit into organizational priorities and potential cost savings using a cost-benefit analysis formula.
Once you have a detailed inventory, you can use it to determine the costs and benefits of the courses you currently offer, evaluating their effectiveness as is. Once you have determined what courses are effective, it’s time to weigh the benefit of converting against the cost.
Finally, you will write your strategic plan which includes determining and anticipating potential risks so you can mitigate them as they arise.
Once your plan is approved, it’s time to confidently start on your first conversion project! Your training department now has a cost-effective strategy they can follow and adapt as needed.
If you’re interested in more tips for training managers, attend an upcoming session of The Successful Training Manager where you’ll acquire the knowledge and skills along with many job aids to assist you in managing your training department.
