How do I best help faculty learn about new concepts and technologies? This is the question that keeps me up. Our faculty have a heavy teaching load, and therefore, they have little time to dedicate to attending workshops. What to do?
Lynne Lati and Suzanne Squillante from Broadcom have implemented learning on-demand strategy for their company using an agile scrum building methodology for development.
Learning on Demand
Social media is a great tool for learning on demand. It is ubiquitous. Increasingly, I watch those around me reach for a phone to answer questions. It is now a normal tool in our learning arsenal. This session’s presenters used Twitter as part of their presentation. To remind the audience, each slide had a hashtag displayed.
Learning on demand is self-service just-in-time learning that has a number of benefits:
- reduce travel costs
- easy access
- just in time
- skill reinforcement
- experiential learning
- map to competencies – All of their content is mapped to competencies.
Course Development
When developing their content, they also mapped it to two models:
Maps to ATD Model
- instructional design
- training delivery
- learning technologies
During the analysis phase of the project, they conducted and reviewed:
- HRBP Survey (HR Business partners)
- Employee opinion survey
- Current business models
The analysis narrowed content to these focus areas:
- change management
- leadership
- accountability
- communication
Agile Scrum
They used a blended learning approach to instruction. They built their program using Agile Scrum. The Agile Scrum methodology originated in software development. It targets the most valuable work and has an iterative and incremental approach. Solutions are developed through collaboration. Roadblocks are quickly removed and productivity is maximized.
They had one agile scrum team: scrum master, instructional designers, and subject matter experts.
The project took 4.5 months using 68.7 hours/sprint for 550 total hours. There were 9 sprints. Sprints are blocks of time where work gets done. They always working on what will bring the most value. At the end of the project, there were 34 deliverables. These deliverables were bite-sized learning resources: tools templates, video, case studies, virtual elearning, tips to go, etc.
Elements and processes necessary for success:
- Timeline
- Analysis and content build
- Change management strategy
- Marketing and communication strategy
- Measurement strategy
- Pilot
- Implementation
- Analysis & Content build
Platform
They created a web-based platform for easy access. It is important to make it easy for employees to find information. They linked their LMS courses from their on-demand pages. As they developed the course, they created some resources and linked out to others. A typical course is one hour in duration. They also have bite-size learning on demand tips to go.
In addition to online training, they also have discussion workshops. These are live, local workshops; although, virtual sessions can be conducted to accommodate various time zones. They provide a workshop in a box solution, which includes a facilitator guide, slides, and case studies.
70-20-10 Model
- 70% on the job
- 20% mentoring and coaching
- 10% classroom, elearning, reading
Manager engagement is critical.
They ended with a video called “So what does it all mean”
I had worked with Agile Scrum before. It is time to give it another look as the TEI team develops instructional content for the upcoming year.
