| e-learning:
Managing Success
by David Holmes and Cedric Richardson,
Online Learning Australia
Success = Panic
/ The Waves of End User Demand
/ Managing the Waves / Keeping
the Business Contented / Waves
Follow the Winds of Change / Summary
Successful implementation of e-Learning
can be bittersweet. Everyone loves you…but a bit
too much. Unanticipated surges in demand by learners
and the business can broadside the training process.
The implementation of an e-Learning platform
is arduous. The program of work includes analysis of
business requirements, resolution of technical issues,
selection of an appropriate learning management system
(LMS), and vendor negotiations as well as rigorous management
of multi-discipline teams through the implementation
process.
Dramatically increasing the project's overall
success are effective change management strategies that
engage the organisation's business units and promote
strong sponsorship within senior management ranks. Timely
communications create a sense of anticipation within
the learning audiences. Individuals, groups and management
ask, "When will we receive online learning?"
Success =
Panic
If you have done it right, and some organisations
in Australia have, then the stress and angst associated
with fear of failure disappear shortly after Week 1,
post-LMS Implementation…to be replaced by panic
in the months that follow.
The reason? Successful implementation of
an e-Learning platform can result in unanticipated waves
of demand from both learners and the business. Learners
want access and the business wants online courseware….now!
The Waves
of End User Demand
Peter Tilton knows the frenzy that only
the sweet smell of success can bring. As head of the
ANZ's eTrain initiative, Peter implemented the WorldLearn Australia Pty Ltd.
learning management system in mid-November 2000. He
identified distinct demand "surges" since
going online:
- Early adopters were attracted to the
eTrain environment by its simple user interface. Within
one to two clicks learners can access the required
information.
- Remote users had limited access to traditional
training materials. Online learning provides equal
access, therefore triggering the second wave of voluntary
registrations.
- Compulsory training brought about a
shift from voluntary registrations to enforced compliance
as learners must now use eTrain to access compulsory
certification programs.
One third of the ANZ work force has jumped
on the eTrain in the first three months, and the stampede
is not over yet. Peter predicts another demand surge
as I.T. staff jockey for access to 300 technology related
training modules scheduled for release next month.
The Telstra experience has been different.
According to Graeme Wright, National Manager, Learning
Technology Support, when they launched the Southrock
LMS in 1997, they did it in two phases. The first phase
saw 12 modules of online learning launched and marketed
to about 500 staff. This gave them a short but useful
breathing space to stabilise the system.
The second phase, six months later, introduced
broader learning management functions and enabled managers
to enrol staff for all learning, be it online or instructor
led. Requiring manager's input in the enrolment process
helped to steady the end user demand.
The next step at Telstra is to allow all
staff to enrol themselves in courses they wish to complete,
without line management involvement. This is likely
to see a rise in enrolments, and also introduce some
challenges for line managers as they prepare staffing
rosters. To tackle this, the LMS at Telstra allows line
managers to specify whether their staff need their authorisation
for enrolment.
Managing
the Waves
Both at Telstra and the ANZ, the launch
of online learning was intentionally kept low key. At
Telstra this was through targeted marketing to selected
business units. At the ANZ a soft launch approach was
taken, without big sales pitches. However, in both cases,
the take up by end users has been enthusiastic and has
outstripped expectations. Peter recommends that organisations
should add twenty percent to their most optimistic estimates
of staff take up.
Peter's experience also suggests that strong
IT involvement is essential, to manage increased demand
for online resources. He also believes that their Helpdesk
provided vital support for staff exploring a new online
learning environment for the first time.
Managing the upsurge in end user demand
is only one element of success. The other element is
keeping staff interested and ensuring they come back
a second and third time. Peter suggests that having
a critical mass of good quality, custom developed and
off-the-shelf courseware will keep staff coming back.
Graeme also cautions against being disappointed
by training completion statistics. He suggests that
the number of staff enrolling and beginning a course
is what really matters. Graeme comments, "...assessment
and reporting of completion is valid for just-in-case
training, but makes little or no sense for just-in-time
training…people enrol and only do up to the section
where they were short on knowledge and then stop."
Keeping the
Business Contented
Both Peter and Graeme cite a steady increase
in requests from their respective business units for
online training content. Graeme states that over the
past twelve months there has been a "flip"
in the nature of these requests: it was 80% instructor-led
and 20% online learning, now it is the other way around.
Graeme and Peter have some practical tips
for keeping the business supplied with online content:
Manage expectations: It's a key
factor in controlling demand. In the heat of the moment,
parts of the business push to convert much of the
current training to an online format…even if
it results in electronic page turning. Reject these
requests to ensure that the quality of online materials
is maintained.
Develop close relationships with custom
online content developers: This ensures the training
department can meet the demands from business units
and maintain quality. Peter says "Make sure you
have relationships with good courseware developers
so you can help meet the demand...with different specialist
skills, because different companies do different things".
Upskill your teams sooner than later:
At Telstra, Graeme found that courseware developers
needed upgrading to web based rather than a linear
approach to development. To a lesser extent, instructional
designers required some skill enhancement. Development
tests your grit, but maintenance will kill you. Graeme
emphasises the need for an effective courseware maintenance
strategy.
Ensure that content developed now
will be easy to maintain: This helps to free up
resources for new content development as the maintenance
workload increases.
Waves Follow
the Winds of Change
Based on the experiences of both the ANZ
and Telstra, it is possible to foreshadow some of the
business unit demand and to prepare business units so
they make informed choices about online learning. What
seems clear is that waves of demand for online courses
follow on the heels of change initiatives:
- Major change initiatives - such
as a large systems implementation or upgrades. This
demand is easy to predict due to long planning cycles
for these projects. These online learning projects
can therefore form the backbone of any online learning
rollout plan.
- Minor change initiatives - such
as changes that are focussed within a small business
unit. These are harder to predict because they may
not appear on broader organisation change plans. However
they can expand the demand for online learning content
dramatically. Incorporating these into an overall
online learning rollout plan will give a much more
realistic estimate of demand.
- Maintenance initiatives - As
old courseware requires maintenance, business units
may decide to convert to online. The timing for these
requests can often be negotiated with business units
to help to level out the demand for online content
rollout.
- Hidden demand - When business
units see online learning at work, ideas that have
sat on the back burner due to technology or cost constraints
often resurface. These may be in areas such as value
added services for customers or remote staff training
initiatives that could not be justified on earlier
cost estimates. This demand is nearly impossible to
predict but increases as the take up of online learning
grows.
Implementing the LMS platform acts as the
trigger point for converting the latent demand contained
within the change initiatives into the actual requests
for end user access to online learning content. Conducting
an environmental scan of your organisation's change
initiatives is the first step in calculating the post-LMS
demand curve.
Summary
e-Learning: it's a success, everyone loves
you, and even though you feel loved a bit too much,
that's fine. You've done the planning to handle it.
Successful implementations of learning
management software result in large numbers of end users
demanding access to online learning materials. The business
moves quickly to convert current training to an online
format, and also looks to online learning for addressing
the changes brought about by major change initiatives.
This environment can quickly generate a backlash within
a training department unless it is prepared to manage
the outcomes of it own success.
Working with the business to understand
the nature of proposed change initiatives, as well as
shaping expectations well in advance of LMS implementation,
have been successful strategies used within organisations
such as the ANZ Group and Telstra Corporation.
Reprinted
from the June 2001 issue of Training and Development
in Australia with permission from the Australian
Institute of Training and Development.
For more information, please contact:
Graham Whelan, Sales and Marketing Manager
Tel: +61 3 8631 3610
Email: g.whelan@olla.com.au
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