In Tom’s interview, he spoke first about his blog and how he’s managed to be so successful. Next he spoke briefly about his Rapid eLearning tips. Finally, he invited everyone to learn more about the next great tool from Articulate: Storyline.

Listen to Tom’s interview here.

Today’s winner was: Wordle.net  With Wordle, you create those cool word clouds in seconds or minutes. I tried it two ways:

First, I typed in a bunch of words about my company: TrainingPros. I played around with the font, the color scheme, the direction of the text, and voila! I have a word cloud I can use. 

Next, I wanted to try one of the automated tools. You are able to put in a blog address and Wordle will automatically create your word cloud. I used this blog and left the settings “as is”. I did however take out a few words by right clicking on them and selecting “remove word”.  Here’s the result of about 30 seconds of work:

These are not only really cool – but imagine how you can impress your clients with one of these graphics for each of the programs you are designing. What a great intro slide!

Let me know if you try Wordle.net and how you like it.

1. First, we put together our annual Executive Roundtable where we discussed mLearning with learning leaders in Atlanta. There was quite a bit of interest in the topic and we had many leaders in attendance. I spoke with several of these leaders and learned that I should expect more mLearning programs to be in company strategies for 2012.

2. Next, to make sure that our talent was prepared for the mLearning push, I asked for any folks interested in mLearning design to raise their hand for a work group. (I posted this on my facebook page: Leighanne’s Learning Notes and I put the topic in my eNewsletter to consultants.) Many people all over the country joined in and worked together. They voted on a group name: mLearning Circle.

The group met via webinar in December 2011 for the first time. We divided the group up into sub-groups based on their interests. Each group was assigned a topic for research. The groups met periodically and deposited their research onto our group dropbox. (If you’re not using dropbox yet – you are missing out!)

In January, we came together in person for a capstone event. Ten of us met in person for a half-day to present and discuss what we found. Each group organized their information and presented it. There was a lot of very enthusiastic discussion during the workshop. There were a lot of demonstrations of tools and theoretical ideas. We discussed the best applications for different products and the best approaches.

We are still communicating with each other consistently about what we find and what we’re experimenting with. We are toying with the idea of presenting at upcoming conferences.

In the next few weeks, I’ll put short mLearning Circle blogs out where I detail out one of my learnings from the workshop. My biggest learning from the overall group is this: Action Learning / Social Learning is very effective.  Everyone learned so much from the mere acts of:

• Being charged with researching and teaching (Action Learning), and
• Having colleagues with which to learn and share. (Social Learning)

Leigh Anne Lankford is a Relationship Manager for TrainingPros in the Atlanta market. She provides contract Learning Professionals to corporations on a contract basis. For more information, contact Leighanne at leighanne.lankford@training-pros.com.  

So, the article below is a reprint from it’s original home in ISPI’s PerformanceXpress newsletter.  You can see the original article here.  Some of the names have changed since this printing. (Mine and the company name.) Feel free to comment on whether this article still has valid points – 4 years later.

An LMS Implementation: Lessons Learned
by Leigh Anne (Lankford) and Todd VanLeuven
Original date: April 2008

In the past, only the largest companies implemented a complete learning management system (LMS) for tracking learning activity and managing content. However, the increasing number of systems available, combined with the reduction of the cost of having an LMS, has resulted in medium-sized and smaller businesses implementing learning management systems. Given this trend, I found it necessary to learn more about the process of implementing an LMS. To do this, I worked with Matria Healthcare to find out their lessons learned when recently implementing an LMS.

Lesson #1: Recognize a Real Need for an LMS
Implementing an LMS can look great on your resume, but that is no reason to implement one. You should look for certain warning signs that signal a need for an LMS before you implement. Some of the signs include:

• Do you regularly need to report on learning activity?
• How much time do you spend putting together learning reports?
  If you currently do not spend any time or money putting together learning reports, you probably do not need an LMS yet.
• Do you have compliance requirements on learning?
  Compliance with the law is an excellent reason to consider an LMS.
• How many learners do you have in the organization?
  Too few learners will make the cost per learner of a full LMS implementation prohibitive. Smaller numbers of learners might point you toward a hosted LMS that you can simply “brand.”
• Are your learners widely dispersed or in one location?
  If you have a small number of learners in one location, an LMS might be overkill. However, if you have multiple centers or learners that travel, an LMS will be useful for providing one place for the learners to easily access training.

Lesson #2: Selecting the LMS
When selecting the LMS, you should first define your main business objectives in buying an LMS. Try to keep the list short—maybe three or four objectives. Next, find several learning management systems that claim to meet these objectives. Finally, select the one that is closest to meeting those objectives “out of the box.” Avoid customization! Customizing an LMS can lead to difficulties as the needs of your company change. Also, customization is expensive in terms of time and money. Therefore, it is always best to find that LMS that is perfect for you as is.

Lesson #3: Selling the LMS to the Executives
There is one good way to sell a new, large-scale, high-cost software to management: metrics! You have to determine:

• What activities will be replaced by the LMS?
• How much do those activities currently cost the business?
• How much money will the new LMS cost?
• How much will be saved once the LMS is implemented?

Ashley Gillis explained that she was able to turn the dollar figure on how much the LMS would cost into a dollar amount per employee. She then pitched, “Would you buy a cup of coffee for each employee once per month? That is all the LMS will cost you.”

Lesson #4: Start the Implementation from the Top
Although LMS is a term we performance improvement professionals toss around with as much ease as DVD and TiVo, your average corporate executive will not recognize it unless they have been in an organization with an LMS that was well publicized. For this reason, Todd VanLeuven (coauthor of this article) suggests that before any LMS implementation work begins, you must first educate and market the concept of an LMS to senior management. The common messages should be focused around:

• What is an LMS?
• What is the value of an LMS to the corporation and its employees?
• How can it be used for compliance purposes?
• What reports will be available?
• What is the estimated return on investment?

To deliver this message, Todd suggests you do not use a simple email. He suggests you use a complete communications plan. Since Matria is a dispersed organization with over 30 U.S. locations, his plan included:

• Face-to-face or online meetings with all executives and managers in each location
• Written communication with uses, value, and implementation dates
• Messaging from the top-level executives to pass down to middle management

Lesson #5: Name your LMS
I know, I know, it sounds a little off the wall, but Todd has four very good arguments for naming the LMS:

1. Naming your LMS lets you call it something besides The LMS. It also makes the system more personal for learners and learning staff alike.
2. Naming it can allow you to include themes, logos, or other marketing tools.
3. It gives the learners a common term to use when talking about training.
4. It is further branding for your department.

Matria used an acronym to name their LMS—METRO (Matria Education: Training, Resources & Opportunities). The acronym has allowed them to utilize the train motif in branding other training-related initiatives such as Matria’s learning and development department’s intranet page known as Learning Central and theWelcome Aboard on-boarding program for new managers.

Lesson #6: IT: Get IT Involved Early
There were a number of technical hurdles to jump over throughout the implementation:

• Setting up the nightly data feed from the HRIS to the LMS
• Determining how to get temporary workers into the LMS
• Overcoming pop-up blockers; the LMS can be added to the company’s White List

IT needed to involve a resource for a significant amount of time on the implementation. Having IT involved from the early stages of the selection and implementation assured that they would be able to support the process.

Lesson #7: Gauge the Technological Sophistication of Your Learners First
Will the learners embrace navigating an LMS to find their learning or will there be a large learning curve? If they are not technologically sophisticated, a well-planned training and change-management plan must be in place.

Lesson #8: Take the Rollout to the Learners Seriously
At Matria, the rollout at the learner level was well planned out and executed. First, a representative from learning and development would go to each location and meet with the managers in the center. They would explain what the LMS is, why it was being implemented, and what was expected of the managers.

Next, the representative from learning and development taught the local trainer how to conduct a one-hour hands-on class on logging in, searching for a course, and what types of content was available.

The help desk was trained on the types of calls they would be receiving on the LMS such as pop-up blockers.

When the managers and trainer in the center were ready, the rollout began. It included marketing through newsletters, formal email invitations to come to training, and finally training classes. By building up to the final training class, Matria was able to build excitement about the new LMS.

Lesson #9: Make a Critical Course Available with the Rollout
Each business will have a different type of course that is critical. Maybe it will be the features and benefits of the new product being launched next month. Maybe it will be a course on how the new performance management system will affect the employees. For Matria, compliance courses are one of many critical courses.

Matria timed the release of three corporate compliance courses that all employees were required to take with the rollout of the LMS. By doing this, they ensured that as soon as employees left the LMS training, they had courses to take immediately.

Whether you have required training for all employees or not, you should definitely have some course available with your rollout that all employees will want to take.

Summary 
Matria Healthcare now has an LMS to track the critical training necessary for compliance purposes and continuing education. Their next step? Building a larger content base.

ASTD 2012 TechKnowledge

In Las Vegas, Nevada, January 25 – 27, 2012, ASTD will welcome more than 1,200 people who focus their daily attention on the design and delivery, management and strategy of technology and learning. Attendees will come together alongside 70 exhibitors in the learning technology space to learn, network, and move people forward through the application of learning and technology.

January 25 – 27, 2012 in Las Vegas.

Training 2012 Conference and Expo

This Conference offers the best of skill-building sessions on assessment, measurement, design, development, management, and instructor-led learning. And takes you on a deeper dive with a Virtual Classroom Sync Up; a Build-A-Course Room; a Mobile Learning Experience; and Social Media Ninja Rodeo.

Training also brings back the popular Training Leadership Summit as a conference-within-a-conference.

On a personal note – I’ll be there at the TrainingPros’ booth!

February 13 – 15, 2012 in Atlanta, GA.

New Learning Technologies Conference

The New Learning Technologies conference continues SALT’s practice of bringing together senior professionals from government, industry, academia and the military to present the latest developments in the field of learning and training technologies.

February 15 – 17, 2012 in Orlando.

Learning Solutions 2012 Conference and Expo

Learning Solutions Conference & Expo is for anyone focused on identifying, deploying, and managing proven technology-based learning solutions – as well as those leveraging more traditional training modalities and all manner of blended learning solutions. So whether you are leading your organization’s training & development efforts, managing a transition to eLearning, or building world-class solutions, no other event offers you more of today’s solutions… and tomorrow’s vision.

March 21 – 23, 2012 in Orlando.

Creating a Culture of Learning 

Beyond techniques, technology and strategy, there is one factor that determines the success or failure of an organization — the culture. That culture — the organization’s practices and procedures combined with the unspoken norms and behaviors of its people — is the single-greatest accelerator of success, but also the biggest roadblock. In today’s rapid-fire business environment, when conditions can turn in an instant, a strong culture can promote agility and responsiveness and boost performance. But it doesn’t develop by accident.

April 2, 2012 in Miami Beach, FL.

THE Performance Improvement Conference 2012

Get the most educational bang for your buck! Not only does ISPI offer the best speakers in the field of performance improvement, but in comparison to other professional development opportunities, THE Performance Improvement Conference exposes you to nearly 50% more time for learning and networking with colleagues.

April 20 – 23, 2012 in Toronto.

USDLA 2012 Conference

This National Conference is the premier event for professionals in the distance learning industry.

April 29 – May 2, 2012 – location to be announced.

2012 Partnering for Performance Conference

At this conference, you will gain insights into the latest trends, emerging technologies, and best-in-class solutions in the training industry. Hand-selected presentations will showcase how leading edge learning organizations collaborated to improve performance. World class speakers will coach you on how to drive your organization’s performance through partnerships while networking opportunities enable you to create lasting and worthwhile relationships.

May 1 – 3, 2012 in Raleigh, NC.

ASTD 2012 International Conference & Exposition (ICE) 

Held each spring, this premier event for workplace learning and performance professionals welcomes attendees from more than 70 countries. The conference features 200+ educational sessions from industry leading experts and a world-class EXPO filled with the latest product and services available from top suppliers.

May 6 – 9, 2012 in Denver, CO.

eLearning DevCon

You spend money on a conference because you want to learn something that will make your e-learning program better. eLearning DevCon 2012 will offer over 60 sessions on various e-learning topics, with a heavy focus on development. You can even Bring Your Own Laptop® and participate hands-on in any of our BYOL® sessions, following the instructor step-by-step.

June 6 – 8, 2012 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

mLearnCon 2012 Conference & Expo

The premier mLearning conference and expo … mLearnCon is focused on every aspect of mobile learning including management strategies, platforms, operating systems, authoring tools and technologies, content design and development, and best practices. Since mobile learning is such a rapidly emerging sector of the eLearning market, this event draws a high-level audience of eLearning professionals seeking to gather information to support their organization’s engagement with mLearning. This event drew more than 600+ participants in 2011.

June 19 – 21, 2012 in San Jose, CA.

Fall CLO Symposium 

No information as of blog date.

September 19, 2012 – location to be announced.

DevLearn 2012 Conference & Expo

DevLearn Conference & Expo is, by far, North America’s leading eLearning event. This event is designed for seasoned eLearning professionals who are out on the leading edge of the emerging technologies our industry will put to work for learning. If you want to know what’s coming next in the world of learning, what the leaders in the field are thinking and doing, and how new technologies impact management, strategy development, and learning development, then you need to be at DevLearn. DevLearn will attract between 1,800 and 2,000 participants in 2012.

October 31 – November 2, 2012 in Las Vegas, NV.

Several conferences have not yet announced their 2012 dates. I’ve included links so that you can look them up more easily if you’re interested.

Telling Ain’t Training

LearnNow Conference

Learning Transfer Conference

Well now that has changed. I absolutely love that Farmers Insurance thinks training is important enough to the success of the business to use it for marketing:

Please comment with other examples of training success as a marketing tool.

(OK – this is an extreme example!)

If this hasn’t happened to you, then I’m sure you’ve seen it happen to your colleagues. On every large project there seems to be a few designers that can’t get the SMEs to scope the content into what is needed for the training rather than everything but the kitchen sink.

Now, this is not the subject matter expert’s fault. It is his or her job to know everything there is to know about the topic. He or she was asked to help you because of this extensive knowledge. So who is at fault?

Sadly, it is the fault of the designer. We as designers need to ask the right questions to get the meeting focused on the right content.

So What Are These Questions?

Some designers are able to ask the right questions almost intuitively. These are the IDs that show up with a pre-built list of questions. However, most of us are human and need some help.

I’ve asked quite a few successful designers and there are several different ways to approach this. I’m going to provide a few questions from one approach in this blog.

1. First, clarify the goal of the program.

You probably already know the goal. After all, it’s on your project charter. You’re sure the SME knows the goal because it was the subject line of the email recruiting him or her. However, you should never skip this step. Why not? Because, by re-establishing the goal, you are setting the framework for the meeting. You are making sure that everyone is on the same page. 

Ask specific questions around the goal at the beginning of your meeting. Asking questions rather than just stating the goal helps to establish full buy-in by all present. Sample questions include:

• What problem are we trying to solve with this program?
• What improvement are we trying to make with this program?
• What do we want the audience to do differently as a result of this program?

Now that you’ve established the goal in everyone’s mind, write it on the top of a flip chart, whiteboard, webinar screen, or on whatever medium you are using. Make sure it is in a place where everyone can see it. You will be referring back to this goal often.

2. Next, establish what the learner needs to know.

That is, what does the learner need to know in order to achieve the goal. At this stage, don’t expect your SME to use a “filter” to only give you the really good things. Ask for everything. Make sure each item that is provided by the SME is separated somehow. (Ex: a separate line on word document, a separate row on an excel spreadsheet, a separate branch on a mindmap, or a separate post-it note) Some questions that will prompt this include:

• What tasks will the CSR perform?
• What do the CSRs need to know?
• What do the CSRs need to do?

3. Establish any non-learning must-haves.

This includes the whole change-management, softer side of the learning program. Ask your SMEs questions such as:

• What beliefs do the CSRs need in order to adopt this program?

Examples might include, “The CSRs need to believe they will have a shorter average handle time by using the script.”

This also includes changes to the work situation that might be necessary.  Questions to address this might include:

• Do all the CSRs have the needed technology for the new script system?
• Are there any work procedures that conflict with the new script system?

These non-learning topics should be moved aside and added to an agenda for the next meeting such as “change acceleration” or “technology enablement”. I suggest moving these aside because unless you do, these will take up the rest of your SME meeting. 

4. Group the content areas into “like” topics.

This is when using post-it notes really pays off. Move around all the different individual content topics until you’ve moved them into similar groupings. For example, you might group all the topics that have to be performed every call into one group and topics that involve escalating a call into another group. 

5. Determine which tasks are critical, performed frequently, or are complex.

I’ve developed a spreadsheet that is very useful for this. Simply transfer the tasks to the spreadsheet and either distribute to your subject matter experts for rating or facilitate a meeting to obtain the ratings.

(To obtain a copy of the worksheet for your team or yourself – please contact me at leighanne.lankford@training-pros.com)

6. Begin Designing!

You now have some good information about the tasks. It’s time to start forming the objectives, elminating non-critical content, and mapping out the design.

I welcome your suggestions to improve this process or further aids for designers. Please feel free to send those to me at leighanne.lankford@training-pros.com or post them as a comment on this blog.

I am also looking for guest bloggers in areas of Learning and Development that aren’t my specialty. Specifically, I’d love a webinar expert, a facilitator, and someone in Talent Management to offer some guest blogging help.  I highly recommend everyone try the experience at least once.

Web Meeting software.

Yes – that’s it.

Web Meeting software. It’s been around a long time. So how does it save time?

The Obvious Time Saver

No Travel. I don’t have to go to my client’s office. I can stay right here in my little quiet office. I can review source documents, websites, storyboards, design documents, conceptual maps, etc. with my client and never worry that they’re not keeping up. What I am discussing is shown right there on their screen. If they have content to add, I can give control over to them and watch as they show me all sorts of things to make my course richer.

The Not-So-Obvious Saver

I’ve found a way to save lots of time besides travel using this common software. I’m betting many of you are already doing it - it’s just time to let the secret out. Here is the feature that pays off so well, that I’m willing to pay a monthly fee for it: Recording.  

That’s right – recording.

First, I ask permission, letting the client know why I’m recording our meeting. Next I record the entire meeting. During the meeting I don’t take any notes. I just pay close attention to what the subject matter expert is saying. This allows me to be more fully engaged during the entire meeting. Also, it keeps me from having to ask them to pause while I take notes.

Immediately following the meeting, I can replay the meeting and take notes. This also helps reinforce what I’ve just learned in the meeting. (Note – schedule an hour of quiet time following the meeting to go through the webinar and make your notes.)

Instances When I Use It:

• Initial project scoping. This helps me ask all the right questions and not worry too much about detail. I can review the project scoping meeting when I’m putting together the proposal or the overall solution design.
• Content scoping meeting.
• Extant content review. I’ve even just walked through the existing PowerPoint files with a trainer and gotten all the information I need for the eLearning. It really speeds up the process.
• Deliverable review meeting. When reviewing the storyboard, design document, PowerPoint, etc…. you can catch all the nuances better in a recording.

Which Software Do I Use?

It really doesn’t matter. The features and pricing are not so very different. Right now I’m using GoToMeeting, but if something better / cheaper comes along I’ll switch. I just need these two features: (1) recording and (2) several people on the phone at once. – Mostly the recording!

If any of you reading this have additional uses for Web Meeting software, please comment here for everyone’s benefit.

Michelle obtained an MBA from Oglethorpe University while working full time.  She now spends her time organizing people’s work life while raising two sons.  In addition, she volunteers with the PTA by helping with special events and volunteer coordination.

So what is Michelle going to be doing with me? Basically, she’s going to help me keep in contact with clients, consultants, and prospects. She’s going to help me by troubleshooting any issue that comes up. She’s going to help me with my volunteer work for ASTD. And – she’s going to keep me on track with my projects.

Michelle has just started work but you should start expecting to hear from her soon. Her email address is michelle.estrada@training-pros.com. 

Welcome Michelle!

And what happened to Carol Rusin? Many of you had the opportunity to work with Carol. Carol did more for me than run the paperwork – she is also a talented learning professional. She’s moving more into an eLearning Developer role and will continue to work with us on projects.

Good luck Carol!