I Finished My E-learning Course. Now What?

In previous posts, we looked at everything from customer service to understanding multimedia. In this series, we discussed how to jump start your next project, how to build a project plan, working with your subject matter experts, and what you need to know about rapid e-learning.

What Do You Do When Your Project Is Complete
This question takes us back to a previous post where we looked at jump starting your next project. As I mentioned earlier, we’re all in the same boat. With each e-learning project, we become a little better at doing the next one.

The secret is to keep learning. Here are some post project tips that should help you going forward.

Let Everyone Know How Brilliant You Are

Quite a few years back, I was telling my boss about the good work I was doing. With a wink, she told me that “my actions spoke so loud, she could hardly hear me. ” While I appreciate her insight, over the years I’ve come to realize that sometimes your boss can’t hear your actions, so you might want to let her know anyway.

It’s important to collect and report the metrics from the e-learning course. Your customer and manager needs to see the comparison between the project goals and outcomes.

Sometimes you have no control over the course’s success, or whether it actually makes a measurable improvement. In that case, I recommend pulling together some information about the cost and how it compares to having it outsourced.

Service is Job #1

Look at your courses from a customer service perspective. Who are your customers? Client? Subject matter experts? Learners? Peers? You might find that you have multiple customers. What do you need to do to make sure all of their needs have been met?

As a routine, I do two things.

• I like to get feedback from my customers. I have a simple survey that I send to ask how things went and what they’d recommend for the next project.
• I send quick thank you notes to all who helped on the projects. I also like to CC: their managers. It’s a good way to maintain the relationship.

Who’s the Custodian

Put a reminder on your calendar to follow up with the person or group that commissioned the e-learning course. I recommend a 30-day follow up, just to see how things are going. I would also schedule at least an annual review of the project to see where it stands and if it requires any updates. There’s no reason why you can’t schedule that now instead of waiting a few months and possibly forgetting this step.

Do a Post Project Review

It’s important to capture lessons learned. Once the project is complete, you might find some value in sitting down with your peers and looking at the e-learning course together. Compare what you intended to do with the outcome. There’s always something that could be tweaked or done better the next time. Apply the lessons learned to your next project. You might even get some traction by sharing that with others in the industry via published articles or case studies.

Get Ready for the Next Project

There are many things you can do to prepare for your next project. Incorporate the feedback from this project into the next. Design your templates and questions. Take time to look at what others are doing. Follow the tips from the jump start your next project post.

I hope this information helps you learn and grow as a rapid e-learning developer. Feel free to drop a line or share some tips that you think add value.

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Free E-Learning Resources

Want to learn more? Check out these articles and free resources in the community.	Here’s a great job board for e-learning, instructional design, and training jobs	Participate in the weekly e-learning challenges to sharpen your skills
Get your free PowerPoint templates and free graphics & stock images.	Lots of cool e-learning examples to check out and find inspiration.	Getting Started? This e-learning 101 series and the free e-books will help.