Implementing Rapid E-Learning

How can a successful local retailer clone itself – and its internal expertise – to become a national player?

This retail chain needed a quick, economical and consistent way to deploy best-practices across its enterprise. Rapid E-Learning seemed a natural fit, a way to shortcut the training development cycle by putting training development into the hands of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs).

But first attempts at Rapid E-Learning were disappointing:

• The courses were static, boring, little more than recycled PowerPoint presentations.
• The courses looked so amateurish that they lacked credibility.
• And no one could tell who was learning or if they were learning, because there was no standard way to track Rapid E-Learning courses within the retailer’s Learning Management System (LMS).

That’s when the retailer called Prometheus. Their mandate: Help us get Rapid E-learning right!

Analysis told us that getting rapid e-learning right for this client meant giving them a repeatable process, easy enough for internal SMEs to use, to churn out consistently-effective training that met their internal quality standards and could be performance-tracked through their Learning Management System.

To do that, we deconstructed their initial programs to find out where they had gone wrong. We talked to SMEs, learners and supervisors about their expectations for e-learning. We talked to Marketing about how to internally “brand” rapid e-learning, and we worked extensively with IT to eliminate Learning Management System glitches.

Based on our findings, we established quality criteria for Rapid E-learning courseware. Then we created a series of templates that met those criteria. The templates gave SMEs the tools they needed to create courses that looked right, played right, tracked right – and consistently made learning happen. And for those SMEs who needed a little extra help, we packaged in some one-on-one coaching, as well.

Special Skills/Software

• PowerPoint
• Articulate Studio
• Flash
• Photoshop
• SumTotal LMS

Learners enjoyed taking courses that were both relevant and engaging.

Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) were excited to be able to create effective Rapid E-Learning quickly, without getting bogged down in software functionality issues.

Human Resources was relieved that its Learning Management System could track learner performance in courses built with Rapid E-Learning software. They began to investigate widening the use of Rapid E-Learning to topics such as Safety and Compliance.

And Management began to see Rapid E-Learning as a strategic tool, enabling the organization to provide consistent, best-practice performance and service to customers across all locations.

For more information about this project, please contact us.