Writing a business plan for eLearning in your organisation

Originally, this post was a link to a page on TrainingPlace.com, where I found an article on how to write a business plan for your organisation. In the past, I recommended it to people I've spoken to who don't really know where to start, or who find the industry a bit daunting!

Next, I put a link to it on a couple of discussion forums on LinkedIn and the response was fantastic! So I have transferred all the imparted wisdom to this blog post, along with references to the people who submitted their thoughts, (click on the names to see their LinkedIn profiles). Below are all of the resources grouped together, so that if you have this task in your intray, you can make use of it! Please share a link to this blog post too, if you know anyone else in this situation.

• Original link on TrainingPlace, (as well as a strategy plan, it has lots of resource references and suggested reading): http://www.trainingplace.com/building.htm

• You need to do needs analaysis for your requirements training in general. You need to sort this out before you can look as specific delivery types, most of the stuff you will need will fall out of this. You need to look at the audience, subject, materials etc. (Andrea Jones (Crowe))

• My experience is use bottom-line savings...ASTD has a lot of resources to help. Looking at benchmark data regarding spending per employee for platform training then look at the cost of e-learning modules. There are a lot of factors that support the use of e-learning when it comes to savings like travel, pay for faciitator, amount of times it needs to be offered to population to get those who need training trained etc... Also educating Senior Leadership to concepts of just-in-time learning or blended approach is very helpful. Never make any assumptions they know these "common" terms. Needs Analysis is critical to tell you the "what"....then most of the "how" can come from a blended approach via technology (e-learning and webex). Also included information on how e-learning minimized disruption to business because of 24/7 availability. Again, ASTD has a lot of information & research to support business case for Senior Leadership. (Caroline Bateman Sudhoff, SPHR)

• The points outlined in the trainingplace link are very comprehensive and are important components for a business plan. However, the ROI is the missing piece. As with everything organizationally, the financial decision-makers will be more likely to "invest" (and the operative word here is "invest") in a new initiative when they know what they'll get as a return on that investment. So, making a strong financial case for the investment in online learning is critical to gain support of the right people. Many business plans include a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). This type of analysis is helpful in providing a case by citing the strengths (or value) of the initiative, potential drawbacks (risk assessment), prevailing influences that will support the initiative's success and finally anything that gets in the way. Many companies invest in online learning without have the proper organizational alignment. Words of support are one thing; allocating the time for folks to use the program is another. (Julia Geisman)

• We created a full business plan with analysis preceding and marketing plan following. I would be willing to share these documents with you if you wish to contact me directly at rachel.hutchinson@hilti.com. We were able to do this with the help Skillsoft who have worked through this process with many companies. (Rachel Hutchinson)

• Not much different from writing any business plan. Consider these: 1. Have a good idea. 2. Have a realistic implementation method. 3. Include a realistic monetization strategy. 4. Show how you're going to protect against risk. 5. Use a good template. 6. Include all the stakeholders. 7. Write it concisely and well. 8. Include a "Wow" factor. (Tim Bosworth)

• "Analysis is worth a pound of cure". What is the working context of the target audience? (**Do employees spend their days operating heavy equipment, in construction, or in an office environment?) Accessibility to e-Learning needs to be considered. (** Is it more convenient for the employer to schedule group training on downtime days, weekends or holidays than to release employees on a staggered basis? In other words, is backfilling employees a problem? **Are employees geographically distributed or all in the same building? **What is is the employee population?) What post-learning outcomes are required? (** Will e-Learning alone enable the required performance? If not, some existing modalities may need to be retained. Is that practical within the organization? **Is the group that needs capability development very small, small, large or very large? Economy of scale should be considered.) What is the perspective of organizational leaders about learning? (**Is there unrealistic pressure to minimize employee time away from the job (i.e., the view that all employees can learn all that they need to know and do in 30 or 60 minutes)? ** Do business leaders see a direct cause-effect relationship between investment in employee capability development and business performance? ** Is quantity more important than quality? ** Does the organization have an influential, credible and knowledgeable training / learning leader? As Senior Sales Consultant, are you the person who should be developing the proposal?) In short, analysis is critical. Expectations need to be carefully managed. Julia's comment about ROI and SWOT is worth considering. (Blair Kettle)

• Ensure you can measure and evidence a robust RoI. Either including an LMS with strong testing dynamics or using a specialist assessment tool. A good quality application will give you micro analysis (info on individual employees) and macro analysis (identifying where learning is being retained by a learning group, and where it isn't - allowing you to re-focus resource to fill knowledge gaps). (Andrew Burns)

• There is a grievous error made by novas e-learning developers – The belief that all-things great and small can be converted to E-learning is false. Remember, training usually requires multiple senses, not just ears and eyes. Tactile is also a very important learning tool that may not be transferable to E-learning situations. Olfactory is also in this category. When asked to develop E-learning programs, I evaluate the learning outcome, the knowledge of participants, cultural differences (New York City v. Bozeman Montana) and ROI from the students and the corporation. In some cases, I have recommended hybrid courses. Rules and procedure training, most HR training, and some technical training is most appropriate. My “sales tool” is the argue the cost of development and presentation versus the cost of flying everyone to a single site, or the trainer to multiple sites. If a “moderator” is needed, it is easier to use someone at the facility. I also stress the need for immediate feedback, especially true with webinars. The use of VOIP and any form of instant messaging works great. An assistant (or two) to review questions and comments to forward to the presenter and may be able to answer some questions immediately is strongly suggested. I have used Twitter and VOIP in my last training and it worked very well. Do not make the training a “talking head” session, nor do you want to have PowerPoint slides that are too complicated to view. Interaction is the key to keep the session interesting and moving. In addition, you will have better feedback if you include participants directly into the conversation. One more thing – Like any training program, test it first locally before you go live. I have been teaching and training for over 30-years and make continuous corrections, additions and deletions to every program I maintain in my bag of training. Remember, the company is only interested in one thing – How can this new technology “Save Time, Save Money or Make Money”© Put the program in terms of dollars, pounds or euros and minutes, and you will have a better chance of succeeding. (David Rosman)

• The first assumption here is that you are proposing elearning as an alternative to ILT or some other form of learning that is already in use. Proving a ROI for elearning should include a cost comparison to the alternatives. In your business case you should also make reference to the "soft" benefits, i.e. learning would be accessible anytime and from anywhere. It's also helpful to your case to list pros and cons: what the company and learners will be able to realize in terms of advantages as well as what would happen if they don't pursue an elearning strategy. It's not all about the ROI. Some aspects of pursuing an elearning strategy are more about business continuance and competitiveness. For example, how does having elearning position you against competitors? This is extremely important if the elearning is targeted at your customer base. Does the company stand to lose customers, or would the business suffer in some other way, if you don't implement elearning? And don't forget to look ahead and factor in changes in the business environment in your business case. For example, if your company plans to expand domestically or overseas elearning allows you to reach a global audience without putting people on airplanes to get trained. Elearning also insures consistency of learning, and for your company that may be a critical factor. (Russ Borman)