Help forecast challenges and provide solutions by getting involved early in decisions related to the scope of design projects.

Today you woke up with your mind full of ideas, almost mentally rehearsing your speech for the big event. After months going through instructional design models, theories, principles, and methodologies, and making sure that all information relevant to the project was in-depth, researched, and compiled during the analysis phases, you are certain this project is flawless. There is no way you will need to do any type of rework, the subject matter experts (SMEs) were pleased with the way you assembled the content for the course, and only a few changes were recommended after your last tabletop review with them.

Two hours after the meeting you seem to be distressed, tired, and somehow upset. You go straight to your managers office to break the news. "I have a lot of rework to do. They liked it so much that they have new ideas for almost every topic of the project."

But how? You did everything right. You followed the principles taught in the ADDIE methodology; you had biweekly meetings with the SMEs and no red flags were raised; you even thought this would be one of your best jobs ever.

I am not sure what went wrong in this meeting. But I am well aware that we instructional designers have a complete aversion to the word "rework." It is our worst enemypotentially a reflection of a clumsy job or evidence to inattention to details. So what can we do? A strategic plan is in order.

What is it?

To design learning and performance solutions, instructional designers have to step out of the instructional systems design box and get more involved in the entire project. We need to think strategically and be involved during the early stages of the project and own part of the decisions made related to the project scope. The instructional designer should be responsible for the management of strategic planning meetings throughout the life of the project.

Some of you may think that change will not be necessary if a good analysis assessment and research are deployed at the beginning of the project. I used to be one of you. But the world is turning faster than usual. We have to open our hearts and minds and prepare for changes. Forget about the word rework; think of it as continuous improvement.

As an instructional designer, you should lead the strategic planning of the project. You should be the one forecasting the challenges and the strengths of the project and recommending and implementing solutions when a continuous improvement request comes up.

For example, if you are designing a blended learning solution for the new software upgrade that requires developing web-based training, and you find out the day before go live that all screens used in the final material are outdated, what would you do? You certainly wouldnt send out inaccurate content to the learners. The shift here is that you would need to do rework and make sure all the screens were current with the one in the system.

Strategic planning will help you to forecast such issues. The solution for this case would be to open a continuous improvement slot in the project scope and recommend that instead of pictures of the systems screen, everybody in the project should use an "image holder" and have the current screen shots inserted in the holders once you have the final decision on the most current appearance of the software user interface.

Guidelines

While some learning functions are increasingly adept at strategic planning, plan execution is still a significant challenge. This is especially true given market demands to be agile and to be prepared for unexpected change such as volatile economic conditions or disruptive technologies that can upset an otherwise fast-paced but more predictable marketplace. You need not only to be able to focus on developing your plans, but also be capable of executing them.

Request time during the scope of the project for these strategic planning meetings where you, SMEs, and stakeholders will determine and establish the projects strategic objectives to address its challenges and leverage its advantages. You will need to be extremely honest with your stakeholder if he chooses to move forward with the project toward a more risqu direction.

Results

Once upon a time, we instructional designers were just building PowerPoint presentations and writing scripts for trainers. That era is long gone. We have to step up in the game and show stakeholders what it takes to achieve successful results.

Dont get me wrong; there will be reworks out there. If a stakeholder decided to change the template colors of your material two days before go live, that still will be rework. However, replacing the screen image of a software user interface due to its new appearance will not be necessary if you have identified that as a possibility

during your strategic planning sessions.

The use of strategic thinking and strategic planning wont stop the problems we face daily in our careers, but it will help us to be prepared when it happens and give options to everyone involved in the project.