Tell-Tale Signs of a Great E-Learning Partner

By Lee Stayton, leader of the eLearning Services division at nSight When you are looking for the right e-learning development partner, it is important to find a firm with the ability to align its methods and processes with your business goals and operational needs. Some firms may try to impress you with slick user interface designs, sophisticated software applications, or a Fortune 500 client list, but the key elements to watch for are more subtle and elusive. Working through the following list of questions will help you to focus on uncovering the essential elements of a good working relationship rather than being lulled into a bad match:

1. Transparency: Does the development partner manage projects in a way that provides a clear window into its work? There may be instances when you just want the final deliverable to land on your desk on the specified date with no questions asked. Most projects, however, require some level of monitoring and feedback along the way to ensure that what you want is precisely what you get at the end of it all. Transparency will give you the opportunity to watch the project make its way through its development process and will establish incremental milestones at which you can review and guide the work in progress. The status of your project should be visible to you at all times, and you should expect to see frequent and predetermined deliverables. Some firms might provide transparency through project management software or online tools to which you are given access. Other firms might provide this transparency through close and frequent contact with a project manager or via weekly status meetings and conference calls with key team members. However, there is more to transparency than schedule status. Honesty and clarity are essential for strong relationships, and they are particularly important when confronting obstacles. If your partner encounters problems with the chosen technology, the formatting of content, or with staffing, will it discuss them with you openly? Or will it pretend that all is well until there are major and obvious delays? It is important that your partner be able to meet your expectations regarding your awareness of and involvement in the work overall, as well as problems as they surface.
2. Methodology: Does the potential partner have a clear process and methodology it applies to its work? Your potential partner should be able to articulate a clear and convincing project management process that embodies its values and priorities. The team structure, planning, managing, tracking, and quality assurance process must be clearly defined. A mature and professional project management-centered approach to product development must be one of the central pillars of how your partner executes projects. The partner should be able to explain the methodology it will apply to each phase of your project, as well as the tools it will use to support that methodology. In addition, the process should show evidence of corrections made over time and wisdom gained from past experience. The process as presented also will give you clear indicators into how the vendor thinks and what it values. Is its process rigid and hierarchical with dependence on one key individual? Does the project team have a structure that instills mutual accountability or is responsibility scattered and diffused? How many layers of content review and interface testing are built into the testing? What are the lines of communication from the partner to the key stakeholders on your team? The process used by the partner is at the heart of who they are and what they have learned along the way. If the presentation glosses over one vague and cursory flow chart on process, it’s time to wonder if the process is alive and well-integrated into what the vendor does or if it was lifted from a textbook for the purposes of the dog-and-pony show.
3. Flexibility: Does the potential partner show you how it has allowed for flexibility in its process? A good partner will utilize a development process that can adapt easily to the needs of your business and to changing circumstances. The partner should make it a primary goal to understand how you work, how your business is organized, and what challenges you face as it scopes out your project. It then will design its process around your requirements and will bob and weave with you in response to changes that arise. Dramatic and frequent change is not unusual in today’s business climate. Your e-learning initiative may pertain to a tool, application, or process that continues to evolve while you attempt to pin it down for training purposes. A partner that employs flexible and agile development practices will put your needs at the center. It also will be able to churn out rapid iterations for your feedback and gracefully realign its resources behind changing objectives, content, or priorities. Be sure to ask your potential partner how it will adapt (within the project scope) to your needs and how easily it can reorient its compass when your priorities have shifted.
4. Accountability: How is the partner showing you it is accountable and will deliver on its promises? You won’t know if the partner can deliver on all it promises until it actually does so, but you will have clear evidence from your first communication with it as to its reliability and accountability. Its dialog with you should show follow-through, attention to detail, and a willingness to acknowledge when it is wrong. In addition, its methodology should show clear lines of task and project ownership. Do not forget to ask for samples of previous projects and for permission to contact references. Taking the time to review previous work and talk with previous clients could provide valuable information about your potential partner. If a vendor cannot deliver answers, information, documents, or samples in a timely, open, and responsive way during the evaluation process, heed the warning signs, and continue your search elsewhere.

Lee Stayton leads the eLearning Services division at nSight, which works with companies, institutions, associations, and training providers to develop digital, online, and mobile learning solutions that meet clients’ needs. With a focus on innovative technology and learning methods that produce quantifiable results, Stayton has more than 20 years of computer, interactive media, and e-learning experience. A Navy veteran, Stayton earned his bachelor of science degree from the University of Washington, Seattle, with a concentration in quantitative science.