Project Summary
Unlock Your Potential With Executive Presence is a virtual, on-demand executive presence program for teams and organizations incorporating micro-learning video instruction, virtual group discussion & activities, an online assessment, individual executive coaching, and simulations to measure and validate individual transformations.
Audience
Executive and Senior Leadership Teams, Consulting and/or Sales Teams, Executive-level Leaders, and Technologists
Responsibilities
Instructional Design, eLearning Development, Video Production & Editing, Visual Design, Course Collaterals, LMS Implementation & Management
Tools Used
Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Acrobat DC, Google Sheets, Microsoft Power Point, Rev Transcript Editor, Typeform, Vimeo, Zapier, Customized LMS
Problem & Solution
As a result of the Covid Pandemic and global economics, many of our corporate clients asked for a virtual solution for the weeks-long, in-person executive presence training program we offer for executive leadership.
To address their virtual need while at the same time ensuring efficacy of the program, we created an online version of the program which can be accessed through our LMS. The course portion of the program contains over 100 micro-learning videos and accompanying digital collaterals leaders can access online (via desktop or mobile) to learn content, complete activities, take assessments, reflect on application, take notes, etc.
Our clients have the options to implement the program through asynchronous eLearning alone, asynchronous eLearning and synchronous webinar discussions/application exercises, or as a hybrid program with asynchronous eLearning and in-person discussions/application activities. Each of these implementation options also has add-on elements including individual or group coaching, feedback loops with participant supervisors, pre & post assessments, and a cumulative assessment, all of which can be offered both virtually & in-person.
The Process — A t0 Z
To begin this project, I followed an agile form of both the ADDIE & Backward Design models. For the analysis phase, I collaborated with the subject matter expert (SME), who is also the in-person course designer, to gather a broad understanding of the course content, access to all course collaterals, and to gain a better grasp of the desired outcomes for the digital version of the course. Based on our initial analysis of the content and desired outcomes, we decided to separate the content into what we felt could be instructional micro-learning videos and to adapt the existing course collaterals to align with each lesson video. This formed the basis for the action map we created in Google Sheets.
Once the action map was reviewed and approved, I continued to collaborate with the SME and moved into the design and development phases in parallel. Since I needed to produce more than 100 videos, the video production and design work for the began simultaneously. As video production commenced, I also began video editing and creating mock-ups of instructional videos for a few of the lessons.
We went through several iterations of instructional video mock-ups before a cohesive design and framework, which stayed on brand and could be applied throughout the course, was approved. After the design and framework was finalized, I began video production and editing in earnest as well as work on adapting the existing course collateral to adhere to the approved design and framework.
To host the course, I worked with the web designers who had created our existing LMS for the additional customization we found we needed. Once this was finished, I began programming the course into our LMS and testing whether it was functioning as desired. After any remaining changes were made, I finished programming the course into the LMS. The course was then Beta tested and feedback from the testing was incorporated.
We were able to release the course to our clients on time, 4 months after the project began.
Reflections
Throughout this project, I deepened my skills and understanding of Adobe Premier Pro and Acrobat DC, Typeform, Zapier, Vimeo, video production, course development, and instructional design.
The experience working closely with the SME was invaluable. I was challenged professionally in the execution of the project as well as in the soft skills required to develop my own executive presence. And working with the web designers on the LMS allowed me to dive a bit deeper into web design and coding.
This was a huge undertaking with a short timeline for execution during the Covid pandemic lockdown. In hindsight, I feel I could have been more creative in making the overall course more attractive and captivating for our executive audience if we had been given more time and more resources were available.
I have made a few additions to the course since it was released. I updated the full course downloadable PDF workbook to be fillable. And, we have added the feature through Vimeo that allows the videos to “pop out” and play in a small window on your computer screen while also allowing the learner to access his/her course notes and activities.