eLearning Project Managers must keep their collaborators on task and on time. In this article, we’ll share 8 tips to boost the productivity of your eLearning team and meet crucial deadlines.
How To Boost The Productivity Of Your eLearning Team
Low productivity can spell disaster for eLearning development, meaning slower turnaround times, missed milestones, and questionable content quality. It’s the eLearning Project Manager’s job to ensure that everyone receives the support and motivation they need to stay on course.
But how can you facilitate communication and collaboration when your eLearning team is disbursed across the globe? Here are 8 quick ways to enhance the productivity of your eLearning team.
1. Hold Regular Progress-Check Meetings
Team members may not even be aware they’re falling behind, or they simply don’t know how to get back on track once their productivity declines. However, regular meetings offer them the support they need and hold them accountable for their respective tasks. Choose the ideal video conferencing tool, then create an agenda that covers the main discussion points.
For example, start with a brief recap of the eLearning project’s goals and check-in with everyone to see how they’re faring. They can even offer to help fellow team members who are struggling with more involved tasks. Progress-check meetings are also the ideal time to motivate members who lag behind and give them constructive criticism or praise.
2. Invest In An Effective Online Project Management Tool
Online project management tools are a must-have for distributed teams. They allow you to centralize your communications and collaborate from anywhere in the world. As such, your eLearning team can share ideas, provide feedback, and make revisions using a single online platform. There are even such tools that feature built-in video conferencing tools, which come in handy for those regular progress-check meetings from tip #1. A top-notch tool should feature a task tracker, role assignments, and reporting capabilities.
3. Conduct An In-House Skills Assessment
The most productive eLearning teams know how to use their skills and talents to accomplish the objectives. As such, you must ensure that team members are tackling tasks that cater to their skill sets instead of handing out assignments which put collaborators out of their depth.
Conduct a skills-and-knowledge assessment to determine what your eLearning team knows and who is ideally suited for which tasks. This may be in the form of a traditional exam, or surveys and polls to get the team member’s perspective. For instance, talents they’ve used to complete past eLearning projects and have honed over time.
4. Keep An Up-To-Date eLearning Project Calendar
Create an eLearning project calendar, complete with individual assignments and milestones. Post it to your online project management platform so that everyone can keep track of important dates and make frequent updates. For example, cross an item off the calendar once they have completed the required tasks.
This is also a great place to announce meetings and other team events that may be of interest to collaborators. That said, each member of the online training team should also keep their own calendars, which allows them to make notes and track personal progress.
5. Compile A List Of Essential Resources
The eLearning team should know which resources are available to them, as well as how they can use these resources most effectively. For example, which eLearning authoring tools they need to create interactive eLearning content or online guides and online training tutorials they can use to better understand the subject matter.
If you’re producing deliverables for a client, it’s also wise to include branding resources, such as links to their site or company manual that offer a glimpse of their identity and messaging. Frequently update the list and invite collaborators to add their own links. For instance, if they’re already familiar with the topic and have a personal database of relevant articles and eBooks.
6. Re-Evaluate Your Team Goals
There are two reasons for re-evaluating your team goals periodically. The first is to ensure that you’re all working toward goals that are still relevant and align with outcomes, rather than devoting your full time and energy to unnecessary tasks. The second is to refresh your eLearning team’s memory and verify that they’re still on track.
Meet with your eLearning team to discuss the goals and objectives, then determine if they need to be re-adjusted. Make sure that your collaborators know what’s expected of them and how they fit into the big picture (for example, how their individual assignments help the entire eLearning team achieve the desired results).
7. Welcome Feedback From Collaborators
Your eLearning team should have ample opportunity to voice their concerns and opinions without fear of being judged. Let them know that you welcome their input and invite their suggestions on how the team dynamic can improve. You might consider a weekly or monthly roundtable that gives members a chance to speak up.
In addition, provide a list of contacts that includes all collaborators and the eLearning Project Manager’s direct email or phone number. This feedback system helps to improve eLearning team productivity in that you continually analyze and adjust work practices.
8. Give Your eLearning Team Frequent Breathers
Even the most dedicated, hard-working eLearning team needs a break from time to time. You don’t want collaborators burning out before they accomplish the eLearning project goals.
It’s a good idea to give everyone a breather after a particularly long day or once they’ve wrapped up an important milestone. Praise them for their efforts, then treat them to a well-deserved day off. You can also encourage them to take some mental downtime in between assignments to refresh and unwind. Then they can get back to work with renewed energy and focus so that they’re even more productive.
Conclusion
These 8 tips can help you build and maintain productivity throughout your eLearning project, but you may want to enact them on day one to stop the slump before it even starts. Clarify roles, assign tasks, and set milestones so that every member of your eLearning team knows what to expect.
How exactly do you plan a successful eLearning project from day one? How important is an eLearning team, and what characteristics does it need to embody? Download the free eBook Top Tips To eLearning Project Management And Planning to learn about the characteristics of a successful eLearning team and how to improve online collaboration in eLearning projects, how to select an online Project Management platform, and how to create a realistic eLearning budget to match your expectations.
