How and When to go Agile with Training Design and Development

Agile is the buzzword and the most adopted project management method in the software industry.

eLearning or Training Development is still pretty linear with ADDIE being the most adopted approach to managing training design and development. The Successive Approximation Model or the SAM model attempts to make the training design and development process more agile. However, owing to the nature of work in the eLearning industry, we cannot go agile with our project management for each course that we are developing.

The details of the SAM Model or Agile Project Management methodologies are out of scope for this video, but we’ll briefly discuss these concepts.

By the end of this blog or video, you’ll be able to:

• Define Agile and Waterfall project management methods
• Identify the difference between Agile and Waterfall project management methods
• Explain the SAM model
• Determine the ideal project management method for managing the development of your courses

Agile Project Management Overview

Agile Project Management is a methodology that recommends developing projects in an iterative way. That is, instead of designing and delivering a complete product, you deliver small iterations of the product while meeting the minimum quality and functional requirements with each iteration. That is, you gradually add all features to the product by constantly updating it based on feedback received for each iteration. Despite delivering iterations and not delivering complete products, it’s essential to ensure your iterative product versions meet the minimum quality parameters of the product. That is, you should deliver a minimum viable product that offers the functionality or service, which your customers can use.

The diagram shown here summarizes the Agile approach wherein you Analyze, Plan, Define the Scope, Design Protypes, Develop, Test, and Deploy an iteration. You continue this loop until the the product meets the functional and quality requirements.

For example, let’s say you need to design and deliver a new course that would teach learners how to host meetings effectively. Next, let’s say you have five modules or lessons in this course. So, with the agile approach, you can consider developing the first module of the course, getting an initial iteration reviewed by your team or Subject Matter Experts, updating it, and then deliver the next iteration until you all agree on a version, which will achieve the learning goal. Now, you move to the next module and repeat this process until the course is finalized.

The Difference: Agile vs. Waterfall

The key difference between Agile and Waterfall methodologies is how the Agile approach recommends regularly taking feedback and updating your product or service during each phase. On the contrary, the Waterfall method recommends closing a phase, and then moving on to the next one. The key drawback of such an approach is that if there is a mistake in one of the initial phases of the project, there is a high probability of it getting through to the launch of the product.

Moving on from ADDIE to SAM

In most cases, the eLearning or Learning and Development industry has been traditionally following the ADDIE model for designing and developing courseware. Whilst this model is great, robust, and offers a logical approach to training design and development, it’s linear like the Waterfall approach of development.

As we know from the number of effective courses we’ve developed using the ADDIE model, this approach works. However, when we don’t have clarity on the scope of the training or when we are developing a course on a complex topic, we tend to require more revisions to the course content during development. This is where the ADDIE model tends to lack the flexibility. We obviously adapt the ADDIE model to align with our requirements, but in theory, it lacks the flexibility needed to develop complex courses.

The SAM model manages to address this shortcoming and provides an agile framework for developing courses.

The diagram here gives a high-level overview of the SAM model.

In this model, after you gather the required information or receive the raw content from a Subject Matter Expert or SME, you start designing your course. However, you don’t develop the complete training design at one go. With the SAM model, you are recommended to create a draft design for the course, discuss it with your team or the SME. Next, based on the feedback, you continually update it until you agree to a version that aligns with your training and business goal. You can download a sample Design Document, here.

Next, based on the design, start developing the slides, screens, and content. Define milestones in your development cycle when you will meet with your team or SME to review the iterations. Next, update the content based on the feedback. Again review the iteration and continue updates until you and stakeholders agree that the training is effective and will achieve its learning and business goals.

To ensure such iterative cycles are not infinite, you can define the number of iterations that you will develop and evaluate. This is because we work in environments that require us to constantly deliver solutions. These training solutions should be good enough as far as the content and design are concerned. An aim to deliver the perfect course with innumerable iterations could lead to business challenges.

When to go Agile with eLearning?

With the advantages that the Agile method offers, it’s tempting to manage each project with the agile methodology, maybe just because it’s the trend.

So, although Agile has its advantages, it is not recommended for every project. You are recommended to use Agile methods to manage your course development if you are in situations, such as those discussed here.

• When you are making a gamified innovative course: If you and your team are trying to build a course that uses advanced gamification or complex delivery methods, go agile. Iterate on the learner experience by testing the experience with a sample of your target audience. Get their feedback, and update your designs and content.
• When you have no or less reference content: Good quality reference content enables us to learn the content of a course ourselves, before we teach it via. the courses that we write. If you don’t have access to quality reference content, consider going agile. Write the draft outline of your course structure, get an approval from your SME, then create the design of your course. Next, take a modular approach to writing content and iterate with your SME and team until you have an effective course ready.
• If SME or a team is available to review and iterate with you: Effective course development is typically a team effort. Unless you are an expert on the topic of the course, you will need to collaborate with SMEs or a team to design and develop an effective course. So, when you go Agile for developing a course, you will need to ensure that your SMEs or the team is aware and available to review and iterate the different versions of the course with you.
• When the scope is loose or undefined: Steve Jobs said, “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” So, if you are developing a course that sails into the unknown domain of content, technicalities, or innovative interactions, consider going agile. If you don’t have a defined scope at the start of a course, being Agile will give you the freedom to keep checking regularly whether you’re developing the course with the right content, design, and interactions.
• If budget and timelines are flexible: With an aim to create a perfect course, Agile iterations can continue beyond your planned dates. As a result, being agile can increase the budget and the timelines. Hence, when you adopt the Agile methodologies, be flexible with your budget and timelines to accommodate the additional iterations.

Next, let’s see when it’s not advisable to use Agile methodologies in eLearning.

When to use Waterfall Methodologies?

Traditional ADDIE or any other waterfall methods for developing courses are recommended when you need to:

• Update an existing course. This is because projects in which you are updating an existing course will have a clearly defined scope. Going agile in such cases won’t make sense as your first iteration itself will meet the update requirements.
• Develop a course with a well-defined scope. This means that if you have clarity around the business goals, learning objectives, and content outline for the course, you may not need to go agile with your development. However, on the contrary, if you are trying new designs or need assurance on the accuracy of certain parts of the course, you can consider a hybrid model. That is, adopt waterfall for the entire project, but be agile with parts of the course that require iteration and reviews.
• Develop a course that has good reference content. If you have reliable source content and understand the scope, and content well, you can stick to the waterfall model.
• Team or SME has limited availability for reviews and collaboration. Going Agile requires collaboration with others that could be SMEs or your team. If they are not available to review and iterate with you, it will be difficult to be agile.
• Budget and timelines are fixed. Projects developed with Agile methodology can have a scope creep, hence may need flexible timelines and budget. So, if you’ve a fixed budget and a hard timeline, you should stick managing your project with waterfall methodology.

Here is a summary of when is it recommended to go Agile vs. using Waterfall.