LX redesigned for professionals on the move

The Challenge –

The Prepare to be an Expert program supports career development of all professionals at SAP who aspire to progress as a functional expert vs becoming a people manager. The initial pilot was designed and delivered as a series of three virtual instructor led workshops (8 hours total). The learners loved the story-based content, the activities, and making connections with peers.

But there was one big problem, this audience had difficulty committing large chuncks of time. They were often called on to solve challenges, visit customers, and lead projects at short notice. Because the learner shouldn’t have to choose between learning and getting their job done, it was clear the program needed to adapt to their needs.

The Mission –

That’s where I was brought in and given the mission to make the program scalable for the audience. I saw three key challenges to address: preserving the stories and discovery moments, facilitating personal connections in a scalable way, and moving beyond single learning events towards learning journeys that easily fit in the day to day of a professional.

Here’s what I did –

Mini videos, big stories – The original VILT featured character scenarios and case studies for the learner to read together. These were followed up by polls, discussion, and best practices. To capture the stories and moments of discovery in an eLearning format, I created a series of mini animated documentary style videos of each character, and followed each with decision points, and follow-up tips. The outcome was fun, simple, and helped the learner transition from once concept to the next, by following along with the characters. (Tech used: Adapt and Vyond)

eLearning is not “one size fits all” – The original program involved a lot of coaching moments, networking, and discussion. Moving content to eLearning would solve for flexibility but lacks the human connection the learner valued. I didn’t want to devalue the program by removing those pieces and instead identified what content fit or could be adapted to eLearning, and what needed to be moved to on-demand virtual meetups with a coach. (Tech used: Zoom)

Learning should be a journey, not a destination – Becoming an expert often takes a professional several years and each career path is unique, it often requires continual practice and support to hone and elevate needed skills. To help the aspiring experts do this, I spread the core learning requirements out over time, making them self-paced and on demand. In addition to these core requirements, I supplemented the program with resources and on the job activities of varying difficulty that the learner could choose depending on their needs and level.