Reviewing Learning Deliverables: Foundational Ideas

This is the first in a series of articles about how to add reviews to the learning experience creation process.

Done well, reviews raise the effectiveness of the deliverables, promote the learning designer’s development, and build confidence and collaboration across the team.

Just so you know, I’m the person who looks at new ideas with wariness and even distrust when separated from my early adopter mindset. So when I heard we were going to have required reviews on my team a few years ago, my misgiving radar was on full alert.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

From fear to enthusiasm

My team reviewed nothing. Sometimes we’d provide stakeholders with an introduction to the planned learning experience at a high level. Other times, my manager might read a draft of something I’d written, but all I’d get back were spelling errors and grammar issues.

In fact, most of the time, we sent our deliverables to translation with no one reading them other than the writer and an editor.

When leadership presented this idea of reviews, our little group of instructional designers leapt into fear, resistance, and suspicion. I was part of that. Over time, though, we saw that the focus was on improving the work. And I never saw evidence of a “gotcha” moment where it seemed leaders were looking for evidence that the team wouldn’t measure up.

We relaxed. Something that was, at best, a hoop to jump and at worst, the harbinger of a reign of terrorizing criticism, became instead a normal part of tune and fine-tuning the experience. We benefited from reviews; the learners benefited even more.

That incident scared up a slew of imposter syndrome concerns.

For me, I was concerned that my previous experience teaching high school would show up as depending on methods more appropriate for school than work. Others had other concerns. Some people just didn’t trust that they knew what we were doing.

While our team could have introduced the review process better, in the end we were more confident as learning designers, more collaborative as a team, and closer to our colleagues.

Three Foundational Axioms

Emotional safety matters

First, ensure everyone understands that the intention of reviewing work in the process is to promote growth, not fault-finding.

Leaders need to instill the idea that reviews are important because they believe in their direct reports rather than because they don’t.

This is the most important axiom because it promotes collaborative trust. Collaborative trust, in turn, promotes engagement and positive energy. This isn’t the idea of hiding negative feedback between two pieces of positive feedback to create a “sandwich.” While doing so can communicate respect and has value, it doesn’t go far enough. Whenever I provide feedback that might prompt the recipient to make changes, I want to establish that it’s meant to improve the deliverable and will help the designer be seen as someone who created an outstanding deliverable.

When team members understand their leadership truly believes in them, their entire attitude toward work improves.

Use questions

Second, a spirit of inquiry is essential. Asking questions is much less threatening than delivering criticism, especially if the need behind the question has already been addressed.

I might ask what the designer’s intention is around learning objectives if they’re not visible in a design plan, or how learner practice and feedback figures into the experience if you’re not sure.

Whenever I can ask questions instead of implying wrongness, I’m bringing the spirit of helpfulness rather than judgment.

Provide the “why”

Third, spend time in team meetings and individual conversations promoting the value of reviews.

Everyone should understand that you’re promoting progress, not perfection. This integrates well with the idea that even after work gets shipped, there’s an expectation it will be refined and improved until it becomes the right solution to the problem, engages the learning audience, and looks good.

Ten significant reasons to review learning experiences:

• Reviews expose the designer to alternate perspectives and new ideas.
• As a leader, you always want to better understand the work your reports are doing and the ways they solve problems.
• Reviewing training allows peers to learn from each other.
• When leaders review the work their reports do, they’re better able to articulate the value of that work and explain certain decisions.
• Leaders who review real projects being completed by their team are closer to the work and build their own capacity as learning professionals.
• Reviews shift the team culture towards performance results over personal qualities.
• Reviewing work allows leaders to identify an individual’s strengths and areas of opportunity, which can lead to giving more intentional project assignments, better performance goals, and ways team members can provide mentoring to each other.
• Review the work of a direct report shows that team member you care about them.
• Finally, the most important reason of all: conducting reviews improves the effectiveness of your team’s solutions and drives business outcomes.

Getting Started

Future articles will discuss the how to’s of reviewing learning experience projects, identify some best practices, and explain the differences between types of reviews.

Now is the time to get started. I’d expect resistance when implementing reviews, but should neither taken personally, nor too seriously. Teams relax when they see the positive intent of their leaders revealed through helpful action.