How we’ve partnered with clients
the Learning Evangelist, LLC specializes in creating effective learning environments and strategies. What that means depends on our clients and their needs. We’ve partnered with clients on developing learning strategy, designing and implementing learner-centric face-to-face and virtual programs, enhancing the skills and knowledge of subject-matter experts and those who manage them, and more.
Here are a few examples:
Developing a comprehensive organizational learning strategy: A national association wanted to be more strategic in approaching its professional development offerings. Over a three-year period, Kathi successfully guided organization staff and volunteers in laying the groundwork, obtaining “buy-in” from multiple stakeholder groups, and developing both a strategic approach and an operational plan. The work included analyzing member learning practices, perspectives, and future plans using our proprietary survey instrument; facilitating multiple board and committee discussions, sessions for the volunteer leadership summit, and a stakeholder strategy retreat; conducting a criticality study of the profession’s knowledge/skills content outline to identify priorities and gaps; drafting the learning strategy document and, once that was approved, drafting the operational plan. Kathi also facilitated webinars for a new learning advisory group and the conference planning committee, and led a conference session to introduce members to the concepts of personal learning management and the new learning strategy that would enable it. Today, this client has a robust, learner-centric professional development program built on this work.
Developing and coaching subject-matter experts: An international association wanted to increase the value of its specialty workshops through enhancing the knowledge and skills of the subject-matter experts (SMEs) who regularly led them. During a two-year engagement, Kathi assessed what these SMEs knew about leading adult learning and then designed and facilitated a series of workshops and other resources to develop and build their skills in facilitating learning. Half-way through the project, Kathi observed each of the SMEs delivering one of their workshops and then provided an hour of personalized individual coaching based on those observations. Subsequent group sessions were based on collective need, especially in creating and leading learning activities. The specialty workshops became more learner-centered, and the SMEs who led them reported greater audience engagement and satisfaction as a result of implementing what they’d learned.
Reinventing a certification review course: Working with a small group of subject-matter experts in an international association, we built a more powerful version of a two-day certification review course. Capitalizing on research-based methodology, the updated course emphasizes learner-to-learner discussions, practical application, and small-group work on real-life case scenarios to help participants discover what they know and what they need to study while preparing for the exam. The project included developing content and application exercises; working with the SMEs to refine their case scenarios; writing and designing facilitator and participant manuals; and creating course slides. Participants in the new course discovered they knew more than they thought they did, learned where they needed to grow their knowledge, and found the prospect of taking the exam less intimidating – and said they would absolutely recommend the course to others.
Developing and implementing a monthly webinar series: An international professional association wanted to improve a monthly webinar series. Kathi first conducted a proprietary mini-assessment of the selected subject-matter expert (SMEs) speakers regarding their knowledge and skills in adult learning, learner engagement, and delivering virtual learning. Using the results, she designed a customized 90-minute facilitation skills webinar for these SMEs. For two years, Kathi coached speakers as they put their programs together, helping to ensure use of effective practices in webinar design. Speakers reported feeling more confident and prepared to lead their webinars, and after implementing what they learned, received improved evaluation scores and comments.
Hosting a “Conversation that Matters”: Members of a national small-business trade association were feeling threatened by competition from big-box stores. The association’s CEO was seeking a way to use a conference session to spark creative ideas among her members for dealing with this issue. Kathi worked with the CEO, the conference chair, and a small group of industry thought-leaders to create three relevant, compelling questions for a World Café conversation. During the resulting conference general session, members engaged in meaningful exploration of these questions. They surprised themselves with exciting new realizations about why they were in business and what the possibilities were for their future. The association’s board included the café outcomes in later member strategy deliberations…and café participants talked about the value of the experience to their own businesses for months afterward.
Comments on this entry are closed.