Revisited: Building Internal Advisory Councils

(Thisarticle has been updated for republication. It first appearedSeptember 10, 2012, in Learning SolutionsMagazine. The examples and advice are still relevant and helpful whenplanning learning technology initiatives!)

A colleague and I facilitated a session at TheeLearning Guild’s 2011 DevLearn conferenceon selecting and implementing a learning management system. We wereenthusiastic about the subject, having recently done this in our organization.However, as we shared our experience and the resources we had used for systemselection, we saw a distinctly different pattern emerge from the participantsduring discussion.

When we asked the group about their experiences,there was a collective groan as they lamented about the various learningtechnology solutions in their organizations and how many of these solutions hadgone awry.

One individual who worked for a globalcorporation shared that within the company there were multiple systems, and thesystems didn’t mesh well. User adoption was limited in any of the systems, andthe team couldn’t fully support what was put in place.

Another colleague shared that a company’s CEOand executive team had decided on a system that they liked with littleinvolvement from the learning and development team. The results were frustrationfrom the users and system functionality that couldn’t keep up with the growingpace of the organization. Although it was critical for the CEO to buy in to anysolution, he eventually made the LMS purchase selection without engaging thelearning and development arm of the organization. The result was an expensivesolution that was a poor fit for the organization.

Unfortunately, we heard similar storiesthroughout the conference. The frustrations felt by the vendors representinglearning technology solutions and by the learning professionals responsible formanaging these systems were often the same: Lack of internal alignment andpreparation often leads to failed selections and implementations.

Taking a proactive approach within your companyto identify stakeholders at all levels and involve them early and often in theprocess through an internal advisory council can make selecting andimplementing learning technology solutions successful.

Theimportance of involving managers in learning technology initiatives

Involving managers early in the process iscritical to gaining support for your technology solutions. In most cases, youare more likely to gain buy-in by sharing how the technology will address aproblem that impacts the managers.

As explained in the eLearning Guild report Getting Started in e-Learning: Building the Business Case for e-Learning, “Different situations and companies will warrant differentapproaches. In general, you phrase problems and opportunities as statements,and present a gap analysis as a conclusion from research.”

In other words, the decision-makers mustunderstand why they would consider investing in a solution.

Example

• Problem statement: Our onboarding process for new hires takes 90days, and there is an additional average of 60 more days before they are ratedas able to perform their tasks effectively.
• Opportunity statement: By using the new system to support and automateprocesses for onboarding, the average time for these tasks will decrease to 45days, and estimated time to proficiency will become 30 days. Our time overallwill decrease 50 percent, and this will lead to accelerated ramp-up and thepotential for increased sales.
• Sample gap analysis: The cumbersome onboarding process currentlyfrustrates new hires, and overall job satisfaction ratings within 30 daysdecrease by 20 percent, with an additional 15 percent decrease in the following30 days. Improving the process will lead to increased engagement and grow ourtalent pool.

Even if your learning and development team isabreast of the latest trends in learning technology and knows the reputation ofdifferent solution providers, the team may still run the risk of losing supportfrom the front lines if it doesn’t involve managers in the process.

Howto identify key stakeholders and communicate the value of their input

It is your role to engage your internalstakeholders early in the process and encourage them to plan for the future,and to paint the picture of how technology can support the organization’svisions. Leading the charge in selecting the right fit and communicating earlyand often throughout the process will help you avoid a common setback insuccessful implementation: lack of support from senior management.

—ASTD Infoline, July 2012

By identifying all of the business areas thatyour solution could potentially impact, you increase the likelihood thateveryone will buy in to the final decision.

In addition to identifying end users andexecutive stakeholders in business units of the organization, consider askingthe following:

• Who can assist your team in anticipating larger-scale initiatives in your organization? These may impact your rollout if other, more widespread technologies or initiatives are competing for resources.

• What is happening externally, but within your industry, that could conflict with an enterprise-wide rollout? Who is able to offer advice in this area?

Depending on the size and structure of yourorganization, you may need representation on your council from:

• Talent management
• Human resources
• Compliance
• Information technology
• Internal help desks
• Risk and audit
• Project management
• Marketing
• Accounting
• Safety
• Quality
• Sales

Also, select a sample of your end users. Arethere members of your organization who would be early adopters of the system?Gaining their support and asking for feedback will increase the likelihood ofsystem adoption. 

Bestpractices in forming the council

Once you have identified potential councilmembers, customize your invitation and messaging to the group to set your teamup for success.

In many organizations, individual contributorsas well as managers are being asked to do more with less—as a result ofstaffing cutbacks, they are doing the work of two or more people. They arealready serving on multiple project teams and work groups. In this case, askingthem to attend additional meetings or adding to their workload could causeresistance.

In some cases, you may get a better receptionwhen you ask for their participation in a way that sets a positive tone andemphasizes the importance of their contributions.

Depending on the culture of your company, youmight consider:

• Getting buy-in from a prospective council member’s supervisor and positioning the member’s involvement as one of being “nominated.”
• Meeting for the first time face-to-face. If another event in your organization, such as a company meeting, will already be bringing these individuals together, then adding a few hours or a half-day to get together with them and a few other participants may be feasible.
• Sending formal communications individually to members outlining the reasons for their nomination, the value they could provide your group, and basic expectations of what they might be asked to do.
• Sending handwritten thank-you notes periodically to recognize an individual team member’s contributions.
• Holding a kick-off meeting to come together as a group, review what you might want feedback on over the next year, and decide as a group the best ways and dates to meet and/or communicate. This allows council members to influence how often and in what way meetings would be manageable for their schedules.
• Recognizing the council members in company newsletters, your intranet, or on an enterprise social network, such as Yammer or Jive.
• Periodically sharing “testimonials” from council members to encourage interest and participation from others in the future.

Additionally, include your preferred technologyvendors. If you approach potential service providers as partners, you’ll have ahigher likelihood of gaining acceptance. Whenever possible, communicate openlyabout internal stakeholder concerns with your preferred vendors. They may beable to partner with you to achieve an outcome that will benefit theorganization and the end user—good vendor partners will focus on your needs andwant to uncover how to help you gain buy-in with your council. They should bewilling to customize product demos or data sheets in order to best address theinterests of your stakeholders.

Barry Richman, senior manager of global learningsystems at Dunkin’ Brands, has almost 20 years’ experience with learningtechnology companies, both on the client side and in a business developmentrole. He suggests building a democratic methodology to support the selectionand implementation of learning technology. For example, when working with asmall manufacturing organization client, he asked:

• What’s your decision tree? Who needs to contribute input? When?
• What is your span of control?
• Whom does the technology impact? Which business units? Which regions of the company?

These questions helped the client discover thatthe safety, human resources, and quality control department heads would becritical to the decision process. During selection and implementation, theyused a tool that decentralized the decision-making process so that everyonecould weigh in equally, express their opinions, and feel valued as decision-makers.

Richman adds that feedback from a high level aswell as from ground level in the organization is critical to engaging both endusers and influencers, and allows all stakeholders to be a part of the process.

David Guralnick, president of KaleidoscopeLearning and founder of the International Conference on E-Learning in theWorkplace, shared a similar approach for a national retail chain: “We proposedlearn-by-doing simulations at a time when most online training was just textand page-turning. Our internal champion was able to convince the humanresources VP that this was a worthwhile approach. We showed briefdemonstrations of similar work to give a better sense of what it would looklike. Our champion had to go high up in the organization to get thego-ahead, and it paid off—the simulation was very well received, and in someways helped change the training culture for the client.”

Examplesof how different stakeholders might contribute opinions

Mike Baker, vice president of learning and developmentat Bank of North Carolina and my co-presenter at DevLearn, has been involvedwith multiple technology selections and implementations over the last 20-plusyears. He advises that leveraging council members as early adopters is criticalto the success of any project.

However, he says, it does come with a price.Because members’ level of buy-in is a direct reflection of what they feel theirdepartments or areas will get out of the project, he suggests customizingproduct demos and presentations for each of the council members to best explainwhat’s in it for them. Although this may initially require extra time and work,it will quickly pay off as they start spreading the word throughout yourorganization of how beneficial the project will be. Then you can focus on thetask at hand, and they will generate the necessary buzz throughout yourorganization.

It may help to anticipate the concerns or questionsthat might come from different departments. For example, human resources may beconcerned about how new technology might depend on its human resourceinformation system. The risk department might want information about thebackground and stability of the solution provider. And the sales executivesmight want to make sure your new mobile sales app reflects the sales cycle andexpectations for the reps in the field.

Therisk associated with not involving key stakeholders

Without stakeholder involvement, your technologysolution may drain resources, increase organizational risk, and frustratelearners as well as their managers.

In addition, without proper selection andimplementation, your team’s credibility may diminish. 

Summary

Anticipating obstacles, identifying keystakeholders, and setting expectations for internal council involvement willhelp you achieve buy-in and support for your learning technology efforts.Thorough and thoughtful planning, as well as a partnership approach with your vendors,will increase the likelihood of your success.

Resources

Smolen,Temple. Getting Started ine-Learning: Building the Business Case for e-Learning. TheeLearning Guild, 2009. https://www.elearningguild.com/research/archives/index.cfm?id=136&action=viewonly