Strategy as Process, Not Product: The Learning Value Chain

 “Mark,” a colleague at another tradeassociation, called me awhile back saying he had a question about sending outhis Request For Proposals (RFP).

“All Ireally need to know is where to send it,” he said. “I mean, how do you find thevendors to send the RFP to?”

“Itdepends on the type of project you’re doing,” I replied.

“Well,” hesaid, “we want to do an online program on a new regulation our members need toknow about.”

“Okay,” Isaid. “Will it be part of a certification program?”

“Maybe,” hesaid. “We haven’t come to complete agreement on that yet.”

“What type ofe-Learning are you planning to develop – a Webinar or an asynchronous course?”I asked.

He paused.“Well, we’re thinking Webinar …. What’s the other option you mentioned?”

The Alice in Wonderland quandry

Mark’ssituation isn’t uncommon: his association had some goals for their onlinelearning program and a possible first topic, but where this content fit into abroader curriculum – one that could require an investment in an LMS or LCMS –was hazy at best. He wasn’t clear about the full range of available onlinelearning modes, opting automatically for the one that was most familiar.

Venturinginto the unknown territory of e-Learning one step at a time is wise, butwithout a strategy Mark was just putting one foot ahead of the other – he couldhave been leading his association down the wrong trail. And you know the oldsaying – if you don’t know where you’re going, you could end up anywhere.

As much as many of us would like to believe we’re “not likeMark,” the fact is that we are. We get the go-ahead to initiate some aspect ofour e-Learning agenda, and – say no more! – we’re all over it, ready to takeaction, get the vendor on board, and make it happen.

But acting tactically before you act strategically drops yousquarely in Mark’s shoes. Writing and issuing an RFP is a tactic. And tacticsonly work if they emerge from a clearly defined strategy.

Sound like a waste of time? We’ve all been there:

• Enduring committeemeetings that spend so much time tweaking certain words that by the time themeeting closes any semblance of “strategy” has been erased entirely.
• Fashioning a carefullydesigned plan, only to see it ignored by those it was most meant to help.
• Discovering that, whenyou need it the most, the strategy doesn’t provide the options or versatilityrequired for fast-changing circumstances.

If “Mark” had been working from a strategy, he would haveknown the type or types of online learning his association intended to developand how this particular project fit into the over all plan. And, depending on thedetail of his plan, he might have known the size of his budget, his timeline,and other important details that would have guided him to the type of vendor hewould eventually seek, and what he would need from that vendor.

Subversive strategies

The strategy is the foundation – the groundwork – from whicheverything else emerges. If you lay a poor foundation, or none at all, don’texpect the building to stand. Even if you can’t get your committee orleadership to buy into creating an education or e-Learning strategy, take thetime to develop one anyway. Call it “subversive strategy” if you will. If ithelps no one else, it will help you, and that’s all that matters, especially ifyou’ll be the one to take on RFPs in the future.

Those of us in associations saw the late 2008 economy fallapart right before our eyes. Soaring fuel prices and increased airfares meantoriginally budgeted travel expenses were no longer affordable; someorganizations began denying travel requests for professional development eventsacross the board. Registrations for association-sponsored face-to-face eventsdropped about 20% across the board. We cancelled programs, losing importantrevenue, and were suddenly faced with the dictate to find something – anything– that would fill the void. The smart education leaders had a strategy theywere following, and the economic crisis – at worst – meant flipping a fewpriorities while their goals never changed. Maybe their education committeeknew about the strategy, maybe not. But those who had one were able to getbuy-in from the board of directors for their next steps much more quickly thanthose who did not.

Strategic plans often fail because they are documentswritten in a vacuum, rather than the result of a rigorous process of explorationand discovery. You might think that bringing your education committee together;inviting representatives from marketing, membership, or other function areas tohear their voices; and working through a long weekend will result in a viableplan, but that’s not necessarily so. In such a meeting, for better or worse,the most influential and loudest voices will carry the day. Instead of leavingyour strategic meeting to chance, you should turn to the association’sresources to inform your education strategy rather than drive it. Set the stagewith facts and data. Though they can be argued, they temper the loudest voices.And, along the way, you gain credibility as the education expert upon whosejudgment they’ll rely in the future.

Process, not product

It’s easy to focus on a product, maybe because ourreferences to the strategy often include words like “plan” and “document.” Youcan say, “This is a working document,” but it still feels like somethingconcrete and unchangeable. Because – in associations – editing can be a complextask involving a special project team, so we prefer to avoid making changes ifwe can. This leads to a stagnant strategy.

The alternative is to focus on unearthing information anddata from which you can forge a flexible yet viable strategy. What follows aresome key areas to explore, though your process is likely to vary, depending onthe education function and its structure within your association.

Admit what you don’t know

Enter the process with a willingness to follow its lead,leaving your preconceived ideas about what might be “best” behind. Believe itor not, you could be wrong. You might think you know your members and whatthey’ll respond to online – after all, you have a lot of information about them,and you’ve been delivering face-to-face programs successfully for years.E-Learning is different than face-to-face, and it requires a different way ofthinking. Members you would expect to embrace online learning might not; thoseyou thought would resist could be your greatest advocates.

Just because e-Learning is new to your association, don’tassume it will be new to your members, too. Sometimes we forget our membershave lives much wider than involvement in our association: they could beaccessing e-Learning from work or home – even through another association ororganization. Hard to admit, isn’t it? Only through careful investigation willyou find out the extent of their familiarity with e-Learning. You might besurprised to discover they’re as familiar with online learning as you are,maybe more so. In any case, you need to find out if they’ve taken any onlinelearning offerings and if so, what types. Ask how they are accessing onlinelearning – via laptops or mobile devices? High-speed wireless? Cable? Corporateintranet? You should profile each segment of your membership because it’spossible they will have different experiences with e-Learning. Such a profilewill help you determine the type, frequency, and level of interactivity ofe-Learning you should produce. And all of these factors will influence thepriorities you eventually will place on your e-Learning opportunities.

This process of investigation should also uncover anyobstacles to success. For example, if members are accessing free Webinars fromcompetitors, you’ll need to carefully consider whether to charge a fee foryours.

Building the foundation

Without support for your initiatives, even the mostcarefully crafted strategy will fail. Finding the links between yourassociation’s mission, vision, and core values will help you build the case fore-Learning in your association, or provide the basis for continued support andmaintenance of current offerings. For example, if your association’s strategyfor the next five years includes growing membership without increasing duesbeyond current levels, decide how e-Learning can support that goal.

Though we don’t often think about who ultimately makescritical decisions in our education programs, we should. It might seem simpleto say, “Oh, well, the education committee has always decided what programswe’ll offer,” but any expensive and highly visible program is likely to betreated differently. This has certainly been the case for e-Learning projectsat many associations. Documenting now who will “own” the decision-makingprocess for your e-Learning projects could save you a fair amount of grieflater. Seeing a project’s momentum shudder to a complete stop because no onewants to make a hard call will cost you lost time, money, and precious sleep.

Learning value chain and content summary

If Mark had known about e-Learning options beyond Webinars,he might have made a different choice for delivering his identified content.The easiest path to e-Learning is to choose what’s most familiar, but – as weall know – easiest isn’t always best.

Taking the time to lay out all the content options, matchingthem to the most appropriate e-Learning delivery modalities, and prioritizingthem in terms of time, cost, and other resources are necessary steps. The resultingpicture of the full curriculum, including a map showing how content will bepresented via Webinars, asynchronously, and via instructor-led modules,provides a holistic view from which pieces and parts can be added, subtracted,moved, and changed. If your car suddenly quits running, you’d rather change thepart that’s gone bad rather than the entire engine, wouldn’t you? It’s the samething: if your education curriculum suddenly needs to change, you cannot makeadaptations on the fly if all you can see are the pieces. A learning valuechain shows exactly how the various courses, events, and other educationalofferings contribute to each other and the whole.

Opportunities and priorities

A well-structured learning value chain will suggest your opportunities.In particular, it will help you identify content that can be re-purposedonline, or to which additional e-Learning can enhance an existing face-to-faceprogram. Prioritized, these opportunities become your initiatives. Yourlearning value chain can also identify gaps in your curriculum and put memberprogram requests into the broader context. As you construct your learning valuechain, consider what your competition is (or isn’t) offering, whether revenuecould be generated (and whether it should), and how under-utilizedconstituencies might contribute, either by providing content or financialsupport through sponsorships or partnerships.

Assume you won’t have time, money, or personnel toaccomplish everything, so prioritizing is imperative. What do you need toaccomplish through your association’s e-Learning program? Increased membership?Higher levels of member participation? More members who achieve certification?Earlier licensure renewals?

Given those goals, decide what’s most important to offeronline – the project that should be tackled first. Consider which opportunityshould be pursued if the first one doesn’t pan out, and which projects could bedeveloped concurrently, making the most of your time and, perhaps, youroutsourcing dollar.

Don’t misunderstand this point in the process – you are notdetermining your tactics. You are not identifying or assigning responsibilitiesor tasks. You’re simply identifying opportunities for development, andprioritizing them based on need and available resources.

Infrastructure and technology

You also need to think about how equipped you are to offere-Learning. If your small association relies on a company you pay by the hour,it’s even more important that you know exactly what you plan to do and how youwill do it. Otherwise you’ll obliterate your budget just talking with your ITconsultant, all before a single e-Learning offering goes live.

Unfortunately, too many association leaders decide they“need a LMS.” They invest thousands of dollars in systems that are inadequatelyused, or don’t work well with the membership management system already inplace. When this goes on without an IT staff person to sort it out, thesituation can balloon into large, unanticipated costs that will jeopardize youre-Learning initiative.

Knowing your members helps here. You have very differentoptions if they can readily connect to the Web using high-speed access versusbeing in remote locations where such access isn’t available.

If your e-Learning offerings will be part of a certificationor licensure program, you will make very different infrastructure choices.Decide very specifically if you must track certain information and createreports summarizing that data. Know what you can spend. Remember: everything youwant is available – and an eager vendor will be happy to sell it to you – sokeeping your list to “needs” instead of “wants” will keep your budget healthy.

Human resources

Too often we think to plan for hardware and software withoutgiving a second thought to the human support required for everything we do –online or not. If you opt for a fabulous but complicated plan, who will answerquestions about registrations? Online access? Course content? Who will man thephones? Answer e-mails? Send out marketing and promotional information tomembers, or press releases and advertising to the media? Who will design andprepare those materials?

Your strategy is driven in large part by the size of yourstaff, and the skill sets of the staff members and volunteers available to you.Even the best e-Learning plans fall apart when there’s no one to support them.For example, the types of skills your staff and volunteers possess determinewhether you should produce your own e-Learning offerings or outsource them. Ifno volunteer or staff member is able to serve as the moderator for a liveWebinar, why produce it in-house rather than hire a company to do it for you?

Assumptions, risks, and success

We all make assumptions. Are you assuming that theassociation will always give certain support for a particular initiative? Thatfunding will remain constant? Writing out your assumptions can be aneye-opening exercise – one that will help shape your strategy.

What risks are inherent? Could the board decide to slice therequested budget but expect the same result? Could a key vendor go belly-up?Identify everything you believe could put your e-Learning program in jeopardy.Then identify what should be done to avoid or alleviate the fallout from eachrisk. Whose expectations need to be managed around risks that can’t be avoidednor alleviated? Having a carefully planned risk mitigation plan will go a longway in gaining the trust and confidence of your association leaders andmembers.

Sometimes just launching a first or second e-Learning eventand having people register feels like a triumph, but you need real measures ofsuccess so you can plan for future e-Learning programs and justify additionalinvestment in them. While it’s tempting to create criteria that are easily met(“Look at how successful our online learning has been!”), only specificmeasures will benefit you in the long run. Your success should be based on howwell you met the goals of your initiative – as you defined them earlier. Addingspecific numbers gives you something to measure: “Success will be achieved ifour e-Learning programs increase the overall participation in our educationprograms by 25%.” Maybe you need to be sure these additional 25% are spreadacross all chapters. Why not establish your baseline now, so you’ll havesomething to measure your performance against later?

Pulling it all together

Strategies are just that – strategies. They are game plansfor tackling challenges, achieving goals, and providing the background for tasklists and action items. While it’s important to document your strategy so youcan share it and refer to it, the format should take whatever form best fitsyour needs. You might find that a few different documents are most useful – abroad education strategy and a sub-strategy that focuses on e-Learning hasworked for many organizations.

You might find that you need to include a timeline or aprojected budget, areas not covered here because of their complexity. Whateveryou decide to cover in your strategy should be based on research, evidence, andanalysis. Those are hard to argue, and will make it easier to sell yourstrategy and any initiatives it covers.

Resist the temptation to put out a call to colleagues forcopies of strategic plans to use as a model. There’s great value incollaboration and best practices, but you risk focusing on product, rather thanthe process, if you rely on someone else’s model.

If Mark’s call had been the result of following a strategicplanning process, he would have known whether he was seeking a vendor toproduce a Webinar or create an asynchronous course, or if they needed toinvestigate LMS and LCMS options. Instead, he got a question back for everyquestion he asked, rather than the recommendations and suggestions he was hopingto hear.

In the long run, the time you spend developing a workablestrategy will ensure the money you invest in systems or software is well-spent,and that the content and delivery options you have chosen are well-received.Just don’t forget to re-visit your strategy – it’s a process you shouldcontinue to tweak, update, and use, not a binder collecting dust on your shelf.