Actually, it was a bright, sun-filled Saturday morning, but it began to feel like a stormy day. After I had showered, with no issues, my husband took his turn while I cleaned up the breakfast dishes downstairs.

I heard him shout. From downstairs. From the kitchen, away from the stairway.

“The pipes are going to burst!”, cried out my damp (and clothed, again) husband. Running back up the stairs to the bathroom, I stood in shock as he turned on the water. The vibration rattled the shower.

Being the Internet and social media type that I am, I immediately went to my Web browser and searched on “plumbing+vibrating+pipes”. I thought about tweeting in a panic to my Twitter peeps, but the Web search kept me busy enough.

My husband reviewed the research and resolved that it was air in the pipes. He shut off the main and cleared all water out of our pipes. That didn’t work. Then, we suspected it was from our local water company’s system. Nope. No evidence there.

We even called the president of our homeowner’s association, a very handy man. He couldn’t figure it out, either, and in despair we began to anticipate a potentially high plumbing bill which would have been a financial storm at the time.

In a short moment of desperate calm, my “fix it” husband stared at the shower and at the hanger that hung from the shower head, holding various wash cloths and soaps.

And…his razor.

His battery-operated, fancy-schmancy razor.

As far-fetched as this may sound, the way the razor rested in the hanger apparatus caused it to power on and buzz against the shower wall when my husband turned on the water. And boy, did it make a racket!!

The razor must have shifted its position in the hanger after I showered and hung up a wash cloth. To this day, we still can’t figure out how the water running up through the pipes turned on the razor.

This is a true story, and we both learned a huge lesson that sunny and potentially stormy Saturday.

Occam's Razor: A simple solution to what was perceived to be a much greater problem.

We made assumptions about the “exploding shower pipes” but they were the wrong ones. Our assumptions were too complex. We failed to stop, look around, take a step back (and a breath) and consider the simplest, most obvious causes.

We failed to apply Occam’s Razor to our little razor situation.

After we laughed and calmed down, we sat in the kitchen and reflected on how this happens in businesses. We discussed different projects at our respective employers, and the “craziness” that could occur among team members and cross-functional colleagues when faced with a problem (an “opportunity”).

How do you and your colleagues handle business “opportunities”, especially those that seem to present a crisis? Do you review them calmly and apply Occam’s Razor?

Occam’s razor is a principle that generally recommends that, from among competing hypotheses, selecting the one that makes the fewest new assumptions usually provides the correct one, and that the simplest explanation will be the most plausible until evidence is presented to prove it false.

Most of us do, and that’s good for business. I wanted to share our true story as a fun reminder to all of us. When there’s a situation to solve, remember to KISS, first, until proven otherwise!

(KISS = Keep It Simple, Silly!)

Or, Do It My Way…

With apologies to Frank Sinatra, then there’s my way of organizing and managing e-learning project files. The “system” I use I borrowed from my early Web site design days. Our Adobe Dreamweaver and Flash instructor showed us a system that works well for both individual designers and those who work on multiple projects shared by several designers. See my screen shot below:

On my local drive (my C: or hard drive), I have a directory, or folder, named “Articulate Presenter”. Inside that folder I file all of my Articulate e-learning project files. In the image to the right, “00ProjectFolders” I keep as a template for future projects. I simply copy that folder and paste it with a new name, such as, “ACME New Hire Orientation”. That folder is the main project folder, and it contains lots of subdirectories (subfolders) inside. Those subfolders contain the precious assets for my projects. They are:

ACME New Hire Orientation (example project name)

• Assets
• Engage
• PPT
• Published Output
• Quizzes

The “Assets” folder really helps me keep things straight, and is organized this way:

Assets (folder)

• audio
  • music
  • vo (for voice overs/narration)
• docs (for PDFs and Word files)
• img
• swf (for Flash *.SWF files)
• video (FLVs, MP4s)

I know I’ve described this structure quickly. So, if you have questions about how I organize and manage my e-learning project files, please send me an e-mail message.

And, help us all to learn more as well. Please share your ideas in the Comments below, and be sure to visit Tom’s blog and add your 2 cents there.

Yesterday, I was asked how I estimate the number of hours it could take to design and develop learning activities for a training (workplace performance improvement) project.

My answer? “It depends.”

That said, my colleagues and I do have to provide clients with an estimated delivery date for projects, and so I fall back on a few helpful resources.

A Few Resources for You

Dr. Karl Kapp (on Twitter, @kkapp) wrote an article for ASTD in 2003, then revised it in 2009, along with co-author Robyn A. Defelice. This article is worth your study and application when you estimate time for your projects. For me, it is an invaluable resource, so I hope it helps you:

Time to Develop One Hour of Training – Dr. Karl Kapp and Robyn A. Defelice

http://www.astd.org/LC/2009/0809_kapp.htm

David Gaw also refers to this ASTD resource and adds a few thoughts of his own at his blog:

http://www.changeordered.com/2009/12/how-long-to-develop-an-hour-of-training.html

And, here is Dr. Kapp’s original 2003 article:

http://www.astd.org/LC/2003/0703_kapp.htm

“Time to Create Course” Thread on the Articulate Forums

Earlier this year, we had a lively discussion on the estimating topic in the Articulate Forums. From the link below, you’ll find three forum pages of posts, including a long one from me. The nice thing is several forum members contributed their thoughts from real-world experience. I know you’ll find helpful advice from this source:

http://www.articulate.com/forums/general-discussion/15680-time-create-course.html

Keep Track of Your Project Hours

One e-learning consultant in another state told me his “secret”. When he gets a brand new client, he does not work on a fixed, project fee basis, he always works on an hourly basis. When a new client is new to e-learning, he finds he’s also a coach as well as an ID and a developer, and the coaching takes up more of his time. He reports his time to the client weekly (or twice a month), and he said the reports help “reign in” the client when needed due to the client always changing things after a design was approved.

I open up a simple Excel file and track hours that way. I include meetings, conference calls, and time spent communicating through e-mail messages. I know not everyone likes ADDIE, but each element is a good header for me to use to track time on a project for Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation.

How do you estimate? Please share with us by writing a Comment below.

I attended ComiCon this past July, and the power of telling great stories has taken over all the back burners in my brain. Great storytelling must insert itself into our e-learning design and development projects. We engage learners by ensuring they are engrossed in a story that supports performance improvement and measurable outcomes.

This past Saturday, I went to a local film festival that showcased “shorts”. I came away awed by the film makers’ creative stories. Humbled. Energized. Amazed. Excited. Inspired. Their visual stories have embedded themselves in my brain cells, and I can “bring up and recall” their images over and over. The lessons the short films portrayed are also embedded in my brain, encouraging me to put them into practical application.

And, if video film makers with small budgets can do that, why not e-learning instructional designers and developers?

We have the tools, everyone! But, are we writing powerful and great stories?

My challenge to myself, and my goal for the next 12 months, is to study great storytelling. Whether I design and develop online learning for the Web, for “serious games”, for virtual worlds, or for mobile devices doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I write a great story so that it embeds itself in my learners’ brains, stimulates their thinking, and encourages them to put into practice what they learned through the story.

The Butterfly Circus

This particular short film continues to impact me deep down inside. All of the shorts we viewed at the film festival were awesome, but “The Butterfly Circus” is truly amazing. As you watch this 20-minute short film, remember the film makers are a husband and wife team on a very limited budget. Joshua and Rebecca Weigel’s powerful story is supported by beautiful cinematography as well. Without further ado, enjoy “The Butterfly Circus” by clicking the link below:

The Butterfly Circus

What are your thoughts? Please type a Comment to this post. I’d enjoy reading your musings!

(P.S. I’ll write my ComiCon post soon. The digital camera with all of the photos had to be sent to the shop for repairs. Thank goodness the images survived!)

I get asked the question below a lot by managers, instructional designers, trainers/facilitators, and technical communicators at professional associations meetings and special interest groups:

“Jenise, how do you get your SMEs to read your drafts and then get back to you with their feedback? On time?

Good question. Is managing SMEs like herding cats?

I’m not promoting myself as an expert on this topic. I’m only going to share my opinion. In online forums, I’ve read for some years now how others try and “get” time with, and feedback from, their SMEs. Apart from herding cats, a few examples include:

-Yes, you can attend seminars on coaching skills, and learn to talk in a convincing manner with your SMEs.

-Yes, you can bribe your SMEs with donuts and chocolate-chip cookies.

-Yes, you can “sic” your manager on the SME’s manager (not that those two managers should be seen as fighting dogs, of course!) so that the SME is bullied into working with you.

What Works for Me

I respect the SMEs I work with as valued colleagues. And, I know they’re working under the watchful eyes of their manager (and everyone else above in the corporate food chain), and may have worse time constraints than I have. I try and have an initial and brief Project Scope meeting with both the SME and his/her manager. What results is a good conversation in the same room where the SME and the manager can “reshuffle” the SME’s time and priorities to help me get my job done.

I try and get invited to the project table early on in the life cycle. I meet with the project manager to explain how long it will take, approximately, to do my part of the bargain (documentation, training, etc.). I like project managers (been one myself), and they find out that my meeting is all about helping them, and the business, to be successful.

If I’m brought to the project table late in the game on a crunch project, my approach is still the same. In this case, I’ll explain to the project manager that we may need to negotiate some of the deliverables. Or, we may need to contract with freelancers to get the job done, and I offer to be the Lead.

Jenise, what if they won’t bring in contractors and they won’t negotiate the deliverables?

That depends on the project, and how long I’ll need to work under crunch mode. I value life and my loved ones. Once time is spent, you can never get it back. So, my answer to the above question depends on my going back to the project manager to re-negotiate deliverables. I’m a team player during crunch time, but if poor management and out-dated processes are the cause, I do speak up and suggest improvements. We spend enough time at work as it is! Poor management and processes need to be fixed.

Performance Planning

What works in many companies, though, is a true “Performance” organization. This means that the performance plan for the SME will include responsibilities and goals on working with cross-functional project team members. A truly enlightened organization will include measurable goals.

I prefer meeting with the SME and his/her manager because the performance-plan approach, although a good idea, could feel “punitive” to the SME if the plan is poorly written and s/he is not helping me meet my project targets. That’s when I have no choice but to say something to my manager or the SME’s manager, and the SME’s behavior is then treated as a declining performance issue.

My preference is that the performance plans be written to reward the SME not “punish”. The plan should encourage collaboration and team work. Incent the SME to work with me.

Hey, that rhymes! I’m a poet, didn’t know it. I’m “Always Learning”.

Photo Credits:

DrBacchus on Flickr, Cat Herders.

Wyscan on Flickr, Dog Fight.

Is exawstin >> LOLcats on I Can Has Cheezburger?.