Background
This award-winning text is filled with 37 job aids (checklists, worksheets, etc.) to help you perform the activities associated with each of the steps in the model. This text and model have been adopted by many companies and university graduate school programs.
(You might want to check out the archival outline of Greer's two-day workshop Planning Successful ID Projects.)
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| Greer's ID Project Management Model |
Phase I: Project Planning
Note: This model assumes that you have completed all necessary front end analysis, you have decided that training is the best solution, and that your project will involve creating training and/or job aids, etc. — In other words, the model does not account for front end analysis that might eliminate training and the need for instructional development in the first place. You should do that before you begin your ID project!Step 1. Determine Project Scope
Purpose: When selling the project to internal or external sponsors, it is important for the project manager to make a preliminary guess at the project scope. This provides a reality check, allowing everyone concerned to affirm his or her commitment to the project and its scope. Activities:- Make an early estimate of the amount of materials that must be created, the time and effort required to create them, and the resources required.
- Preliminary materials specifications
- Project schedule and/or time estimate
- A budget and/or cost estimate
Step 2. Organize the Project
Purpose: It is likely that substantial time will pass between the time the project scope is determined (Step 1) and the time that the project is authorized to begin. Therefore, the actual management of a project begins with Step 2, Organize the Project. This step requires the manager to confirm that the assumptions made about project scope are still valid. In addition, it requires that detailed plans be developed, thus helping to lay the groundwork for a successful project. Activities:- Confirm earlier assumptions about preliminary materials specifications, time, and costs.
- Confirm the project team members
- Set up the Project Diary
- Organize the Kickoff meeting.
- A revised or confirmed set of materials specifications, schedule, and budget
- List of project team members
- Project Diary containing important project data
- A well-organized Kickoff meeting
Phase II: Instructional Development
Step 3. Gather Information
Purpose: Thorough information gathering assures that the right skills and concepts are provided by the training and that training dollars are invested wisely. Activities:- First, determine what kind of information is needed to support instructional development.
- Then, through observations, interviews, and review of documentation, gather that information in an effective manner.
- Formal task, job, or content analyses are often conducted.
- Detailed information is gathered concerning:
- The target audience of the training
- The trainees’ relevant work environment
- The specific tasks which must be learned
- Technical details about the course content
Step 4. Develop the Blueprint
Purpose: The Blueprint (design specifications) allows all relevant reviewers to look at course content and strategy at a point before a lot of energy is expended in writing text and transitions, formatting job aids, creating graphics or case studies, or writing scripts. This early review permits the design team to make substantive structural revisions while the course is still easily revisable. Activities:- Synthesize the information gathered in Step 3 and create a detailed description, or Blueprint, of the courseware to be developed.
- Share the Blueprint with reviewers and revise based upon their comments.
- A Blueprint document that includes these parts:
- A big picture description of the instructional materials and course flow – Specific performance objectives
- Specific instructional strategies to be employed to attain each objective
- A detailed outline of content to be included in support of each objective
- A summary of media and materials to be created to support each objective
- Formal approval of the Blueprint by the course sponsor
Step 5. Create Draft Materials
Purpose: Draft versions of all instructional materials should be created before expensive master materials are produced. These materials will then be reviewed, revised, tested, and finalized before production begins. Activities:Step 6. Test Draft Materials
Purpose: A test run of the course is essential to make sure that the materials work as they were designed to work. Activities:- Assemble representative members of the target audience and test the draft materials while observing their performance.
- After the test, debrief trainees and observers and specify revisions.
- Review test results and revision specifications with the course sponsor.
- Test run of all courseware
- Detailed revision specifications, approved by the course sponsor
Step 7. Produce Master Materials
Purpose: The purpose of this step is to create professional quality masters of all course materials. Activities:- Produce final masters of print, audio, video, CAI, and any other materials.
- High-quality master materials that may be used to create correspondingly high-quality reproductions
- Formal approval of these masters by the course sponsor
Phase III: Follow Up
Step 8. Reproduce
Purpose: Make copies of all materials prior to distribution to trainees and instructors.Activities:- Reproduce all course materials in specified volumes.
- High-quality copies of all course materials, as defined by the design specifications
Step 9. Distribute
Purpose: The purpose of this step is to make sure that all materials are properly stored and/or disseminated. Activities:- Distribute copies of materials to the appropriate locations for storage and/or dissemination to trainees and instructors.
- Copies of materials, properly stored and distributed in a timely manner
Step 10. Evaluate
Purpose: The main purpose of evaluation is to determine the long-term effectiveness of the instructional materials that were created. A secondary purpose is to confirm that the assumptions made about effective instructional design strategies continue to remain valid. Activities:- After trainees complete the course, conduct follow-up analyses of their ability to perform skills on the job. Develop recommended revisions based on these analyses.
- Reports of trainee skill level after completing the training recommendations for revisions, if appropriate
- Recommendations for improving the instructional development process
See also this PDF: Typical HPT [Human Performance Technology] Project Life Cycles (This is from Greer’s classic book, ID Project Management, © copyright 1992, Michael Greer & Educational Technology Publications)
