Stop, Collaborate, and Listen

I would offer a gold star to the first person to place my post title in its respective pop song of yesteryear, but I think it’s too easy.

What this is really about is the opportunity to collaborate at the outset of or during storyboard development. As I came on board to my new project management role in June and started in on refreshing and older course as part of my training, I learned that the step of taking time to collaborate with another instructional designer (ID) or your project manager (PM) (or, gasp, both??) tends to fall away as expectations for output increase.

This is a very common shortcut in this learning space. In my last position, a step on the Project template that was always skipped was graphic design collaboration. The ID was expected to put comments in on concepts he or she had specific visions for, or on those concepts that may be tricky to animate, but otherwise the off-shore designer was expected to forge ahead and animate sans input or collaboration. Depending on the designer’s skill and experience, this either went smoothly or it went, well, bumpily. On the bumpy road, the ID would end up collaborating with the designer via logging edits in a review system. While working in different time zones, we’d go through a few iterations of: log edits, wait, implement edits, wait, review changes, log more edits, wait, implement new edits, wait… You get the picture or have been there, done that!

So, what’s better about a process where development and design are handled by one role? You as the ID own the entire process. Not only do you have input into the content at authoring, but you then transition into developing your own storyboard, and then into implementing said storyboard at media development. Those concepts you thought would be easy to animate because the images and animations were percolating while in content development will be easy to develop. No mind-meld needs to take place between you and a graphic designer. Those concepts that you thought would be a little challenging to animate probably will be, but your little brain hamster has been spinning his or her wheel on that problem while you’re working on other things. You’re more ahead of the game than any graphic designer might be in coming up with a slick treatment for a vague or slippery concept because you’ve had time to ruminate.

“But Christy!” you interject, “Are you advocating for always storyboarding in a vacuum and never reaching out for collaborative help?” Absolutely not! Having storyboarded (eww, that word hurts my editorial self) my first few screens of my refresh course with an ID to get the feel for amount of icons and action on the screen was invaluable. I’d read the content several times, but she brought something new and fresh in several cases that enlivened my ideas. Similarly, while at a developer’s round-table a few weeks ago, in an effort to instill in newer developers a feel for how much and how often to change icons up and fade them in and out, we storyboarded one screen together from a final lesson in my refresh course. Again, even though I had a general idea of what I wanted on that short screen, the other six voices around the table brought something fresh and the end result is a lovely little screen. Would my animation as I’d originally envisioned it have worked? Sure! But the collaborated animation is a bit more…elevated.

Here’s where the rubber meets the road, though. We can’t always take the time to collaborate on every screen. You have to rely on your skills, strengths, and exposure to the Subject Matter Expert’s good ideas during development to get you rolling in the right direction. There will be trouble screens or concepts, and that’s the perfect time to reach out. Ping a fellow ID or your PM and sharing your screen to hammer out those challenging pieces. Meet for a couple hours at the outset of storyboarding and get the creative, brain-storming juices flowing. Hand off your storyboard after a lesson has been annotated and get some input before forging ahead. Having collaborated on a few screens and not on others, and having handed off my lesson 1 storyboard for input before moving on to later lessons, I can see how both approaches helped me refine my ideas and improve some of my vacuum-made decisions. Everything in moderation—you, the ID, are the best judge of when you need to reach out, and when you’ve got a given animation in the bag.

And here’s my parting thought: on a few screens of my lesson 1 storyboard, I got storyboarding fatigue. I thought, “I know where I’m headed on this concept. I’ll not waste time noting my ideas in the storyboard…I’ll just animate out of my head.” Well, hello rookie of the year! Guess what? If you take the time to develop a detailed storyboard, even if you do it in a vacuum, when you move ahead to media development a couple days later, it’s as if you’re collaborating with yourself. You reject certain ideas and bring in others when you have time and space between your initial thought for an animation and your implementation of that animation. If you’re not going to take the time to collaborate at the outset of a course build or mid-stream, at the very least you must stop, collaborate, and listen to your storyboard when moving on to media development.

Horray for Project Management!

Why is project management so important, or better yet, helpful? Well, I believe that it brings a certain amount of structure and process to any project. Having structure and goals allows you to break a large project down into smaller, more manageable pieces. In my own experience, I’ve accepted projects and immediately afterwards felt a sense of dread or fear come over me, when looking at everything that needs to be accomplished. In order to curb those overwhelming feelings, I keep a few tips in mind to help cope or eliminate those feelings, and allow you to deliver a quality product, on time!

Tip 1: “Under Promise, Over Deliver”.
In my own experiences, I’ve been consistently more successful when I am realistic with my estimated timelines. Typically, when asked that dreaded question: “How much time do you need to complete this?” If you estimate how much time it will take to complete each task and add a little cushion time on for incidentals, you should be able to deliver the quality product, maybe even early if you have no hiccups. If hiccups do arise, you have extra time built in to deal with those and stay on track.

Tip 2: “Be Realistic/Honest”
I find that when I am realistic about what I can complete and the time it’s going to take me, it’s easy to meet any deadline. It’s when we agree to complete something when we know full well, or suspect that we will never make that requirement, that we do not succeed.

Tip 3: “Re-chunk the Deliverables”
So you’ve been assigned a project that has an end date and that’s it. No other deliverables and it’s a new process that they want you to create yourself. That overwhelming feeling is sinking in. Well this is a great opportunity to break up the project into smaller pieces. Start by identifying the tasks that you need to complete. Even if they are out of order…just jot them all down and organize them once you realize you’ve identified all the tasks necessary to complete the project. Then look at each task and complete it one at a time. It’s much more manageable and less intimidating than looking at the whole big picture!

Tip 4: “Create Personal Goals/Deadlines”
Typically when given a project you are given the final deliverable deadline, and maybe some milestones in between. I take these dates and place them on my calendar. Then I work backwards from those dates and set personal goals for each deliverable. My personal goals/deadlines are typically 1 day before the actual deadline. This gives me again that built in cushion in case you have unforeseen issues arise. Additionally, if you mark it on your calendar, you are reminded what your dates are, and the deliverable isn’t as easily forgotten.

Tip 5: “Roadblock? Ask for HELP!”
So many times when we are working on a project we hit a roadblock. Something happens that you just can’t fix or you’ve tried everything you can possibly think of and nothing’s changing. My advice is: Don’t wait too long! Just asking someone for a suggestion might shed light on that missing piece that you need to overcome the roadblock and keep progressing. Don’t spend more than a few hours troubleshooting.