New book by Guieswende Rouamba on ID project management

My good friend Dr. Guieswende Rouamba Ph.D. has recently published an insightful book, "The Instructional Designer's Guide to Project Management". Over the years, we've collaborated on a range of courses, spanning K12, higher education, aerospace, and auditing. One project stands out in my memory as a time when we felt completely unsure of how to begin. The client wanted a website, LMS, and several courses. I decided to bring in a project manager to teach us how to tackle a project of that size. After about ten sessions, along with plenty of homework and revisions, we had a clear plan and a strong understanding of the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) model. That experience truly changed how I view projects. Not only did we complete our part of the project, but we also learned how to approach large and technical projects. If you're an instructional designer, educator, or anyone tasked with learning projects, I highly recommend checking out his book: The Instructional Designer's Guide to Project Management. https://a.co/d/2dotjWe watch Dr. Rouamba’s recent interview on project managment for instructional designers: https://lnkd.in/eMh27U48

No Scoping Document? Expect Chaos. Without a scoping document, you’re flying blind. Unclear roles, vague goals, and endless changes lead to project chaos. A scoping document is your project blueprint. It defines: What will be done (and what won’t) Who’s involved How success will be measured Key elements every scoping document should include: ✔ Project description ✔ Deliverables ✔ Exclusions ✔ Constraints ✔ Communication needs ✔ Acceptance criteria Why it matters: ✔Prevents scope creep ✔Aligns stakeholders early ✔Saves time, money, and sanity Think of it like a course outline. Without one, the design process goes off track. With one, you set clear boundaries for success. Want fewer surprises in your projects? Start every instructional design project with a scoping document. 📘 Found this helpful? 👉 Learn more in my book: The Instructional Designer's Guide to Project Management 🔗Link to the book" https://a.co/d/fOxZ9Kj 🔗 www.IDnPM.net #InstructionalDesign, #elearning, #CourseDesign, #Learning, #LearningandDevelopment, #projectmanagement, #CareerGrowth, #WorkplaceWisdom, #ProjectManagement

In the world of L&D contracting, my contract agreements often act as a scoping document. 📄 I take my contracts seriously. I once invested months to craft this documentation, only to determine expectations did not align and the project wouldn’t move forward. Instead of disappointment - I was so relieved 😮💨 Moving forward with a misalignment in expectations can have serious costs to all parties. ✅Lesson learned: Invest the time into a solid scoping document!

Choosing the right instructional design model can significantly impact the success of your learning initiative. This quick comparison guide outlines five widely used frameworks such as ADDIE, SAM, Agile ISD, Action Mapping, and Design Thinking, so you can determine which one best fits your project goals, timeline, and organizational culture. Whether you're working on a large-scale compliance rollout or designing a learner-centered experience, understanding the strengths and limitations of each model is essential. The infographic includes a side-by-side comparison, a decision-making flowchart, and key takeaways to help you make informed choices. There’s no single best model. The right one depends on your context, priorities, and how your team works. Many organizations benefit from blending elements of different approaches to meet unique needs. If you're building or refining your instructional design strategy, master modern L&D frameworks by enrolling for the L&D Professional certificate- https://lnkd.in/gqdMWb6 #InstructionalDesign #LearningAndDevelopment  #CorporateTraining #eLearningStrategy #LearningExperienceDesign LandDProfessional

Instructional design isn’t just about creating training — it’s about designing learning experiences that actually change behavior. Every slide, activity, and interaction is intentional. We’re not just asking, “What do learners need to know?” — we’re asking, “How will this help them do their job better?” Good instructional design blends science and empathy — adult learning theory, accessibility, and storytelling all working together to make learning stick. ✨ At its heart, ID is about making knowledge usable. And when we do it well, learning doesn’t feel like a task — it feels like empowerment. 💬 What’s your favorite part of the instructional design process?

Don't Go Chasing Playbooks Can we all just stop trying to create "playbooks (sic)"? tl;dr - I suggest we instead seek to curate knowledge in an evolutionary and iterative way that addresses the problem, building "Living documentation" that is simple, clear and useful is what we seek to create. I call these knowledge libraries or pattern libraries. Usually, the thing we are working on is a mashup of: - Processes and Procedures - Technical documentation - Theoretical or aspirational models for people and teams - Definitions (copied from other sources) - Current goals for the organization - Current team and department org charts - "How to" for things like Scrum, Kanban, Project Management, etc In my opinion, all of these things have their place. Just not in large "playbooks". My team and I recently compared notes and between the 10 of us we have seen ~50 such artifacts, most of which are out of date, business theater, confusing or even harmful. We are attempting to decide, as a group, how we can create value for the people we are helping without creating more noise.

The topic may be about learning design, but the points are applicable to all sorts of work and deliverables. Give it a read and try to implement in your work. You will see the positive difference immediately!

💭 My First Facilitator Guide — A Hidden Challenge Nobody Talks About When I worked on my first project as an Instructional Designer, I didn’t even know a Facilitator Guide (FG) was part of the deliverables. Just before the curriculum launch, I suddenly realized it was missing — and jumped into creating one overnight. The result? Let’s just say… it looked more like a panic project than a polished guide. 😅 But that’s how I learned my biggest lesson — It’s one thing to design learning. It’s another to explain how to deliver it. 🎯 What Makes a Facilitator Guide So Tricky When you design eLearning, your audience is the learner. But when you write a Facilitator Guide, your audience is the trainer — someone who has to bring your content to life. And that’s not easy. Because suddenly you have to think about: 💬 How will they explain this concept? ⏳ How much time will this discussion take? 🤔 What if the learners ask something unexpected? Over the years, I’ve realized the real challenges are: 1️⃣ Balancing detail with simplicity 2️⃣ Writing for different facilitation styles 3️⃣ Making content practical for live sessions 4️⃣ Documenting not just what to teach, but why Creating a Facilitator Guide feels like handing over your baby to someone else — you just hope they understand your intent, your design, and your logic. That’s where experience (and a good template 😅) comes in — but more on that in my next post. ✨ Your turn: What’s the hardest part of creating a facilitator guide for you — the structure, the tone, or keeping it human? #InstructionalDesign #LearningDesign #FacilitatorGuide #TrainTheTrainer #CorporateLearning #IDwithHimani

I recently finished Kristopher Newbauer’s Aligning Instructional Design with Business Goals 📘 , and it was an inspiring read 🌟 The book challenges L&D professionals to rethink how we design learning that truly drives business impact 📊 . It introduces an 8-step, evaluation-focused instructional design framework, which I summarized into the flowchart. This framework reminds me of backward design and Cathy Moore’s Action Mapping, yet it extends the scope —it starts with the business challenge and goal and emphasizes evaluation early on and at every level. It pushes instructional designers to look beyond learning objectives, connect their work to measurable business outcomes, and collaborate cross-functionally across the organization 👈 . Another highlight of the book/framework is that it integrates a wide range of foundational learning models —from the new ADDIE and SMART goals to Kirkpatrick’s evaluation levels, Robert Mager’s performance objectives, Bloom’s taxonomy, and Gagné’s nine events. It’s a rich synthesis that gives familiar models a fresh, business-driven lens 🔍 . If you’re in L&D and want to strengthen your business acumen while systematically approaching design, this book (and framework) is absolutely worth your time!

🎯 Instructional Design: The Framework Every Teacher Should Know Have you ever finished a great lesson — energetic, fun, full of activities — and still thought, “But did they really learn what I wanted them to?” That’s where Instructional Design (ID) comes in. 🧩 What is Instructional Design? Instructional Design is the process of planning, structuring, and evaluating learning experiences so that every part of a lesson — the objectives, the materials, the activities, and the assessments — work together to help learners reach a clear goal. It’s not about making lessons fancier. It’s about making them intentional, measurable, and learner-centered. Here’s how teachers can start applying ID in their classrooms 👇 1️⃣ Begin with the End in Mind Ask yourself: What exactly should my students be able to do by the end of this lesson? That goal becomes your North Star. 2️⃣ Align Everything with That Goal Every activity, discussion, and worksheet should serve that objective — not just “fill time.” 3️⃣ Design for Engagement, Not Entertainment Videos, games, and quizzes are great, but true engagement means learners are thinking, connecting, and using new knowledge. 4️⃣ Reflect and Revise After each lesson, ask: Did this activity actually help them achieve the goal? That reflection is what turns a good teacher into a designer. 🔑 Takeaway: Instructional Design gives teachers a framework to make learning more effective — not by doing more, but by doing things with clearer purpose. #InstructionalDesign #TeacherDevelopment #LearningDesign #Education #TeachingStrategies #ProfessionalGrowth #LifelongLearning #corporatetrainer #businessenglish