On this Q&A episode of the BLOC, I answer (from my experience and opinion) the following questions:
Connect with Heidi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiekirby/ or on my website: www.heidikirby.com
Thanks for listening to the BLOC!
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiekirby/
Or check out what I'm working on over at https://www.getusefulstuff.com/
On this Q&A episode of the BLOC, I answer (from my experience and opinion) the following questions:
Connect with Heidi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiekirby/ or on my website: www.heidikirby.com
Thanks for listening to the BLOC!
Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidiekirby/
Or check out what I'm working on over at https://www.getusefulstuff.com/
Hello friends, and welcome to the block the building learning and organizational culture podcast. I'm your host Heidi Kirby. And on today's show, I will admit that I have read way too many of those very Dear Abby style columns lately. And so I've decided to do a dear Heidi q&a episode, and answer some real life instructional design and l&d questions. The first question, which may come as no surprise is, how do I get started in a career in learning and development? I could answer that question. But it would probably take me more than half an hour timestamp I'm looking to go for in this particular episode. So what I will say is this. If you are outside of learning and development, and you're looking to get in a few things I'd recommend start reading. Start growing your network of instructional designers or l&d coordinators or elearning developers or whatever it is the role that you're going for in l&d the role that you want to explore. start connecting with people that do that job on LinkedIn, and then ask them what they're reading. The other thing to do is to start looking up job descriptions. Start looking at those l&d job descriptions to see if those day to day responsibilities are really something that you would see yourself doing. And never ever spend any money on a certification, or even a graduate degree program or an Instructional Design Academy or coaching program or mentoring program until you are sure that you actually want a career in l&d. Sometimes I think what's happening is that people are getting uncomfortable with their current roles. And they're looking for what they believe is the easiest thing to get them out. And I don't know if that is always the best idea. For example, I've seen a lot of educators who think that instructional design is a great next step and a great next move for them. And so they're they get this idea in their head that they want to be an instructional designer. And some of the people that I've talked to and that I've mentored. It's not really what they're looking for at all. It's not really the heart of teaching that they enjoyed or being an educator that they enjoyed. So remember, before you invest any money, you want to make sure that this is really the career switch that you want to make. And then after you've started reading and doing research, and attending free events, with your new network that you've grown through LinkedIn, then you can see if you need to upskill in any area or you know, pursue a certification, something like that. So I hope that helps. And of course, always I will suggest that if you're trying to find a career in l&d to join the LinkedIn group teaching a path to l&d was Dara, Steve ik, because it is wonderful. And it's free. Okay. Next question. What is the best way to tell someone? No, dude, that is not my job. That is your job a couple of things to unpack here. So first and foremost. If you are up here with this person, and you both report to the same manager, I would if they don't take the hint, go to that manager and have a conversation with that manager. Now. Chances are if you've gotten to the point where you're like, No, dude, that's not my job, that's your job. You probably have a pretty hands off manager or for whatever reason, you don't want to involve them. Because either they prefer to be hands off or you think that they'll side with the other person. Whatever the reason. It seems like in this particular situation, the manager may not be the best person to go to. But you also want to keep things diplomatic and keep things professional. And if there's any conflict to be had to keep it brief, and you know, contain it within a difficult conversation and move on. So one of the things that you can do is to give like the general Oh, yeah, no, I can't do that I don't have time for that, or, you know, I don't really have the bandwidth to finish X project right now or to do X thing, can you do it, and in that meantime, you know, have a conversation with your manager that, hey, this person is not really staying within their bounds. And I don't mind helping, but I'm also not, I have plenty of other work to do that, I can't do X all the time, right. And hopefully, you have the relationship with your manager, that you can have that kind of conversation and that it will be heard. And that then the manager can have the difficult conversation. If you are the manager, and you're telling someone who reports to you, that's not my job, that's your job. It becomes easier in a way, but also more difficult in a way, because there's that power dynamic at play. And so you do have to have that very frank and honest conversation of Listen, I've been helping you out with x the past few times. But now that you are kind of full in your role, you know, full on in your role, I really need for you to take over this responsibility, because I have some other priorities that I have to take care of. Okay. Again, keeping things diplomatic. Now, let's say, for instance, that there is no power dynamic at play, and you are both contractors working together on something right? It might be as simple as, Alright, I'm gonna do this this time. But next time, I'm gonna set much clearer expectations. So let's say for example, in this particular example, the that's not my job, that's your job is like, reviewing content, right? Maybe you have a Smee, that you'd like to review content, and they think that you're just going to review the content, how could you write, so maybe you need to have that tough conversation, and that person does not report to your manager, because there's me. So, you know, maybe, okay, this time, you just roll with it. But next time, you set up a very clear set of expectations and say, Listen, I'm gonna do this, then I'm gonna have you review it, and I need you to look at all of it, because I don't have the knowledge that it takes to look at this. And then I'm gonna have, I'm gonna take it back and make the edits and do whatever. And so again, my number one thing is just keep it diplomatic. If you have to have an honest conversation, you have to have an honest conversation, but you don't want animosity, or anything like that leaving the room with you. You want to leave it all in the room when you have that conversation. Next question. I have a new learning program that I'm trying to launch and I just can't get buy in past my own boss, what can I do? So my initial response to this is you have three options, fight, flight, or freeze, right? So buy in, this is a tough one. And this is where people in l&d really have to use leadership skills, whether or not they're in a management position. Whatever this project is, this learning program, whatever your role is, in the organization, you may not be an instructional designer, but you have to get buy in from people above your own boss to be able to move forward. Because maybe you need money, or someone a human resource to help you with it. Maybe you need extra time, and you have to reprioritize some of your other responsibilities. So the fight, the first thing you can do is fight for it. Fight for that buy in, create a plan with your boss, because it sounds like in this scenario, the boss is buying him. Create a plan with your boss to make a business case. How can you align this learning program with organizational business goals, if you can make a strategic business case for your learning program, and if you can share some of the metrics that you're planning on measuring that could be more persuasive to people in a stakeholder position. But that's something that your boss is going to have to be willing to work with you on. And if your boss really buys in, they'll work with you. If your boss says they buy in, but also says I'm with you. I think this learning program is great, but I just don't think we're gonna get it past the VP then your boss isn't really actually bought in. Because if your boss was bought in, they would help you to make that business case if you pitch that idea, right? The other thing you can do is freeze. So you can say, all right, is this learning program that important to me? Do I really care if it gets launched or not? Does it really at the end of the day affect me outside? Have, I spent a lot of time on it? I would love the reputation that it gives me within my company. I was hoping to roll it out, because I was hoping that it would help me get promoted, things like that. You have to kind of consider what is your stake? What is at stake for you? And are you okay to just drop it? Right? Are you okay to just let it go and move on. And of course, your third option is flight. And I would not recommend flight over one learning program that doesn't get buy in. But if you find that over time, a lot of your programs aren't getting buy in, or a lot of your work, your projects are making it to the almost complete phase and then dying, because of lack of buy in lack of resources, lack of humans, lack of money, those types of things. If you keep watching your projects and your programs die, it might be time to move on to another organization where they won't. Right. So those are three options. Right? I met with a Smee last week, and I asked a ton of needs analysis questions that I don't think she had ever considered. She literally just came to my boss and tried to order an eLearning course on leadership. When I started asking questions, she became really defensive. After the meeting, she emailed my boss and asked for a different instructional designer to be in charge of the project, because I quote, didn't understand her vision, unquote. What should I do? Sometimes maze can be difficult, right? I think one of the most common interview questions for instructional designers is how do you deal with a difficult person? Or how do you deal with the difficult for me? Because like we talked about for the first question, this mean doesn't report to the same person you report to typically. And the dynamic there can be strange. It's my understanding that it can be especially kind of strange sometimes in higher ed, where the Smee is a respected educator and professor who knows enough about learning theory to be dangerous, and may get offended if you suggest things that are outside of what they imagined, I guess. But as an instructional designer, we know that that's kind of our role and our job. And so I think, number one, you should tell your boss that the questions that you asked, right, this the typical needs analysis questions that you asked a few, you know, ask things that were pretty typical. It says you asked a ton of questions. Maybe you do need to look and reflect on yourself a little bit about your tone, and how that might have come across. Were you kind of asking those questions and then being kind of dismissive. Were you asking those questions and then saying, Oh, well, that's okay. We'll figure it out. You know, like, what, what was the vibe, right? And how can you maybe work on your tone, so that doesn't happen again next time. But I would definitely have a conversation with your boss that you didn't feel that this person was ready or that this course was ready. So your boss can have kind of a heads up for the next person who owns this project? Because that's my other piece of advice. Let someone else have it. Maybe if they're your teammate, and you like them, you could warn them about the experience that you had. I know that if I worked with other ideas, and they encountered a difficult to me, I would want them to warn me. But I also think you should just let someone else have it. Maybe someone else will work better with this me. Sometimes personalities just don't mesh. There's not much you can really do about that. But I would definitely have that conversation with your boss and see if there's an approach that your boss can come up with for the other instructional designer who will be taking over For that, we'll be a little more sensitive to the SMI or what have you. Or maybe have your boss meet with the SMI and see if there's really a project to be had there. Right. Sometimes that's when your l&d Manager will kind of pull weight and say, Hold on, let me step in here. What is this? What's What's this all about? And then your boss may have a little bit more autonomy and power to be able to say, we're not making a course unless you have X, Y, and Z. Right. In the last question, I'm looking for more professional development opportunities and l&d. How do I know which conferences to go to, in which conferences are going to have the same old content? So first and foremost, I'm not really sure, if you're looking for something free or paid. There are a plethora of options, either camp, right, I like to sign up for and attend a lot of the different free virtual conferences I see. And a lot of times, I'm able to only attend a couple of sessions just because of how my schedule goes or my work day goes. And typically, from a session or two, you can kind of gauge the pacing, and the vibe of the conference, and you can tell whether it's going to be useful to you or not. Same old content, I guess, just really depends. I think that the only conferences that I don't enjoy, honestly, are the ones that have a sales sponsor may leave it at that. I'm not gonna say anything more specific, but the ones that have a sponsor, who is trying to sell you something, those conferences, the sessions tend to center around the use of, and benefits of and features of what is trying to be sold to you. And it can be a real headache, because if you're not planning on buying that thing, it can be a true waste of time. So look for the communities, right look for the conferences that are sponsored by communities. For example, to LDC, the training, learning and development community has community days, every season. I was lucky enough to speak at the last one. And they have a lineup of speakers. And they speak on different topics. And they pick a different theme for each of their community days. Things like this little short term events like this, that or a day long or something like that are actually a really great way to get professional development, get some experience get exposure to other people in network. Another one is Tim Slade does these q&a sessions, I've also done one of those as well. And you can log in live and ask questions of people who are professionals in the field. And Tim, and that person will discuss those questions. And it's also a really great way to develop professionally, outside of conferences. I always just like this morning, even I posted on LinkedIn, a couple of books that I'm reading, one has to do with learning. And without even asking, what books are you reading, I just said, Hey, what are you all doing on your day off today? And a lot of people told me what books they're reading. So now I have books to add to my to read list for professional development just from sharing what I'm reading. So that's another thing. Going back to this idea that I mentioned earlier of networking and growing your network. The bigger your network is, the more conferences you're going to find out about that are free, the more virtual events you're going to find out about that are free or affordable, and the more recommendations you're gonna get for books, things like that. Thanks again for joining me on the blog. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends and review us on your favorite podcast platform. I hope you'll tune in again soon.