Projects in L&D come in all shapes, sizes, and deliverables. But no matter the end result, it’s important to have a review process established so you’ll know your projects have the best possible chance at being successful!
Accounting for reviews throughout each project will ensure it is:
- aligning with the established project goals.
- being tested for accuracy.
- receiving stakeholder buy-in.
- improving with every iteration.
Whether you are looking to set up a review process from scratch, or just researching to optimize your current process, this blog will take you through the steps to set your review process up for success. Let's get to it!
Step 1: Identify your Review Phases
First, determine logical places in the project workflow where reviews will help to move things forward. Ask yourself: What places in the project lifecycle require testing/approval to trigger the next phase? By basing your review process off the answer to this question, you will inherently keep the project aligned with your project goals because you can gut-check against the review touchpoints along the way.
Here are a few examples of phases in our eLearning reviews that require testing and approval before moving forward:
- Content accuracy
- Functionality
- Accessibility
- Learner Experience
List out everything that comes to mind about your current workflow, including differences there may be in the process for different deliverables (such as multilingual review, for example).
Step 2: Match Reviewers to Review Phases
Once you’ve listed your review phases, identify reviewers and match them to each phase. If you’re unsure who should be reviewing at each stage, this is a good time to check in with stakeholders and get their input—they may be able to point you to the best reviewers for each phase. The reviewers will vary depending on your team and the resources at your disposal. Here’s an example of reviewers we utilize, continuing our eLearning example:
- Content accuracy - Subject Matter Expert (SME) & Instructional Designer (ID)
- Functionality - Quality Assurance (QA)
- Accessibility – QA & Learning Management System (LMS) team
- Learner Experience – QA/ID
It’s also important to let reviewers know ahead of time about the upcoming project, to ensure they have the bandwidth to review. You’ll give them a more in-depth look at the project during the project kick-off, but you’ll want to have reviewers identified beforehand so you can include them in the kick-off.
Step 3: Set Reviewer Expectations
Next, detail the expectations for each reviewer. Make sure it’s very clear WHO is reviewing, WHEN they are reviewing, and WHAT specifically they are focusing on for their review. You can include these details in your project kick-off to ensure reviewers have a chance to take a look and ask any clarifications as needed. Let’s pick a phase and reviewer to continue the eLearning example:
- Content accuracy – SME & ID
- Expectation: Review content using review link to ensure all information is accurate and factual, and add comments with specific and actionable feedback for any changes.
- Timing: Comments due end of day April 12
Get as detailed as needed in the expectations—the more details you provide, the clearer reviewers will be on their responsibilities and can more efficiently handle their task(s).
Step 4: Communicating and Collecting Feedback
Last but not least, it’s also critical to outline how you want feedback provided to you in order to communicate that to reviewers. To take their feedback and implement it efficiently, it must be specific, actionable, and maintained in one location.
To help you get the feedback you need, you can provide examples of productive feedback versus non-productive feedback to reviewers:
- Productive feedback - Change first paragraph, second sentence to read: “Reflection Software creates training the reflects your brand.”
- Non-productive feedback - The wording in the first paragraph feels off, please revise.
You can also look into the built-in tools available as part of your current toolset to leverage what you already have. For example, Articulate Storyline’s review tool (Review 360) is included as part of the Articulate 360 subscription. It allows multiple reviewers to leave comments on individual pages, which can then be exported to an Excel to track and maintain comments. Or for video-based learning, Vimeo offers a review tool that allows you to place comments directly on the video with time stamps for reference. Look into the built-in tools at your disposal to ensure you are improving the project with every iteration!
In Review…
Every organization’s review process will look a bit different depending on your needs. But as long as you remember to keep referring back to the review process you create to align with the established project goals, test for accuracy, and receive stakeholder buy-in, you will succeed! What other elements do you include in your review process? Share in the comments. And remember to download our Creative Brief template as you plan your kick-off!
