How to create the perfect learning project team

Clients come to us with a wide variety of learning requirements – from complex systems training to carefully-nuanced drama-based courses designed to encourage behavioral change across an organization. Whatever your specific needs, we pride ourselves on creating award-winning collaborative project teams with the necessary blend of skills to work perfectly for your organization and your project, and to deliver a memorable learning experience. 

We consider many things when creating your Kineo learning project team. Your learning goals, your desired outcomes and most of all, how our team can provide you with the most effective and efficient delivery experience. Our team is made up of many experts from a broad range of disciplines. We embrace talent from a diverse range of backgrounds which means our project teams can be tailored and built on demand to suit each and every one of our clients. 

Each learning project team is built to work for your specific project and this means pulling on the most relevant talent we have. 

So what are the key qualities of a perfect learning project team?  

We asked our very own Laura Black who is one of our Project Managers to share her thoughts on some of the main and recurring skills and characteristics we need when creating a perfect learning project team.

Insightful Account Directors 

Before a project gets officially handed over to the production team, clients will already have discussed their learning needs and challenges with one of our widely-experienced Solutions Consultants and Account Directors. They offer thoughts and insights on how we can provide the best way forward. “The beginning of a project is always so important,” says Laura. 

“Getting off on the right foot is vital and as Project Managers, we rely on Account Directors heavily at this early stage. We need information about the client, how the project has been sold, what the process has been to get to the sale... all before we even think about the actual elearning! This support doesn't just end once they hand the proposal to production - we often need their involvement with changes of scope, successes, challenges and everything in between!” 

A focused and driven Project Manager 

Every solid project team has a dedicated lead. The Project Manager has the task of overseeing the full project and seeing ‘the bigger picture’ at all times. It’s their responsibility to ensure the project team keeps to budget, delivers on time and deals with any problems in a timely manner. This person is typically described as ‘unflappable’ and remains calm, pragmatic and driven throughout the project duration. 

Laura Black is one of our talented Project Managers and is highly valued for her reliability and professionalism, and her unfailingly cheerful, empathetic and helpful approach. These are essential qualities in her role as Project Manager, continually keeping projects on track with our diverse client base. 

When asked what she focuses on to ensure a project is set up for success from the get-go, Laura says:

“…the boring answer would be budget, schedule and customer service. But it’s more than that – nurturing good, empathetic relationships with clients to figure out where the need for digital learning has come from, what success looks like to them and what they’re expecting from the end product. It’s also important to enable the project team to explore what the client wants – relying on their expertise and creativity to see what we can offer within budget.”  

Supportive and creative Project Coordinators 

Depending on the scale and length of the project, Project Coordinators are onboarded to support the Project Manager with their important tasks. 

Project Coordinators are typically exceptional multi-taskers and naturally very organized. They are on hand to support with any unforeseen challenges and to problem-solve on the go. 

Laura describes Project Coordinators as 

“… the right-hand people to Project Managers - we couldn’t work without them! Being a PC is a real skill – supporting multiple PMs across many projects at once. They’re experts at prioritizing tasks, keeping track of projects and project tasks, and working swiftly and efficiently.”  

Collaborative and focused Learning Experience Designers 

Another key member of the perfect learning project team is the Learning Experience Designer. Learning Experience Designers are here to create a learning experience that is completely suited to the client and their needs. Our Learning Experience Designers have many qualities to ensure that a client will be delighted with the end product. 

“We’re incredibly lucky in Kineo to have talented, personable Lead Experience Designers who really care about what the client wants and about producing a quality product. They tend to be excellent communicators, whether that’s communicating with me or the client or with other colleagues in the project team. Whether its work or non-work related, I always enjoy talking to the designers!” 

Inspired and perceptive Art Directors 

Our Art Directors work side-by-side with the Learning Experience Designers: “Visual creativity is frequently at the top of our clients’ requirements list and our Graphics team are incredibly talented at interpreting briefs, even when they’re a little obscure,” says Laura. 

"When we get the chance to do something really creative, our Art Directors do an incredible job. They navigate the client’s branding with style and work closely with our technical team to make sure it looks and feels in line with the client’s brand and identity.” 

Talented and versatile content creators 

We have a broad range of content creators available to our learning project teams. Every project has different needs but typically will need the support of a Learning Content Designer and a Graphic Designer. These people are focused on creating content that is compelling, engaging and effective. 

How and when do content creators get involved? Once a Learning Experience Designer’s design has been approved, it’s down to a Learning Content Designer to flesh this out in a script that captures the necessary wording and interactions to bring the content to life onscreen. 

So what qualities do they demonstrate to reassure Project Managers like Laura that there’s a ‘safe pair of hands’ producing the course content? 

“Learning Content Designers are slightly different in that I feel they need to be left alone to concentrate on their writing. Again, these are people who communicate well and have the confidence to flag any issues or point out where more information or clarification is needed. This makes all the difference and I’m always more than happy to chase the client on their behalf so they can get on with what they do best!” 

A solid technical team 

Alongside the creative elements in the team, we rely on the technical expertise of Developers, Front End Developers and Technical Consultants to ensure that courses look and function as they’re supposed to. Communication is a key part of working with these colleagues. 

“I always appreciate a developer who doesn’t mind explaining something to me in layperson’s terms”, says Laura. 

“Having to talk with authority to clients can be daunting if you don’t entirely understand the technical aspects but our tech team have really helped me get to grips with that side. I think I may have stretched the limit of the saying ‘there are no stupid questions’ on a few occasions! Developers, FEDs and Tech Consultants often bring creativity to the table in ways you wouldn’t expect – new plugins, ways of working or different ways of using components can make all the difference on a project.” 

Quality Assurance colleagues 

And last but not least when it comes to a perfect learning project team, Laura describes our Quality Assurance (QA) team as ‘the unsung heroes of Kineo’. 

“Without them, our courses wouldn’t be the quality products we’re known for," she says. 

“QA are vital from the outset – they catch potential pitfalls from the very start of the project and then throughout. Their duties are very deadline-based and how they always keep calm under pressure while having such an incredible eye for detail continually amazes me.” 

There you go! All the individuals that make up a perfect learning project team are integral and play a key part in the successful delivery of all our learning projects.  

Our top 3 considerations for a perfect learning design project: 

1.  Nurture understanding from the outset: We nurture empathetic and understanding relationships with clients early on and ensure that we maintain the relationship throughout the project. Clear communication from both sides is incredibly important. 
2. Trust your project team: We encourage you to rely on your project team. They are experts in their field and will bring creative solutions throughout. 
3. Remember project scope: We always work with you to keep the budget and scope in mind. Of course, creative elements are vital but they can eat into the budget, so we keep everyone aware of the budget throughout to keep your project on track.  

If you’d like to find out more about how we can create a learning project team that works for you and your organization then get in touch with us today.