Regardless of the industry or a specific job title, one of the things that most people try to do on a daily basis is work smarter, not harder. eLearning content certainly helps solve that need. Creating modules that can be used across various departments (or the entire company!) is key to streamlining the creation process.
Some content is likely going to be exactly the same for everyone in the organization regardless of their department or place in the hierarchy - for example, anything regarding company policies. Other content, such as product-specific information, may only apply to a few departments.
Wondering how to create content that is usable across various departments? For starters, you should ensure that the content provides the necessary information to those who need it. At the same time, you should avoid overloading your modules with information that can cause people to get lost in the weeds.
What do we mean? Let’s use the example of a new product launch.
When a company rolls out a new product, there are lots of different departments that need to be aware of what’s going on, such as sales, marketing, procurement, and shipping. It’s likely that on some level the information required for each group will overlap.
For example, every department will probably need to know the dimensions of the product for various reasons. However, sales and marketing will just need to know about the product’s specific features, functions and usefulness, while that information could be irrelevant to the shipping department. Procurement, meanwhile, will need to know the specific parts that make up the product so they can order them, yet they won’t be interested in the various shipping methods available or specific packing instructions.
So how can you make sure that everyone is getting all of the information they need to do their jobs and do them well?
Here are two methods that can help you organize and streamline your content process.
1. Use Branching Logic
To start out with branching logic, you’ll create a module containing all of the necessary information. There should be messaging that provides general overviews as well as department or process-specific information. From there, you’ll review your content and the information necessary for each job function and create rules. As specific users move through the module, the content that’s irrelevant to them will drop off. This will ensure that they’re being presented with only the information that they need, so that they won’t get bogged down with irrelevant-to-them details.
2. Use Just-In-Time Learning
Just-in-time learning (JIT) provides learners with the ability to grab the information they need when they need it. When creating content that will be used across various departments, it may make sense to create an entire content library on a specific topic. The initial module can contain the general overview information that’s relevant to everyone and can then contain links to additional resources or modules for the job or process-specific information. This content should also be easily accessible and searchable so that learners can go back to specific pieces whenever they need to and so that if someone feels they missed something (perhaps someone in marketing wants to review a specific piece of product information, for example) they can easily access it without having to go through an entire course.
Need help getting started? We can help you create these comprehensive yet tailored resources.
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