Speaker 1: Have you heard about the Agile methodology? Are you not sure how it could apply to your next instructional design project? Does it give you hives thinking about starting one phase before the previous phase is really done? Well, don't worry, friend, take a deep breath because I've got you. In today's video, we're going to talk all about the Agile project methodology and how it could apply to instructional design. Hi, friends, welcome to my channel. I'm Vanessa. And on this channel, I help aspiring instructional designers and eLearning developers get off of the sidelines and get into the L&D game. And today we're talking all about the Agile project methodology. So currently, I am finishing up my time as a product owner for Design by Humanity. So this is a group that I volunteer with made up of a ton of creatives, including instructional designers, graphic designers, even user experience designers, and people that are just kind of looking to get some experience and some mentoring into the field. And we work on projects that are in some way, shape or form supportive of the BIPOC community. So that is Black Indigenous People of Color. So for example, the project that I'm working on is on a de-escalation technique called the Ear Framework. And we've created a quick micro-learn using the edApp tool. And that's actually going through the final, you know, stages of our project and it's going into QI, which I'm super excited about. But through this organization is how I was introduced to the Agile project methodology. Well, I don't want to say I was introduced to it because I had heard about it. I just never really used it on a project before. And I was really excited that I was able to test it out using a volunteer organization. So I could really see what worked, what didn't work, what I could do better as a project manager when I was using the Agile methodology and there was definitely areas that I need to do better. And it was a nice way to test this, you know, this methodology without, you know, in front of, without being in front of a client or in front of, you know, my peers and my coworkers. So super excited and thankful I was given that opportunity. And so I'm not going to lie at first, it was a little rough for me to work on this project because in my logical Enneagram 3 brain, I wanted to get from point A to point Z and I felt like I needed to get to point B by making sure I completed all of point A to not waste our time. And so that was definitely something that took me a minute to wrap my head around. And then about a fourth of the way into the project, I was on a sprint review meeting and Nilo Spooner, who is, you know, one of the founders of Design by Humanity, was like, it's okay that your storyboard is not perfect before you take it to the next step and start developing because you may get to the development phase and you realize that something doesn't really, or isn't really working out. And that's when I kind of clicked and I was kind of, and I was kind of like, okay, if we are going to actually get this completed within the six months, we have to just start trying and we have to just start developing or else it's going to take forever, right? is going to take over and I'm going to want to perfect the storyboard before we take it to the next phase. So we actually did that. And I thought that it worked out really well for our team and it definitely helped move us along. So let's start from the beginning and break down exactly what Agile is and how it differs from Addy. So remember, Addy stands for Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluate. And it pretty much, you know, goes in order. You finish step one, you move to step two, and so on and so forth. Agile, however, stands for Align, Get Set, Implement, and Iterate, Leverage, and then Evaluate. So basically, just to kind of help you get your mind wrapped around Agile methodology, you're going to want to align your team, get your stakeholders and team, etc, all in a room to talk about the project, understand what the problem is exactly, start brainstorming ideas together, and then put kind of together a loose plan for what that solution should be. And then the team will start creating and building a rapid prototype that is sent to those decision makers, so that they can test it, get some feedback, and then go back to the development team and adjust based on that feedback. So the team works in sprints. And as part of that sprint, each team member is assigned to tasks so they know what tasks they're responsible for during that sprint. So these sprints are repeated over and over again until you get to the alpha version of the product. And then that is tested over and over until the decision makers are satisfied, and you can move to beta. So you can see how this kind of idea of doing things over and over, waiting until someone is satisfied, that can kind of, when you work with clients, especially, that can get a little crazy. A lot of our experts sometimes will never be satisfied, it feels like, and you kind of have to stop them at some point. So I can understand how looking at the Agile methodology to manage a project can be really challenging for some people to understand or to really wrap their heads around and to get behind. But it really actually is a pretty great way to work on projects and to start seeing things a little bit faster than you normally would if you're using the Addy model. So one thing that I really like about this model is that this method is going to get you to the phase of actually seeing and testing a lot sooner. So you're able to see if ideas that you are brainstorming are going to actually work or not. So for example, if you're building, you know, like a little game or something like that as part of your product, you'll be able to actually test that out sooner than designing this whole big elaborate game, and then getting to the actual development phase and realizing that for whatever reason, that game is not going to work out. And you wasted all that time building this amazing game in you know, in a storyboard and all of those and like all of those types of things. So what I love about this method is that the learner is at the center of the entire project, right? So they're brought in to test, they are allowed to give their feedback earlier in the process, so they can help get provide insight as to whether or not that is good training, or that's going to be a good product. And that's something that Addy doesn't really do. You should be evaluating throughout the whole, you know, process. A lot of people don't, they go in and they analyze, they design, they develop, and then they implement. And at that stage, they get information back from their learners of whether or not this is a good product or not. That's not really, you know, the way to keep the learner at the heart and the center of your organization, and at the center of the learning. So in the Agile methodology, because you're constantly testing through each of the sprints, through each of the phases, you're able to bring in a couple of beta testers, a couple of users, you know, your pilot team sooner, so that you can get that feedback. And then you'll know if you're actually working on something that is going to work, or is something that needs to be refined or maybe changed around to meet the needs of the learner. And I know I talked a lot about it, but you know, the big thing here with Agile is that it is nonlinear. And that is something that for people who work on tight timelines, tight budgets, this could be something that is a consideration, right? So when you're thinking about which is the best way to manage the projects for that project that you're working on, sometimes it's on a case by case basis, right? If it's something where you don't really have a ton of time to be able to test things and wait for decision makers to wait until it's, you know, essentially perfect, then you really kind of have to think about whether or not Agile is going to be for you. So I think that there's no one methodology, project management methodology that is always going to be the best. I think that depending on the project and the constraints that you have, right? So if I know that my clients are going to get hung up on the small stuff, this might not be the project management methodology that I use for them. But if I know that they're a little bit more creative and collaborative, and they're looking to push their boundaries a little bit and to think outside of the box of traditional learning development and traditional e-learning, you know, design and project management, then Agile is definitely something that I think I would use with them, right? And then I have to say one aspect that I was not great at as a product owner, and that's just because honestly, for me, it was a volunteer position and trying to fit that into my day with my work was just a little bit difficult, was the daily stand-ups. And so we use Slack as part of Design by Humanity, so we used to call them Slack Ups. And I think if I was, you know, part of an organization that we were using the Agile methodology and we were doing stand-ups regularly and for most of the work that I had during the day, then that would be different, right? So I'd probably be better about having daily stand-ups or remembering to start the daily Slack Up in my channel on Slack, but I think we didn't have like a ton going on because it was just like one tiny project, and there were so many of us on the team that it kind of felt weird being like, I have nothing to report today because I didn't do anything. But I really did love the stand-ups or the Slack Ups as we called it. It was a chance for all of us to just share really quickly what it is that we're working on, what it is that is challenging us, and what obstacles we're facing so that other members of our team can help break those barriers, right? Can help assist with those challenges, and we're able to move faster. Sometimes I think that we wait till a status meeting and then you realize that someone is struggling with something and you need help. If you're not constantly having, you know, this open communications, open dialogue, the ability to stand up and be like, hey guys, I need help with something. Does anybody, can anybody help me with this? Then you miss out on a lot of valuable time. And by doing daily stand-ups or Slack Ups, if you're in Slack, you're able to, you know, say hey guys, I need help and address the issue sooner so that you can continue moving on faster. So I definitely think that is one thing from the Agile methodology and how people are using the Agile method that I'm going to take and just do on a lot of different projects. It might not be daily, and it might be, you know, once a week or a couple of times a week. Just as quick check-ins, depending on the projects that I'm working on and how many at one time, because sometimes there's a lot, that I could just take that quick, you know, 15 minutes to be like, okay, you know, any issues, barriers, challenges, anybody need more work for the week or anybody, you know, feels like they have too much on their plate for that week, let's have a conversation about it. And the quick conversation, this is not meant to be a half hour, hour meeting, it is meant to be literally a stand-up. Hey guys, 15 minutes, just want to know where everyone is, any challenges, nope, yes, let's, you know, let's help you through that and then let's get back to work. And that's a really nice way to, you know, also keep that community with your project team, which I really, really like. Are you looking for a place to collaborate with learning and development professionals like yourself? Well, click the link down below to join my Facebook group, the Freelance Learning and Development Network. Friends, thank you so much for watching and I will see you in my next video. Bye.