E-learning Vendor Management Checklist June 2008 Permission is granted to print freely, unmodified, this document from www.doingelearning.com or to copy it in electronic form. If linked to from the net or web, link to www.doingelearning.com rather than host yourself. Thanks! Page 1 of 6
Core Area Stage Communications Have you ensured tat tere s a specfc kck off meetng sceduled, wt a clear agenda? Have you dentfed all team members wo sould attend te kck-off meetng from your organsaton to extract maxmum beneft? Have you asked your vendor ow tey wll manage communcatons wt: you te Subject Matter Expert &SME' oter stakeolders Have you factored n regular &weekly/fortngtly' communcaton and prompt flaggng of ssues arsng? Have you put togeter a rsk management table tat you refer to trougout te project? Have you ensured you ave read all documentaton or any proposed treatment from te vendor, and any oter nformaton suppled n advance? Have you ensured tat all members of your team are brefed and prepared? Have you receved a clear outlne of 'wat next' and ow progress wll be reported? Have you clarfed wt te vendor wo your key ponts of contact are, and ow communcaton lnes sould work durng te project? Have you got effectve communcatons between your own and your vendor's tecnology teams? Have you begun to consder ow you wll market te e-learnng to your learners? Have you nformed your vendor about te best ways of communcatng wt you? Stakeholders Have you dentfed key stakeolders? Learners Subject Matter Expert &SME' Sponsor &person wo pays' Brandng &for look & feel' Tecnology Do you need to consder a project board? Have you and te vendor dscussed wat meetngs need to occur and wt wc stakeolders? Have you been clear wt te vendor about any pressures you face and te type of support you need from te vendor to 'look good' n your organsaton? Are you keepng all your stakeolders n a regular loop rgt from te start even f you won't be requrng ter nput untl furter down te lne? Have you brefed your stakeolders were necessary/ approprate? Have you drawn up a stakeolder map to manage and plan for your stakeolder engagement? Do you know your learners' needs - or s ts a task you ave commssoned your vendor to do? &Consder needs analyss, gap analyss, learnng objectves, focus groups.' Do you ave any 3 rd party relatonsps &SMEs, vdeo company, etc.'? If so, wo s to andle/ mange ts relatonsp - you or te vendor? Page 2 of 6
Core Area Stage Benefits & Strategic opportunities Is your organsaton n a poston to support te needed learner tme/ space/ potental cultural ssues wt e-learnng? Are you clear on te busness benefts te e-learnng project wll delver? Are you clear tat e-learnng wll delver benefts on ts project? Have you assessed or at least acqured te learner needs to be addressed by te project? Have you sold te benefts of workng on ts project to your team members? &e.g. beng seen as an e-learnng campon, freeng up ter tme n te future, sometng dfferent, etc.' Is tere an opportunty to tnk strategcally about ts project? Has your vendor offered to support you personally troug te project? Has your vendor offered to provde addtonal support f ts s your frst e-learnng project? Has your vendor advsed you of addtonal benefts to te orgnal proposton/ soluton? Are any benefts to be ganed &learner or busness related' and to be consdered at ts stage? Has te vendor offered any 'added value' as part of ter servce? &e.g.s wte papers, demos of oter programs, ndustry news, reuse, etc.' Have you made te vendor aware of potental benefts to tem f tey complete satsfactorly? &e.g. repeat busness.' Has te vendor offered to support you n ts stage? &e.g. any presentatons or marketng of your e-learnng.' Have you dentfed any potental addtonal benefts at ts stage? Schedule Have you dentfed your fnal delvery date? Do you understand te reason for te drver bend te end delvery date, and s ts potentally flexble? Wo are key ndvduals wo could stop te project f tey were ll or away? Have you added contngency? Have you factored n te 6people rsks7'? &.e. staff avalablty, tme t takes for SME&s' to revew, etc.' Do you ave a clear scedule? Are you montorng scedule aganst delverables, and mappng ts to your team's avalablty - wc may cange? Are you ensurng tat your vendor s fndng solutons to mantan delverable dates? Is your vendor lookng for solutons/optons to keep your project on scedule were necessary? Are you ensurng your SME or oter relevant stakeolders are executng ter tasks at speed and as per ter dary? Are you managng sgn-offs? Do you ave a project plan tat allows for flexblty? Do you ave a Plan B? Page 3 of 6
Core Area Stage Team (resources) Are you clear on ow nvolved you want/ need to be wt te project? Have you reconfrmed wt your team ter roles and responsbltes? Have you reconfrmed wt your team ter roles and responsbltes? Have you dentfed your team? &Normally at least SME, and oter specalsts.' Are you clear on ow muc tme wll lkely be requred from eac member on te project? Have members of your team suffcent avalablty to delver on ter tasks on te project? Have you clarfed/ provded comfort to your team n areas tat wll be new to tem as t s e- learnng. Have you brefed your team on ter roles and responsbltes? e.g. SME: nvolvement and 'fdelty' of project Do tey understand verson control? And mpact of non-aderence? Have you reconfrmed tme commtments? Have you cecked tat any addtonal team members/ resources wll be avalable followng ntal dscussons wt vendor? Have you taken nto account te expertse of te vendor &learnng, tecnology, etc.' and your SME? N.B. Ensure te SME focuses manly on content ssues. Have you ganed recent learners' experences, rater tan smply rely on 'expert' opnon on content? Have you ensure tat you or your team aren't stflng te expertse of your vendor? Have you planned ow to manage te potental cangng demands on your team as te project progresses? &e.g. dfferent amounts of tme/ addtonal resources.' Have you or your team worked on e-learnng projects before? Have you te optmum number of SMEs for your project? Budget Have you any fnancal contngency n place? Have you acqured te autorty to approve addtonal budget? Have you clarfed te budget stuaton wt your vendor? &Ensure te vendor s aware tat budget cange wll only occur f agreed scope cange occurs drven by you.' Have you ganed a full and compreensve breakdown from your vendor for any addtonal costs assocated wt, for example, cange requests or addtonal servces? Do you understand te bass of your budget: fxed prce, tme and materals, or smply a ball park fgure to date? Is te payment scedule far or balanced n your favour? &.e. back loaded so payments are made at later stages.' Are payments based on delveres or sgn-offs? &Sgn-offs work n your favour.' Have you agreed an acceptable payment scedule? Is your vendor proposng solutons &wen needed' to ft wtn te agreed budget? Is your vendor aware of te prortes of your scope drvers &Scedule/ Qualty/ Cost'? Have you and te vendor clarfed ow any Cange Control wt budget mplcatons wll be managed? Page 4 of 6
Core Area Stage Quality/ Review Do you ave an SLA n place? Have you ensured tat you ave your own nternal compreensve testng stage? Have you consdered usng Focus groups to ensure learner needs are met? Are you clear on te busness goals and learner objectves? Have you consdered te demands on your tme and on oter resources tat wll need to be nvolved n revewng/ testng at eac stage? Have you consdered stakeolders wo wll potentally want to see te soluton at specfc stages? &Do not gnore ts as ts could come back and result n late out of scope canges.' Are you confdent n te effectveness of te proposed soluton? Have you consdered tat te e-learnng soluton needs to be, among oter tngs: Engagng Memorable Motvatonal Rooted n te 'real' world Fun - f possble! Less formal, more personable Have you consdered use of approprate corporate brandng and style gudes, but not to te detrment of learnng? Have you ensured te soluton satsfes all stakeolders? &Te learners, SMEs, board, etc.' Have you obtaned te necessary resources to cover in situ testng, and tecnology ntegraton? Have you brefed your team effectvely on wat tey can/ cannot cange at ts stage? Have you ensured you ave an effectve revew form? &Request support ere from your vendor.' Have you consdered a Plot group - comprsng a sample of te target audence - to assess te effcacy of te fnal soluton? Page 5 of 6
Core Area Stage Scope Do you understand te components tat defne scope for an e-learnng project? e.g.s Have you an acceptable Cange Control process n place wt your vendor? Have you got n place an effectve process to montor scope? Developed ours vs. learner ours &duraton' Number of screens Meda mx &grapcs, potograpy, audo, anmatons, vdeo' Brancng learner pats Dagnostc/ Assessment Level of nteractvty Accessblty Localsaton Have you clarfed your role and dept of nvolvement n te project wt te vendor? Are you defnng scope on te same page as your vendor &number of screens, meda mx, nteractvty, etc.'? Have you fnalsed and agreed scope? &Ideally wtn a sgn off specfcaton.' Are you advsed by your vendor wen a scope ssue appears so tat you can take approprate acton? Are you montorng your SME&s'? Ensure you manage your vendor f tey try to 'up sell' - ask yourself: 'does ts add bottom lne value'? Have you consdered wat te most mportant drver s for ts project: Tme/ Cost/ Qualty - wc order? Have you assgned team members to te approprate areas to manage? &e.g.s SMEs on content and context; marketng on brandng; you ultmately ensure successful delvery and effectve LEARNING.' Have you cecked tat te SME asn't gone nto reams of detal - wc WILL be forgotten by learners, and carged for by vendors? &A good vendor wll try to stop ts and rase t wt you, but you must support as approprate f you ave autorty over te SME.' Have you clearly communcated to your vendor any specal requrement and ad ts documented? &e.g. accessblty.' Do you ave te rgt people n place to get te job done well frst tme? &Multple-revews add tme and scope ssues. Best to get THE expert wo can be succnct and autortatve.' Have you cecked out - as best as you can - wat are te specfc requrements for your e-learnng project? &e.g.s accessblty, localsaton, etc.' Have you consulted or asked your vendor to provde you detals on tems tat may affect scope for you to ceck aganst your specfcaton? Have you clearly agreed desgn? &Instructonal approac, nteractvty, meda mx, etc.' Have you explored te 80:20 rule wt your SME around content? Risks ('uh-oh' moments!) Have all ssues assocated wt e-learnng procurement been consdered and resolved at ts stage? Are you 'sttng on tngs'? &Execute at speed once procured.' Are you n a poston of readness? Is tere a contract/ Non Dsclosure Agreement &NDA' n place? Have you followed your organsaton's processes and practces n engagng wt te vendor? Are you appy wt te kck-off, wt an agreed metodology, and approved project ntaton documentaton? &e.g. PID, SOW, scedule, etc.' Have you covered any oter rsk tat presents tself n te approprate core areas? Have you consdered IPR? Have you covered any oter rsk tat presents tself n te approprate core area? Have you communcated approprately wtn your organsaton any rsks tat affect tngs outsde of ts project? Have you nvestgated f any oter stakeolder could emerge from out of nowere? Page 6 of 6