As of this date in March, 2024, I have been posting on social media to raise awareness and build my brand association with Human Resources Strategy for nine (9) months and working on the development of online learning for six (6) months.
I have taught many 4-5 hour workshops with good results, but my students always complained that it was too much material for the short workshop. They wanted the opportunity to dig deeper into the skills, test their expertise on mock case studies, and interact with other students. HRPMO University was born out of that constant message - we need more immersion in these skills to fully understand them - more "hands on" opportunities to work with the skills.
Initially, I intended to test my long content (2-4 DAYS) via instructor-led in-person teaching. After a few attempts through association chapters, I have given up on that distribution channel. It seems this material is not considered valuable enough for chapter support. And that's how I ended up here - building this material online and creating HRPMO University as an online school. But as an entrepreneur, I am bootstrapping this creation process. So there is no budget for fancy, fast contractors or deep expertise in all of the implementation nuances. This is a labor of love - and I will build the foundation to test whether my audience have interest in this training before I invest more dollars.
So I am learning about the learning management software of LearnWorlds.com. I researched several software products before I selected LearnWorlds (LW). I worked through trials with several to determine if the end product would have the flexibility and quality I was looking for. In the end, LW provided the most functionality at the best price point. But the process of choosing a software product to serve as a platform for the massive amount of content I expect to load took about two months and was very tedious, but well worth the investment of time. If I was evaluating a software program for a larger audience, I would be evaluating "enterprise" software and it would very likely take longer because my needs would be more extensive.
As I build out HRPMO-U's online presence, however, I realized there is an opportunity to teach here also. I can take you behind the curtain in a software configuration simultaneously. Because what I am doing in building HRPMO University on LearnWorlds is "configuring" the software, i.e., choosing settings, colors, content, web site navigation, titles, automated workflows, reporting, enrollment processes, and finding workarounds. For example, I am setting up a "wait list" process through pre-registration for visitors to indicate interest for a class before it is open for registration. This process is a workaround because LearnWorlds doesn't have a "wait list" functionality, i.e., the ability to indicate interest by clicking on a button and having your user name added to a list of interested parties. Because this process is a workaround, it's a little tricky and I have to test it repeatedly to see where the data about the user who is interested is being stored - it isn't obvious.
By publishing this blog, I am taking a cue from the Agile process of software development where a narrow scope of the software is built then released to the public for THEM to test. It’s released in a “BETA” version, i.e., a “test” version. Then the development team receives feedback on the functionality of the software before they move forward to the next layer of functionality. So each layer of functionality is tested in the public market before the next layer is built resulting in a continuous feedback loop that makes the software better, stronger and more responsive to users’ needs.
What I hope to accomplish with this blog is to start engaging with you and have a little fun by giving you the chance to see the development of HRPMO University and provide feedback to me if you are so inclined. To show you the “behind the scenes” of implementing software (on a small scale but the lessons are scalable to any project) including any tips I’ve learned. To show you the process of design, build, mistake, fail, fix, redesign, re-test, relaunch, publish and all the nuances in-between.
Rather than wait until everything is perfectly built and tested. We are going to start this journey together. And I’m going to share my confusion, my learning process, my frustration, my tips, my successes, my lessons learned and all the challenges with you. In return, you will be the first to know as classes come online. You will see the development as it is happening. And you will know whether this is something worthwhile to you because you will read about it, learn from it and see the results as they happen.
I have taught many 4-5 hour workshops with good results, but my students always complained that it was too much material for the short workshop. They wanted the opportunity to dig deeper into the skills, test their expertise on mock case studies, and interact with other students. HRPMO University was born out of that constant message - we need more immersion in these skills to fully understand them - more "hands on" opportunities to work with the skills.
Initially, I intended to test my long content (2-4 DAYS) via instructor-led in-person teaching. After a few attempts through association chapters, I have given up on that distribution channel. It seems this material is not considered valuable enough for chapter support. And that's how I ended up here - building this material online and creating HRPMO University as an online school. But as an entrepreneur, I am bootstrapping this creation process. So there is no budget for fancy, fast contractors or deep expertise in all of the implementation nuances. This is a labor of love - and I will build the foundation to test whether my audience have interest in this training before I invest more dollars.
So I am learning about the learning management software of LearnWorlds.com. I researched several software products before I selected LearnWorlds (LW). I worked through trials with several to determine if the end product would have the flexibility and quality I was looking for. In the end, LW provided the most functionality at the best price point. But the process of choosing a software product to serve as a platform for the massive amount of content I expect to load took about two months and was very tedious, but well worth the investment of time. If I was evaluating a software program for a larger audience, I would be evaluating "enterprise" software and it would very likely take longer because my needs would be more extensive.
As I build out HRPMO-U's online presence, however, I realized there is an opportunity to teach here also. I can take you behind the curtain in a software configuration simultaneously. Because what I am doing in building HRPMO University on LearnWorlds is "configuring" the software, i.e., choosing settings, colors, content, web site navigation, titles, automated workflows, reporting, enrollment processes, and finding workarounds. For example, I am setting up a "wait list" process through pre-registration for visitors to indicate interest for a class before it is open for registration. This process is a workaround because LearnWorlds doesn't have a "wait list" functionality, i.e., the ability to indicate interest by clicking on a button and having your user name added to a list of interested parties. Because this process is a workaround, it's a little tricky and I have to test it repeatedly to see where the data about the user who is interested is being stored - it isn't obvious.
By publishing this blog, I am taking a cue from the Agile process of software development where a narrow scope of the software is built then released to the public for THEM to test. It’s released in a “BETA” version, i.e., a “test” version. Then the development team receives feedback on the functionality of the software before they move forward to the next layer of functionality. So each layer of functionality is tested in the public market before the next layer is built resulting in a continuous feedback loop that makes the software better, stronger and more responsive to users’ needs.
What I hope to accomplish with this blog is to start engaging with you and have a little fun by giving you the chance to see the development of HRPMO University and provide feedback to me if you are so inclined. To show you the “behind the scenes” of implementing software (on a small scale but the lessons are scalable to any project) including any tips I’ve learned. To show you the process of design, build, mistake, fail, fix, redesign, re-test, relaunch, publish and all the nuances in-between.
Rather than wait until everything is perfectly built and tested. We are going to start this journey together. And I’m going to share my confusion, my learning process, my frustration, my tips, my successes, my lessons learned and all the challenges with you. In return, you will be the first to know as classes come online. You will see the development as it is happening. And you will know whether this is something worthwhile to you because you will read about it, learn from it and see the results as they happen.
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