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The One Question Every Solo Learning Leader Must Answer to Prioritize Effectively

Someone once asked me if I would deliver a webinar telling people how I divide up my day as a solo learning team. At the time, it was my first solo team position, and I was responsible for two LMSs, eLearning design, development, and managing educational programs. I thought about it for weeks, and I couldn’t figure out how to explain how I divided up my days in a step-by-step way. However, I do know how I determine what to prioritize as a solo learning team.


I think most of us are aware of the many workplace distractions and endless tasks that can confuse even the smartest of us about what our priorities are or should be on a given day. However, I started asking myself: will this have a direct impact on the learners? If the answer is yes, it will impact learners in the present or near future, then it will be moved to the top of the heap.


Two-panel comic: Left, a man and a woman discuss meeting invites, woman looks puzzled. Right, woman yells, frustrated. Home setting, gray tones.

I’m not saying all emails, Teams messages, chats, Slack, and meeting requests aren’t necessary (but I mean some aren’t), but in our jobs, all roads lead back to learning. Let’s look at some use cases*.


Case 1: Let’s say I receive an email stating that a member/learner is having trouble accessing a course in the LMS, but my manager is asking me if I can jump on a call to review a policy we talked about last week. I’d ask my manager if we could schedule the meeting later and tell them my reason for asking to do so.


Why? What if this course (and ideally it is) is essential to the learner’s skill & knowledge development to perform their job? They should have access to the learning resources at any given time, and I think the organization should make that a priority.


Case 2: I’m asked to create an SOP within the next two weeks, yet I’m in the middle of developing a series of courses for physicians about an update to clinical guidelines for treating patients that must launch at the same time the SOP is due. I’d ask for an extra week to create the SOP and focus on the courses.


Why? Physicians (learners) rely on advances in clinical guidelines to manage patient care, and they expect the organization to provide it as these developments occur. If anyone needs ME to create the SOP, then I’m likely the person doing that job and no one else is being delayed from getting their work done.


Case 3: I’m getting flooded with Teams messages from a group chat while in the middle of a virtual meeting with a SME about a course that we are collaborating to develop. I ignore my Teams messages (I keep my notifications so that I can’t read them) and focus on my conversation with the SME.


Why? If I try to divide my attention between the SME and the chat messages, I am not only likely to miss important information, but I could also be damaging my relationship with the SME by appearing distracted and disrespectful of their time. We may want or need this person’s expertise for future learning initiatives, so I must stay engaged and focused during our meeting.


 

Does this make sense? I hope so. Is it always easy? No, but nothing ever is. Also, I’m not suggesting that these other requests or demands are frivolous. However, it's helpful to have a north star that guides our focus and resources. Competing demands, short deadlines, and digital distractions are inevitable. I think that any professional could benefit from determining what their key priorities will be even if they are not a solo team, but I think it’s ESSENTIAL for solo and small teams. There are so many negative personal and professional repercussions for not doing so.


I realize that managing priorities in this manner requires some finesse. I’ll go over a few things that I do that have been useful and well received in my next blog post that I hope will help you.


 *All the cases are real examples from my exciting life.

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Hey, I'm Kandice

I'm a learning expert with tons of experience managing, designing, and developing learning programs as a solo learning leader. I love sharing my ideas and thoughts on how I do it and manage to enjoy it...most of the time. 

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