210: Are You Sabotaging Your L&D Results? Tackling Time & Resource Constraints

Is your L&D team overwhelmed with keeping content fresh and relevant while time and resources run thin? The solution isn't more work—it's smarter work. One of the biggest challenges for L&D is managing "Specific & Perishable" content—unique, organization-specific information like policies, processes, and product updates that change frequently. Keeping up with this content internally is overwhelming, and sourcing it externally isn't an option. The solution? Shifting from content creators to content enablers by empowering Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to contribute. But common challenges arise: SMEs often say they lack time or know-how. This session provides strategies to overcome these barriers, enabling L&D to scale effectively, while fostering a sustainable learning culture where continuous knowledge sharing becomes the norm.

Based on my experience working with various organizations, I'll share a practical approach that helps L&D teams understand two key aspects of learning content: how unique the content is to your organization and how often it needs to be updated. We'll focus on the most challenging type of content—information that's specific to your organization and changes frequently, like product updates or new policies. Instead of trying to manage all this content alone, this session will explore how you can stop trying to control every piece of content and instead enable content creation across the organization.

Here's what we'll cover:

Key Challenges of Specific & Perishable Content:

• Learning content becomes stale: Constant updates are required to keep content relevant.
• Decentralization: Content exists in various places within the organization, making it difficult to find the right resources.
• Quality and consistency: With multiple contributors, maintaining quality and consistent branding becomes more difficult.
• Information dump: Often, content is focused on dumping information rather than creating interactive, practical activities that help employees make the right on-the-job decisions.

L&D's Role: From Creator to Enabler:

I'll explain why L&D functions should shift their focus from content creation to content enablement, providing the tools and frameworks needed to empower Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to create high-quality, up-to-date learning materials. Through examples from companies I've worked with, we'll see how this shift drives efficiency and quality while boosting engagement.

Opportunities for Action:

Learning leaders are implementing processes, templates, and technology to ensure consistency and ease of content creation.

We'll dive into practical solutions such as:

• Instructional design templates: Simple, effective templates that anyone in the organization can use.
• Standardization through tech tools: Leveraging platforms like FLOWSPARKS to maintain consistency in design and formatting.
• Curation and tracking: Ensuring content remains relevant by tracking usage, setting expiry dates, and communicating regularly with content creators.