Working with your Instructional Designer

Project timeline & your time commitment

A typical engagement runs about 13 calendar weeks (≈63 business days) end-to-end. Your hands-on time as an SME usually lands between 7 and 22 hours, concentrated in the kickoff, content gathering, and review windows.

1. 1
   Project Kickoff Meeting

   Day 1

   SME: 1 hr

   Align on goals, audience, scope, and success criteria.

   Owners

   SME

   Instructional Designer

   Project Sponsor
2. 2
   Learning Objectives & Business Goals Alignment

   Days 2–3

   SME: Less than 1 hr

   ID drafts objectives tied to strategic goals; SME validates and approves.

   Owners

   Instructional Designer

   SME
3. 3
   Content Gathering

   Days 4–10

   SME: 2–8 hrs

   Share source material with context on how the pieces fit together.

   Owners

   SME
4. 4
   Content Review Meeting

   Days 11–14

   SME: 2–4 hrs

   Walk through gathered content and resolve gaps before drafting.

   Owners

   SME

   Instructional Designer
5. 5
   Alpha Draft of Content

   Days 14–28

   SME: 0 hrs

   ID builds the first end-to-end draft. SMEs get a breather.

   Owners

   Instructional Designer
6. 6
   Feedback on Alpha Draft

   Days 28–31

   SME: 1–4 hrs

   Leave specific, direct feedback in the Review tool.

   Owners

   SME
7. 7
   Beta Draft of Content

   Days 31–44

   SME: 0 hrs

   Owners

   Instructional Designer
8. 8
   Feedback on Beta Draft

   Days 44–47

   SME: 1–2 hrs

   Owners

   SME
9. 9
   Final Draft of Content

   Days 47–54

   SME: 0 hrs

   Owners

   Instructional Designer
10. 10
    Feedback on Final Draft

    Days 55–56

    SME: 1 hr

    Final pass; accuracy and polish only.

    Owners

    SME
11. 11
    LMS Posting & Publishing

    Days 56–63

    SME: 0 hrs

    Owners

    Instructional Designer

    LMS Team

Plan your dates

Pick your kickoff date and we'll map every milestone to the calendar. Download an .ics file to drop your SME commitments straight into Outlook, Google Calendar, or Apple Calendar.

Seven tips for a better partnership

Small habits that compound across the life of a project.

1. 01

   Tip 1

   Know your lane

   You own content validity; the accuracy, completeness, and currency of the subject matter. Your instructional designer owns adult learning theory; how it's structured, sequenced, and assessed. Trust each other's expertise.

2. 02

   Tip 2

   Be specific in feedback

   Vague reactions stall the project. Instead of "I don't like this," say "Change X to Y" or "Delete this paragraph." Concrete edits move us forward.

3. 03

   Tip 3

   Be direct; you won't hurt our feelings

   We want the best training module just as much as you do. Honest, candid feedback is a gift. Soft-pedaling slows everything down and waters down the result.

4. 04

   Tip 4

   Leave feedback in the Review tools

   Add comments and edits directly inside the review platform, not in a separate Word doc, email thread, or Slack message. One source of truth keeps nothing from slipping through.

5. 05

   Tip 5

   Schedule a call for major gaps

   If something is missing at the concept or structure level, written comments won't cut it. Book 20 minutes with your ID; it's faster than ten rounds of typed back-and-forth.

6. 06

   Tip 6

   Don't just send source content

   Raw PDFs, decks, and SOPs aren't a course. Help your instructional designer see how the pieces fit together: what's essential, what's reference, and what learners actually need to do.

7. 07

   Tip 7

   Stay focused on the learning objectives

   Every example, story, and assessment item should serve an objective. If a piece of content doesn't ladder up to one, it probably shouldn't be in the course, even if it's interesting.