I have been expanding my project management skills for learning projects and I find it staggering the number of people it takes to put out a great presentation. Last week, we asked how many people it takes to put together a great presentation where you work. The majority of people responded with 6 people or more to accomplish this task!
Let’s dig in on the roles that came up during this conversation.
Content Experts
One or more people who are experts in the domain of the presentation. This person isn’t always easy to identify and may not have an L&D background.
Instructional Designers
The expert in designing presentations. This person analyzes the needs of the participants, writes learning objectives, outlines the presentation based on time constraints and room layout, writes the presentation script, and puts together the storyboards for the vision of the presentation.
Visual Designers
The aesthetic expert who brings the vision of the presentation team to life. This person is often skilled in visual design, myriad programming of design tools, and the latest trends in graphic design.
Project Leads/Managers
The organizational expert who schedules all tasks in sequential order and deals with the pandemonium when one of those tasks falls behind and their whole Gantt chart blows up. This person generally works individually with presentation team members as well as overseeing the whole team and their dynamics.
Internal Reviewers
The functionality and coherency experts who diligently check all the details of the presentation from copy edits to usability.
Public Speaker
The engaging individual who stands up in front of a group of participants and presents everything the aforementioned team has worked diligently to put together and make this presentation great and lead to change.
Facilitator
The person who assists in executing any activities designed by the instructional designer that reinforces learning.
Seven Experts?
By my count, that is a minimum of seven experts to design and deliver a great presentation. Obviously, there are teams out there who have individuals serving as more than one of these experts. However, I took a project management course a few years ago that insisted the only way to break down work for a successful project is for individuals to only serve in one role, especially if they are expected to be the expert of that domain. How many of you have more than seven people on your training team who are not people managers? I am guessing very few of you.
How, then, is your team filling all of these roles for a successful presentation? How many experts does your training team require? Let’s talk about it in the comments below.
