Of Beginnings and Other Matters

--A Not-So-Essential Deconstruction of the ID Track Construction

A regular day at work finds me playing the role of an ID. Cut to a different scenario–that of creating in-house training material–now that’s where a seemingly simple role expanded to include that of a client, an SME, and an instructor, besides of course that of a writer, reviewer, and an ID.

But hey, you must be thinking of the first thing we are taught to think of as writers–‘What’s in it (this article) for me?’– A rather polite way of saying ‘Why in heaven’s name should this matter to me?’

All right, I will cut to the chase and tell you what does and doesn’t matter.
Yes, I reviewed a few courses, I worked with an external vendor over another, I will work as an instructor for a few courses–my story is as simple as that.

So, what does matter? The fact that one actually learns a lot in the process of teaching matters. The fact that the company I work for is keen to invest in employee growth matters a great deal too. The fact that e-learning stalwarts like Punam Medh were involved in giving this project shape makes a whole lot of difference too.

And, what else matters? Creating 14 courses for the first ID track–each course ranging from a modest 2 hours to a whopping 20 hours–a humongous effort that sounded just a little farfetched, just a tad too ambitious to begin with is now approaching its final stages. A vision of a virtual, actually a real ID university, where employees learn and grow even as they work is something that drove every one of us. The vision and the effort made to fruition matter.

So, for posterity’s sake, here’s a quick account of the people and some initial efforts which will pretty much fade into the horizon as things move on to the next level. Let’s start at the beginning. It all began with the Training Director's entry to Lionbridge. Actually, it began even before with the GM’s vision of a fresher-to-guru path where learning goes hand-in-hand with growth. Then came Reshma Kotwal, the former SDD for the Writing team, who created the road map and defined the first track. After that, over cups of tea or coffee based on required the caffeine dose, Preeti B., Vidya G., Reshma K., Renuka G., and I defined it further and worked on taking it ahead. For professional IDs, we were quite a motley mix–Preeti B. would scuttle in and out of meetings in between her numerous training sessions, Vidya G. would be exploring the internal newsletter angle for cross promotion and ideas, Reshma K. would pretty much come up with all the best ideas for us to nod in unison, Renuka G. would join in by phone to add the ‘remote’ to effective teamwork, and I would tear myself away from project work simply to bask in some superlative ID brain waves.

Among us and the rest of the people who worked on the first track, we have tried to keep the fun in learning, tried to make the courses less didactic and more engaging, and yes, we had a lot of fun ourselves. But, the day I am looking forward to is one when this article and the rest in its league are relegated to the background in favor of new ones heralding the release of the second track. Wishful thinking! That’s what we thought the first time too.