To shortlist potential eLearning partners, it’s important to identify your needs and goals. Here are initial questions to ask:

  • What are your expectations and goals for the eLearning content? What are you trying to achieve?
  • What are your timeframes and budget?
  • Do you have a preference for specific tools or technology? Will you be using your own Learning Platform?

You need to determine what parts of the process you wish to outsource. Do you already have an Instructional Designer, Developer, Project Manager and Quality Checker? How about a Translation Specialist, Narrator and Graphic Designer? Do you need a mix-and-match of the above, or do you want a full turn-key solution? Different agencies/vendors have different strengths in different areas. Be clear about which areas you need help with.

Once you have determined your needs and completed your research, you can evaluate your shortlist based on the below criteria:

Approach and Values

A partner should be much more than just a supplier. Partnerships encourage an open dialogue. Good partners understand your requirements and offer challenges and suggestions. A supplier would simply do what you ask, whereas a partner would be confident to advise that what you’re asking for isn’t what you really need and suggest alternatives. They will give transparent guidance on price, scope and content ideas. Consider whether you would trust them with confidential or sensitive information and ask how they’ve dealt with similar projects in the past. You want to work with people you feel you trust.

Quality Experience

The amount of experience an eLearning company has is important, but experience doesn’t necessarily equate to quality. You can assess this via social media, blogs and client testimonials. eLearning companies sometimes post their work online, but many projects are confidential so take a look at the industries they work within. Ask yourself these questions: Are their clients reputable? Have they worked on similar projects to yours in the past? Can you request to see a demo?

eLearning content creation is an unregulated industry. Anyone can access authoring software and declare themselves an expert developer. Be wary. Make sure you do this basic due diligence to ensure the candidate agency is credible.

Project Management Processes

An eLearning company’s approach toward project management and communication is integral when deciding if they’re the right partner. It’s worth asking: Will there be a single point of contact and are they likely to remain the same throughout? Are they able to ramp up resources if necessary? What is their quality checking processes? How many rounds of feedback are factored in? Do they prioritise after-sales care and technical support?

The best partners will be able to adapt and tailor their approach project-by-project and flex their processes to suit the individual client.

Learning Platform Capability

Once your content is developed, you’ll need a system to host the eLearning (i.e. a Learning Platform). If you do not have your own, you’ll need to find the right platform for you. Some of the best eLearning companies will have everything you need in one place. GuyKat is proud partners of Docebo, which means alongside our eLearning expertise we can help with implementation, outsourced administration and design, User Experience and User Interface. We also have an internal software team that can build whole new functionality from scratch. To think through the long term ambition for your content strategy, and check if your current platform is a good fit for that ambition, use our Capability Maturity Model.

Final Thoughts

A long-lasting relationship with the right eLearning partner will be the most efficient and effective way to deliver engaging content. At GuyKat, all of our partnerships go beyond providing outsourcing support. Alongside the above criteria, the right eLearning partner will truly care about your goals and learning needs.