One of the most important elements behind a successful learning technology implementation is the people who make it happen. If you are assembling such a team, who should be on it?

My research on learning technology implementations over 15 years identified common characteristics of successful implementations. Slightly to my surprise, I found that all implementations seemed to hold to the same six steps:

1. Understand the issues.
2. Plan the implementation.
3. Build and test a pilot.
4. Implement.
5. Assess the effectiveness (and loop back to step 3 if necessary).
6. Sustain the implementation in the long term.

In contrast, unsuccessful implementations tended to start with step 2, jump over step 3 and often forget about step 6, meaning teams launched poorly justified, inadequately tested systems and trusted to chance that they would survive. (They seldom did).

The Three Key Roles on a Team

In contrast, successful implementations tackled all six steps and typically had a team made up of two parts: a small core of key roles and additional roles, which were added to the team as needed. Across a wide range of implementations, I found that the common core consisted of just three roles: the project leader, the project manager and the marketing/communications specialist.

One person may carry out more than one role; the leader often doubles as the project manager, for example, but not always. When The Hershey Company rolled out an LMS across 17 major plants world-wide, the project leader, Megan Garrett, recruited a project manager to her team, describing her as “absolutely essential for keeping the project on time and the team focused on deliverables.” This example highlights the difference between the role of the project leader, who sets strategy, and the project manager, who is in charge of delivering on that strategy.

The third role may seem odd. Isn’t marketing something you do after an implementation? Not with successful implementations. They start communications from the moment the project begins or, in some cases, before. When Megan thought it likely her LMS purchase would be green-lit, she immediately began communications with her training teams internationally. They were not only ambassadors for the system, but they were also likely to have concerns about their own professional futures. These concerns were unfounded, but Megan knew that communication was vital to keeping them not just on board with the project but enthusiastic about it. One of the most common reasons for implementation failures is inadequate communication and listening. That’s why the marketing/communications specialist is a core role.

While these three roles are essential at every step for all implementations, some need additional roles at every step. For example, a large LMS roll-out will almost certainly need at least one IT/technical specialist on the core team.

Adjunct Roles

In addition to these core roles, other specialists are called upon as needed. At the beginning of the implementation, performance consultants are essential to establish business need and relevant KPIs. Content creation specialists will almost certainly be involved in the middle. One often overlooked role is crucial at the beginning, at the launch and during the sustain step: the product owner. He or she plays a crucial role in connecting the implementation with the rest of the business and is responsible for budget and continuity post-implementation.

The addition of these adjunct roles can cause the team to become quite large. When Jeremy Smith was managing the implementation of an electronic performance support system (EPSS) to support the roll-out of a new customer relationship management system for Herman Miller, the implementation was so complex that it needed, at its peak, a team of 22. Such a large team requires explicit agreements that set out how the team will communicate with each other and what members will do when things break down. These agreements may sound bureaucratic, but an explicit focus on internal communication helps team members focus on it and, therefore, strengthens it.

Having the right team – both the core members and the specialists – is essential for an effective implementation. Build your team right and ensure they communicate well, and you will have taken a major step towards a successful learning technology implementation.