To expand on this, the shift from traditional, linear ID models (like the Waterfall approach often associated with a strict ADDIE implementation) to Agile is driven by several key factors:
🚀 Key Concepts and Benefits of Agile ID
-
Iterative and Incremental: Instead of delivering a complete course months later, Agile delivers small, working “chunks” of the solution (increments) in short, repeatable cycles (iterations). This allows the team to learn and adapt quickly.
-
Maximizing Customer Value: The continuous involvement of stakeholders and SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) ensures the development team is constantly focused on what provides the most value to the learner and the organization.
-
Rapid Feedback Loops: The practice of sharing preliminary elements and piloting partial solutions is crucial. This helps catch potential issues or misalignments with goals much earlier than in a traditional model, dramatically reducing the risk of late-stage failure.
-
Flexibility and Responsiveness: Agile allows T&D professionals to easily incorporate changes in content, technology, or business needs, making it highly effective for projects where requirements are not fully known upfront or are expected to evolve (a common scenario in digital learning).
-
Cross-Functional Teams: Agile promotes a team structure where all necessary skills—content design, media development, subject matter expertise, and quality assurance—work together closely and collaboratively throughout the project, instead of passing work sequentially from one department to the next.
💡 The Agile Manifesto in ID
While the original Agile Manifesto was for software development, its four core values are highly relevant to T&D:
-
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
-
Working instruction over comprehensive documentation.
-
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
-
Responding to change over following a plan.
-