Identity Crisis
October 22, 2008
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been pushing hard to get a new eLearning development team established within my recently-reorganized training department. Inexplicably, nothing was included in the new structure to specifically address eLearning development. In 2008. The 21st century. Yes, truly baffling.
Bygones.
The miles of red tape have nearly been traveled, and we’re on the cusp of becoming “official” again. But…what do we call ourselves?
The group (of which I was not a part) responsible for eLearning development under the previous organizational structure had one of those clumsy titles created only because it formed a catchy acronym (because it’s all about a catchy acronym, you know - ah, the joys of government thinking). It might make sense to retain that title, if not for the fact that the previous group was known for a lot of talk, but little action. A “Think Tank,” as my current director likes to derisively refer to them. They served mainly as liaisons to shamelessly overpriced vendors, who did most of the actual work. The other training folks were understandably suspicious (and resentful) of this mysterious group and the vaporous services they provided. I’m not saying they didn’t do anything, only that the others perceived them that way.
The new vision is to do a lot of that work ourselves, only relying on vendors to provide specialized services that we may not have the in-house expertise (or equipment) to provide. And because it is a new group, with a new vision and a new mandate, why carry the baggage of the old group? Why be saddled with their lousy reputation right out of the gate? I say it’s time for a fresh start! A rebirth. A new identity.
But what to call ourselves?
If you work in a corporate training shop, I’d love to hear what your eLearning development group is called. Your suggestions would be appreciated. Feel free to share in the comments section.
And if your organization’s name is as pointless as our previous one, well, we’ll just laugh about it together.
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I'm an eLearning developer and presentation designer looking for (and striving to create) eLearning and presentations that delight as well as educate and inform. Please join me.
October 22nd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Hey-o.
Well, in my first career position - the one in which I became an Instructional Designer by happenstance - my team was called Live Development. A clarification is in order: It was a company that developed courses not for internal purposes, but for OTS sale to corporations and individuals. They also did custom work for clients. But I was part of Live Development, which was part of the larger Product Development organization.
In my current capacity, I’m part of a group call “End User Training”. That’s pretty much exactly what we do. It’s a basic, uninteresting name, but it’s what we do.
As far as suggestions go, here are a few improvs that don’t use the typical terms:
Performance Enablement Team (PET)
Workforce Improvement (WI)
Workforce Development (WD)
Personnel Capability (PC)
Personnel Capability Team (PCT)
What have been the names of the teams you have been on?
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:30 am
I am seriously considering giving up a “serious” title and considering going for something like:
Learning Architect
Grand Learning Architect
Learning Astronaut
Learning Gardner
elearning janitor
/trondk
October 23rd, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Well, I don’t think your bank account would prefer that you chose “elearning janitor”.
I identify with the sentiment though.
This topic hits upon a similar theme to choosing the words that define the industry. One word has become a real annoyance for me: Training. Just say it once and listen to it. Training. It’s used so loosely, so frivolously, so often. Is there a word we can move to so it’s away from this one? So few others are good candidates.
October 23rd, 2008 at 6:59 pm
In my organization, we used to be called Training. Now we’re called Learning & Education. How’s that for the Department of Redundancy Department?
October 24th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
In our company our little team, which maintains websites some websites and an LMS as well as creating elearning is called the Learning Technologies Team. As a result we’re usually regarded as techhies and trainers or training managers are sometimes a big sniffy when we try to advise them about learning as opposed to how to put their 48-page workbook on the web.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Hey Norman, I’m glad you commented as I’ve been thinking about the name Learning Technology (or Technologies) for our team as well.
October 29th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Do you guys think that the inaccurate naming of your departments is a result of years of the company knowing your group by that name? How often do training departments alter their name anyhow? I honestly have not been part of determining by group’s name at any point in the past.
November 7th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I’m liking Learning Technologies the best, but the Powers That Be don’t like it because it doesn’t create a catchy acronym. Sigh. I guess we’ll end up with something long and convoluted and nonsensical just to get a decent acronym out of it.
Good acronym > logic. Apparently.
November 12th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
How about Learning Technology Solutions - which would get you LTS for the acronym fans.
We work with many groups, whose department names vary widely. Some common variations are Training & Development, Learning & Development (for these, development of ones knowledge and skills, not programming like development), Technology Delivered Learning, eLearning Solutions, and similar.