Getting Good Directions

Who hasn’t had to stop what they were doing and ask for directions?

I am not talking about getting lost in your car in the age of GPS mapping, I mean get clarification on how to do something?

And good directions are good enough.

We don’t really need great directions.

We just need enough to piece the gaps together – even if only with tape.

Good directions have a format that differentiates it from bad or extremely poor directions.

First off, it is clear. Immediately you grasp the meaning or action.  

In the same matter, good directions are short, concise, visual, consistent in pace, and simple.

Long, detailed, complex directions are a sure recipe for failure.

Directions void of diagrams, a reference picture, or an image of the final product comparison would be like tackling a jigsaw puzzle without knowing the whole picture.

As are only visual directions without a few, brief words. Those who say a picture is worth a thousand words, never had to put together a desk, bed, or cabinet together from only pictures. The words wrong way and right way help greatly in the overall construction of the object. It also helps cut down the number of leftover parts.

Good directions are accessible to all. And created by credible experts who are known in their fields. But their expertise is not creating a course or video - it's the doing whatever the topic is by showing you how they do it. The media format is secondary.

Why are Google and YouTube popular for “How To’s” and DIY?

You can find plenty of experts giving clear, concise information in easy to follow steps on almost any subject you are searching for and even more topics you never imagined. The experience is great - but how they explain it, show it, share it, often is not professional video quality. It's a shakey okay and good enough at best.

My point is, good is not great in terms of expert sharing of directions, insights, or stories.

And you most often don’t need great in those circumstances

However, in terms of direction based courses –

Is good, really, good enough?

Why does this matter to me?

I find it difficult to explain why it costs so much money to create a course from scratch to new clients, small business leaders, or individuals who want to offer a course on one of the many platforms where you can sell courses.

They often tell me, people, only need just good enough quality for their directions in the course. That quality in the instructions or courses doesn't matter because they will offer to add on extras like personal coaching. Yet they expect to charge hundreds or thousands of dollars for the courses.

I try to explain the value of expertise in design of a course for real value to showcase the expertise in the directions or instructions being shared. That each of us is an expert to help each other with the customer - the learner and person using the materials.

It's often tough to convince an expert on how to best share information. It's harder to convince the individual who expects to spend virtually nothing to become famous and rich with their course on knitting coats for dogs. But it does make sense to small businesses and training department managers.

Learning teams see the need and budget around that need. They have the expert who sees the tiresome repeating of directions or writing out instructions as crazy and welcome an expert to create a better way to frame it. And it is simple to understand why.

Clear work instructions are different from directions to the corner store.

Sure, there is a beginning, middle, and end. But in work directions, each of those spaces has complex context next to those five favorite questions- when, where, what, how, and why.

Technical – yes.

Necessary?

Yes, especially important to a Standard Operating Practices format for teaching skills or sharing a proven, repeatable method.

Today many popular influencers suggest their clever “secret sauce” formula to creating a course instantly for a minimal investment of time, money, and commitment.

And that might be good enough for directions on how to hold a car wash where details don't matter as much and overall instructions can be generalized.

They offer okay directions presenting a good enough course structure. But is a good enough course worth hundreds or thousands of dollars?

I don't think so. Yet, marketing can convince people to pay too much for a poorly made course on topics that are far more complex with skipped over details and key steps missing.

Deception? Wrong?

To me, yes.

Because you don’t get what you expected for the amount you paid for – really.

As a novice, you may not be experienced enough to know good from great in courses or in directions. Once you get the hang of what goes into creating a great course, then you know the effort and work that goes into just okay directions from what is genuinely a great course.

Too often, we expect those offering to teach us to be an expert in a specific topic area or well versed in specific professional fieldwork with another expert to develop the directions or course. However, often the expert doesn't delegate or look for another expert to create the course - they instead, offer their way to create the course on their expertise. Thus, the subject matter expert becomes the course developer too.

Yet, just because you are an expert in map-making does not necessarily transfer over to be the best expert of course creation. How to write a technical task-related step by step instructions is vastly different from creating good enough directions.

Often the task analysis is researched, measured, and verified as the best and safest method. Like a recipe, tested for the ease and speed of each step, course development from directions carefully mixes the method with best practices while keeping engagement of those following the process of the steps to learn a given skill.

On the dangerous side, nine out of ten reported serious workplace accidents to occur from human error related to unclear or forgotten directions created by non-professional course creators. Yet, seven out of ten Standard Operating Procedures courses created by professional training and instructional designers, save countless billions by avoiding accidents and costly work-related mistakes.

Anyone can give directions, but whom should you trust to create your courses?

I think someone who is an expert in creating courses. Hire a learning experience coach and a mentor who has the expertise, experience, and knowledge to make that okay course idea into a great course or set of directions. Let the subject matter expert focus on their knowledge and find an expert in creating instructions and courses. Make learning fun and addictive for those who want to pay for a course.

Good enough may work for directions to a store or make a recipe.

But a professionally developed and designed instructions will always be worth the investment of time, effort, and cost as the reputation as an expert does matter to those buying or taking your courses. Don't just give directions or follow a "special sauce" formula from someone selling you a course on how to build a course whose expertise is marketing. Better to hire an expert in course design who won't settle for okay or good enough for your course.

I am Meg Verre, a professional learning experience strategist -

In other words, I help make courses fun, learning addictive, and offer expertise to design information into creative directions or instructional guides. I help authors, coaches, teachers, professors, online instructors, businesses, training managers, L&D teams, HR teams, sales managers, and many, many more.

If you have ever wanted to create a course, I coach people on how to turn their expertise, knowledge, passions, and skills into profitable, creative courses that people really want to take. Please contact me at [email protected] for a free 30-minute course call.