Managing elearning
E-learning has long gotten rid of its cottage industry tag, with almost every organization embracing it, not as much as a training need for its employees as a proven business strategy. Championing for the cause in an attempt to pursue top management to imbibe e learning into the organizational folds has now become a thing of the past. What is needed instead is a better management of the e-learning initiative within a company. Considering that each organization has in place an e-learning initiative, the role of an e-learning manager has undergone a sea change. While earlier, this role invariably involved convincing people of the benefits of e-learning, it has now shifted to convincing the management of making changes to the existing elearning structure, following it through its implementation, and finally the assessment of the return on investment (ROI).

The role of an e-learning manager
Building and presenting a convincing business case for e-learning or a change in the existing structure of the initiative is the most challenging task that an elearning manager has to deal with. Once this is done to satisfaction, project sponsorship follows inevitably. Thus, the role of an e-learning manager goes well beyond gaining support for embedding e-learning into the organization and trying to prove the efficacy of the initiative in alignment with business goals. This shows that the elearning manager needs to have all the qualities of an e-learning project manager, and more. Being the e-learning manager, you need to ensure that elearning forms the crux of the most important business discussions in the organization, being mentioned in the same breath as e commerce. The role involves

• Gaining knowledge of the e-learning needs
• Building and presenting a business case
• Developing and championing a strategy
• Delegating tasks
• Defining roles
• Directing the team towards the goal

Gaining knowledge of the e-learning needs
An in-out awareness of the e-learning needs of an organization helps the manager put a finger on what exactly is amiss in the existing strategy or infrastructure. A clear understanding of a problem is the first step towards its solution. And this needs thorough knowledge of the present e-learning initiative of the company.

Building and presenting a business case
This needs a lot of homework to be done. Compiling and studying available data, designing case studies based on the experiences of organizations, and a robust assessment system that helps you gauge the efficacy of the program are some of the basic things required to build a strong business case. Apart from this, while presenting the business case, the manager needs to project the e-learning initiative not as a mere training program but as a successful, feasible and financially viable business strategy that will change the organizational structure for better.
Developing and championing a strategy
After having developed elearning as a viable business strategy, it needs to be campaigned for, not only in the top circles, but also among colleagues and peers. The manager should possess strong networking and interpersonal skills to drive home his point. Identifying potential supporters can give you the poise to further your campaign. Categorize people on the basis of

• Prospective learners
• People with similar interests and
• People who want changes in the current elearning structure

Being a champion means to have a positive persona that infects others with its enthusiasm and belief without getting bogged down by resistance. You must be able to pick up each denial and turn it into an opportunity of discussing the project. To assure people of tangible benefits of the e-learning initiative, keep the development time of such initiatives to a bare minimum, and focus on providing fast results. Once this is done, carry out real dialogues with hard-to-convince people, and emerge a winner.

Delegating tasks
The success of any manager lies in his ability to delegate tasks to his subordinates. Delegation is an art that involves being crystal clear of your expectations from others and letting them know the exact limits of their power to execute things. A good manager will always brief his minions on how to go about the task lest the project experiences glitches. Delegation of projects and tasks allows you to keep a track on the performance of assistants without interfering in their work, and providing positive guidance whenever needed.

Defining roles
Transparently defining roles is a sign of good people management abilities. And a manager needs to be particularly good at it. First, understand your team members and choose the right people for the right job. An elearning strategy needs to be executed by people with diametrically opposite roles and sometimes by people with overlapping responsibilities. A good manager tries to avoid confusion and collision of ideas by efficiently defining each role separately.

Directing the team towards the goal
The manager needs to guide and participate in the e-learning initiative at the same time. He cannot afford to lose sight of the whole picture while attending to the details of infrastructure, content development, learner needs and technical requirements.The manager needs to view his own strategy objectively and not desist from dismantling it to build anew or make changes according to the changing scenario. The glue that holds the team together, a manager acts as a medium of communication between people whose roles are interdependent.

Bottomline
An expert champion of the elearning cause, skilled at closing deals, and proficient in building alliances and coalitions with people who matter. An elearning manager needs to be all this and more. Your strategy will be paid heed to – both horizontally and vertically - if you have an experience of implementing such initiatives in your work life, and are able to prove some tangible benefits of the initiative through pilot projects.