I have had the unique opportunity to serve in all the different roles involved with freelance instructional designers. First, as a corporate employee working as an Instructional Designer, I got to see the occasional freelancer jump in on a project when we had too much to get done. Next, as a Performance Development Manager tasked with oversight of Instructional Design, I often hired and managed both instructional design consultants and L&D vendors. In the next career phase, I was the instructional design consultant working on projects at a variety of corporations. The next career jump had me finding opportunities for instructional design consultants with corporate clients and making sure all parties were happy with the result. While my perspective was different in each of these roles, one thing was a constant: Instructional Design Consultants bring a variety of benefits to speed productivity and enhance learning programs. Here are 5 compelling reasons to consider adding an instructional design consultant the next time you have too many projects and not enough people:
1. Expertise and Specialization
Freelance consultants are often seasoned experts with specialized skills in instructional design. These consultants are constantly learning and adding new skill sets to ensure they remain at the forefront of the industry. They stay abreast of the latest trends, technologies, and methodologies in Learning and Development (L&D). Keeping up with these advancements is integral to their professional success and marketability. Essentially, they are paid to be perpetual learners, honing their craft to provide the most innovative and effective solutions.
By bringing this deep expertise to your team, an instructional design consultant can significantly enhance your organization’s capabilities. Your full-time employees benefit from exposure to cutting-edge practices and fresh perspectives that might otherwise be unavailable internally. This collaborative environment fosters professional growth, encouraging your in-house team to adopt new techniques and improve their own skills. This not only enhances the immediate project outcomes but also builds long-term competency within your organization. Ultimately, the presence of an instructional design consultant acts as a catalyst for continuous improvement and innovation, ensuring your L&D initiatives remain dynamic and competitive.
2. Scalability and Flexibility
One of the primary advantages of working with an instructional design consultant is scalability. Most Learning and Development (L&D) departments are staffed to handle the baseline level of projects, ensuring everyday operations run smoothly. However, when unexpected projects arise, or even when anticipated projects demand more resources than your team can handle without compromising other responsibilities, instructional design consultants offer an ideal solution. They can quickly and seamlessly integrate into your team to handle aspects of additional projects, providing the extra capacity needed to maintain productivity across all initiatives. Once the project is complete, the consultant transitions out without any disruption, allowing you to return to your standard operating levels without the complications or costs associated with hiring and potentially laying off full-time staff. In fact, consultants often prefer moving on to new assignments, bringing their expertise to a variety of projects and organizations.
The second advantage is flexibility. Instructional design consultants can adapt their schedules based on your project needs and the availability of content and subject matter experts (SMEs). Whether you need someone to work intensively for a short period or spread their efforts over a longer timeframe with intermittent stops, a consultant can accommodate these requirements. This flexibility is particularly beneficial in L&D, where projects often experience starts and stops due to various dependencies and logistical challenges. By engaging a consultant who can flexibly adjust their hours and availability, you ensure continuity and momentum in your projects, reducing downtime and maintaining progress even through unforeseen delays.
The combination of scalability and flexibility that an instructional design consultant offers ensures that your L&D department can respond dynamically to varying workloads and project demands. This strategic advantage allows you to optimize resources, maintain efficiency, and achieve your organizational goals with greater agility and effectiveness.
3. Cost-Effectiveness
Hiring a full-time employee involves costs beyond salary, including benefits, training, and overhead. These additional expenses can significantly increase the overall cost of employment, impacting your budget. Benefits such as health insurance, retirement contributions, paid time off, and other perks can add up quickly. Additionally, there are onboarding and training costs to ensure new employees are fully integrated into your company and familiar with its processes and tools. Overhead costs, including workspace, equipment, and administrative support, further compound these expenses.
With a consultant, you can bypass many of these costs. Consultants come ready to contribute from day one, with their training and expertise already in place. You only pay for the specific services you need, precisely when you need them, allowing for a more flexible and targeted allocation of your budget. The absence of long-term financial commitments with consultants provides significant cost savings. You are not obligated to provide benefits, ongoing training, or career development support, which can be substantial investments for full-time employees. Instead, you can direct these savings towards strategic initiatives, technology upgrades, or other areas that drive business growth and innovation.
Another cost-effective aspect of hiring a consultant is the reduction in recruitment and hiring expenses. The process of advertising, interviewing, and onboarding new employees is time-consuming and costly. By letting TrainingPros take on these costs for you, you eliminate these steps, streamlining the process and focusing on immediate project needs.
In essence, the cost-effective nature of hiring an instructional design consultant allows your organization to manage its financial resources more strategically.
4. Access to a Broader Network
If you hire your instructional design consultants through a nation-wide specialized company such as TrainingPros, you have access network of 15,000 professionals, including graphic designers, e-learning developers, project managers, or any other skill required on the project. This network will allow you to contract specialists for your project, ensuring that every aspect of your instructional design needs is met with the highest level of expertise. When you work with a company like TrainingPros, you’re not just gaining one individual’s expertise but tapping into a collective pool of knowledge and skills.
In addition, leveraging this network can lead to faster project turnaround times. When specific expertise is needed, we can quickly bring in the right resources without the delays associated with recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new employees. Or worse, trying to train the skill needed in house. This agility ensures that your projects proceed smoothly and are completed on schedule, even when they involve multifaceted elements that require collaboration from various experts.
5. Tailored Solutions
Every organization is unique, and so are its learning and development needs. While off-the-shelf solutions might seem less expensive initially, they often come with ongoing costs and limitations that can add up over time. These generic solutions are not customized to fit your specific corporate culture, goals, and challenges, potentially resulting in lower engagement and effectiveness.
By partnering with an instructional design consultant from a company like TrainingPros, you receive content that is fully customized to reflect your organization’s unique environment and objectives. This tailored approach ensures that the training materials resonate with your employees, fostering greater engagement and more impactful learning outcomes.
One of the key benefits of working with a consultant is that your company owns the content and source files. This ownership translates into significant long-term cost savings. You are free from residual fees and ongoing payments typically associated with proprietary, off-the-shelf solutions. Additionally, you have the flexibility to update and modify the content as your business evolves, without incurring extra costs for maintenance or upgrades.
Conclusion
In conclusion, incorporating instructional design consultants into your L&D strategy provides your organization with specialized expertise, flexibility, cost savings, access to a broad network, and bespoke solutions. These advantages not only address immediate project needs but also contribute to the long-term success and sustainability of your learning programs. By leveraging the unique strengths of instructional design consultants, your organization can achieve greater agility, efficiency, and overall effectiveness in meeting its educational and training goals.
Does your learning and development department have more projects than people? TrainingPros has been named as a Top 20 Staffing Company internationally by Training Industry. Coupling this award with being voted as a top Custom Content Development company internationally by our consultants for four years in a row underscores TrainingPros’ unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality, tailored training solutions. If you need a single instructional designer or a team to take over a custom content development project, contact one of our industry-expert relationship managers today. When you have more projects than people, let us find the consultant to start your project with confidence.
