Agility Recovery SOAR Course Structure

Overview

The SOAR onboarding course for Agility Recovery is being restructured from a 4-week intensive program to a condensed 2-week format to better reflect how training actually happens: in 1-on-1 or 2-on-1 sessions with a trainer, not in cohorts of 10–15 learners. The redesign was prompted by feedback from Agility Recovery's incoming CPO, who found the original format exhausting and overly reading-heavy.

This article captures the structural rationale, current state of deliverables, and the design principles guiding the revised program.

The Problem with the Original Structure

The original 4-week course was designed with a classroom cohort model in mind — roughly 10–15 new hires per month, working full-time through the material. In practice, that model never materialized. Training at Agility Recovery is delivered:

• 1-on-1 (trainer and one new hire)
• 2-on-1 (trainer and two new hires)
• A few hours per day, not full-time immersion

The new CPO's experience taking the foundational modules back-to-back surfaced the core issue directly: the course felt like "stupid reading" without the discussion, activities, and debrief that Gus provides in live sessions. The written materials weren't designed to stand alone — but the structure implied they should.

"If you want to spend two weeks with me, then you will take any learning, then we'll talk about it and do activities and discuss." — Gus Donelson

Revised Structure: 2-Week Format

The course is being condensed to approximately two weeks of part-time engagement — a few hours per day — with open space built in for the new hire to do other work in parallel.

Design Principles

• Trainer-led, not self-paced: The schedule assumes Gus (or another trainer) is present for discussion and activities, not that learners are reading independently.
• Lighter daily load: Avoid back-to-back module fatigue. Spread content across the two weeks with breathing room.
• Parallel workstreams: Where recordings or other assets are pending, module-building can proceed independently and be slotted in later.
• Modular for existing employees: Individual modules may be pulled for targeted use with existing staff who need reinforcement in a specific area, separate from the full new-hire program.

Foundational Modules (Current Scope)

Based on the CPO's onboarding, the core curriculum includes:

• Agility Recovery history
• Storytelling
• Vertical markets
• Products
• Co-Pilot (demo-based)

Presentation skills and other elective topics are excluded from the foundational track.

Deliverables in Progress

Participant & Facilitator Guides

Isalia drafted both guides with the 1-on-1/2-on-1 model in mind after an earlier conversation surfaced the mismatch with the original classroom framing. The facilitator guide was shared with Gus for review in the week of 2026-03-13.

Status: Gus reviewing; feedback expected early the following week.

Co-Pilot Demo Recordings

Gus recorded five Co-Pilot demo segments in Microsoft Teams. Access was initially blocked by per-file permission requests; resolved by granting Isalia full folder access.

• Recordings are scenario-based walkthroughs of Co-Pilot integration
• The first recording contains a profanity blooper near the end that needs to be edited out before use
• Gus prefers the final cuts to show screen only (no webcam/face-in-corner)

Status: Isalia reviewing, editing, and integrating into the course.

Sales Tool Outline

A separate but related deliverable. Gus left comments on Isalia's outline draft; a meeting with Abby (internal SME) is confirmed for the following week to finalize content. A sales rep with production experience and strong tech-stack knowledge has agreed to assist with recording.

Status: Isalia reviewing comments; Abby meeting scheduled; Gus nudging Abby to upload missing reference documents.

2-Week Agenda

A revised agenda reflecting the condensed schedule needs to be drafted before Gus's business review on the 20th. The agenda should illustrate the 1-on-1 flow, daily time commitment, and how modules sequence across two weeks.

Status: Isalia drafting; Gus to review before business review presentation.

Ongoing Education (Separate Track)

Gus is also exploring a recurring education program for existing employees, distinct from new-hire onboarding. Key challenges:

• Inconsistent demand: Two distinct employee groups with different skill development needs, effectively requiring two separate programs.
• Capacity: Building and maintaining a consistent cadence on top of existing workload is the primary blocker.
• No learning culture yet: Agility Recovery has never had a dedicated trainer. Employees default to reactive behaviors (requesting one-pagers, expecting training to solve non-training problems). Gus is working to shift this through coaching conversations and by encouraging self-directed resource use (e.g., SharePoint over local file downloads).

Vyond (an AI video tool) is under evaluation as a way to produce lightweight video content for this program without requiring full production resources. A sales call was scheduled for the Monday following this meeting.

See also: ^[1] for broader client context.

Key Decisions

Action Items

• [ ] Isalia — Edit Co-Pilot recordings (remove blooper from segment 1, remove webcam) and integrate into course
• [ ] Isalia — Review Gus's comments on the sales tool outline before Abby meeting
• [ ] Isalia — Draft revised 2-week 1-on-1 agenda; send to Gus before business review on the 20th
• [ ] Gus — Review Participant & Facilitator Guides
• [ ] Gus — Nudge Abby to upload missing documents to shared folder
• [ ] Gus — Attend Vyond sales call (scheduled Monday following 2026-03-13)

Related

• ^[1]
• ^[2]