Wrap-up call with Gus Donelson (Agility Recovery) and Isalia Ramirez (Asymmetric) to finalize the SOAR course guide redesign and align on the next project. Two major decisions were made: the participant guide will be redesigned as a hybrid participant/facilitator document with embedded answers, and the upcoming tool training modules will use RISE with video rather than Storyline.
Attendees:
- Mark Hope — Asymmetric (not present on call, referenced)
- Gus Donelson — Agility Recovery (client)
- Isalia Ramirez — Asymmetric
The original two-guide structure (separate participant and facilitator guides) was deemed inefficient for ad-hoc facilitation by non-experts. The new approach collapses this into a single hybrid document.
What changes:
- The participant guide retains its current visual layout (for consistency with the course)
- "Critical points" sections are replaced with facilitator notes and embedded answers to discussion questions
- The document is designed so that anyone — including someone like "Shefke" who has never taken the e-learning — can pick it up and run a session
Rationale (from Gus):
"Shefke's never going to take those e-learnings. He may or may not know the answers. So I want to hand him the answer so he actually does what I want him to do... I would just send him, here's the participant guide. You're going to cover lesson two and three today. That's it."
The hybrid guide eliminates the need for a substitute facilitator to study the full facilitator guide or complete the e-learning content before leading a session.
The team had previously considered Storyline for the upcoming tool training modules (Sales Loft, Salesforce). This was walked back in favor of RISE + video.
Rationale:
- Storyline requires significant expertise to reach the level of interactivity Gus envisioned; without that, the output wouldn't be impactful enough to justify the time investment
- Storyline content is difficult and time-consuming to modify after the fact
- RISE + video is faster to produce, easier to maintain, and sufficient for the tool training use case
Gus's framing:
"It takes a lot of experience to get it to the level of functionality that in my brain I was thinking. And so if it's not to that level, it's not going to be as impactful. So going to a video will be fair at that point."
Isalia will consult with Mark on the specifics of the RISE + video approach before finalizing the plan.
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| SOAR participant guide (hybrid) | Draft complete; final checks in progress; to be shared with Gus EOD 2026-04-05 |
| SOAR facilitator guide | Complete |
| Co-pilot project | In progress; delayed due to illness; priority before new project starts |
| Recovery Manager course (latest version) | Confirmed live — remediation section removed, correct version uploaded to LMS |
| Tool training modules (RISE + video) | Not started; content outlines exist; pending tool access and project kickoff |
Course Launch Note: The SOAR course launches Monday 2026-04-07 with the Chief Product Officer as the first participant. Guide completion is time-sensitive.
Gus explicitly asked to finish current work (guides, co-pilot) before beginning the tool training project. Rationale: avoid context-switching and ensure a clean transition.
Tool access will be requested early the following week. Gus may invite a third party (possibly Abby) to the next Friday call once the new project is ready to kick off.
On the hybrid guide concept:
Gus: "You've got to cover this meeting today, Shefke. This is what you're going to ask them questions on... I'll hand that to him and say, here's the answers. This is what they did before. This is what they prepped. Here are the answers and what you're going to ask them questions to. Because he'll get lost in this."
Isalia: "That's helpful then to make it kind of like a hybrid participant facilitator guide answer key."
On Storyline vs. RISE:
Gus: "It is really, really cool what you can do with it, but it's very time-consuming. That's why when we make it, I'm like, nothing can ever change in this because it's so problematic to change it down the road."
Isalia: "What I'm hearing is that we should probably go the RISE module way with incorporating videos, recordings, try to make it as interactive as possible."
Gus: "I'm okay with that."