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 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:
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
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.
Based on the CPO's onboarding, the core curriculum includes:
Presentation skills and other elective topics are excluded from the foundational track.
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.
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.
Status: Isalia reviewing, editing, and integrating into the course.
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.
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.
Gus is also exploring a recurring education program for existing employees, distinct from new-hire onboarding. Key challenges:
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.
| Decision | Detail |
|---|---|
| Course condensed to 2 weeks | Driven by CPO feedback and actual 1-on-1 delivery model |
| Facilitator-led, not self-paced | Written materials support live sessions, not replace them |
| Co-Pilot recordings: screen only | No webcam overlay in final cuts |
| Blooper edit required | First recording contains profanity near the end |
| Abby meeting confirmed | To finalize sales tool outline content |