wiki/knowledge/elearning/soar-course-guide-redesign.md · 608 words · 2026-04-05

SOAR Course Guide Redesign — Hybrid Participant/Facilitator Format

Overview

During the SOAR course wrap-up, the team identified a structural problem with the original two-guide approach (separate participant and facilitator guides) and redesigned the participant guide into a single hybrid document. The redesigned guide embeds answers and facilitator notes directly alongside participant-facing content, enabling non-expert facilitators to lead sessions without needing to study the full facilitator guide or complete the e-learning content.

This pattern is worth generalizing: when facilitation may be handed off to someone unfamiliar with the material on short notice, a hybrid guide reduces the risk of a poor session more effectively than maintaining two separate documents.

The Problem

The original structure assumed a dedicated, trained facilitator who had studied both the e-learning content and a separate facilitator guide. In practice, Agility Recovery's Gus Donelson needed to be able to hand off facilitation to a colleague ("Shefke") with little or no preparation time. That colleague:

Would not have taken the e-learning modules
Would not have time to study a full facilitator guide
Needed just enough context to run a specific session (e.g., "cover lessons two and three today")

Two separate documents created a gap: the participant guide lacked answers, and the facilitator guide was too dense for ad-hoc use.

The Solution: Hybrid Guide with Embedded Answers

The participant guide was redesigned to serve double duty. Key design decisions:

Retain the existing layout — visual consistency with the course materials is preserved so participants see a familiar format
Replace "critical points" sections with brief facilitator notes and expected answers
Embed answers directly in the discussion questions rather than in a separate section or document
Keep it concise — the goal is a document someone can pick up five minutes before a session and use effectively

"I just want the answers in case someone needs to do it for me... 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."
— Gus Donelson

The facilitator guide still exists for trained facilitators and contains deeper coaching prompts and activity guidance. The hybrid participant guide is the lightweight fallback for ad-hoc coverage.

Design Rationale

Concern	Decision
Non-expert facilitator needs to run a session	Embed answers in participant guide
Visual consistency with course	Retain existing layout
Avoid overwhelming ad-hoc facilitators	Keep facilitator notes brief; don't replicate full facilitator guide
Trained facilitators still need depth	Maintain separate facilitator guide for primary use

When to Apply This Pattern

Consider a hybrid guide format when:

Facilitation may be delegated to someone without deep subject matter expertise
Sessions are short enough that a single document can cover the necessary content
The client organization has variable facilitator availability (travel, illness, competing priorities)
Maintaining two documents creates a coordination burden without meaningful benefit

This approach trades some document cleanliness for operational resilience. It is most appropriate for internal training programs where the facilitator pool is small and informal handoffs are common.

Implementation Notes

The draft was completed and shared with the client for review at end of day on the meeting date
After copy approval, the document will be handed to designers to apply visual polish
The "critical points" label in the original template was the primary element replaced with facilitator-facing content

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