Training development takes a long time and can involve a lot of people. This is an area where most projects underestimate the amount of time and effort involved. At a high level, the standard training development process looks like this:
This process looks deceptively simple. After all, it's only eight steps. How long can it take? I typically advise projects to use the following development-to-delivery ratios when planning how long it will take to develop a training course:
Fully interactive e-Learning: Plan on 200 hours of development time for each hour of finished training. Yes, that is five full weeks. I know that right now you're thinking I'm completely off the mark and you're already mentally cutting that number to about 20 hours. Don't. That number is accurate.
Semi-interactive e-Learning: Plan on 100 hours of development time for each hour of finished training.
Instructor-led classroom training: Plan on 40 hours of development time for each hour of...
