A silly grin spread across my face during the team leaders' meeting at CET when the annual work plan was presented. The slide showed our assigned project. It had a technically uninspiring name and its components were vague. Yet I smiled. The thought of a project we could build from scratch and lead together filled me with joy. It was as if the talented team I had been leading for a year had finally found its purpose.
During the following six months, we all worked incredibly hard to create something from nothing. We had to characterize, refine, and develop both macro and micro aspects of a new initiative in partnership with the Ministry of Education - a professional development campus for elementary school teachers. We even gave it a new name - The Hive.
Only after it successfully launched in December 2020 with much excitement, could we pause for a moment to reflect on the journey we had taken as a team.
In our post-launch reflection session, we explored what made The Hive project successful. The achievement wasn't just in delivering a final product – it lay in the meaningful professional and personal journey we all shared. The diverse perspectives from our learning developers, along with my own ongoing observations, reminded me of principles from an unexpected source: Malcolm Knowles' educational theory of Andragogy, developed at Boston University in the
1970s.
While pedagogy focuses on teaching children, andragogy addresses adult learning through principles like engagement, belonging, and leveraging past experience. As I revisited Knowles' principles, I realized their potential beyond just education. Every learning development process naturally includes the developer's own growth – whether through exploring new knowledge domains or adopting best practices. In fact, andragogy's principles could serve as a framework for how we work as learning developers, as I discovered with The Hive team.
Principle One: Leveraging Prior Experience
Our first brainstorming meeting took place in a conference room as we began the development process. We had limited information about the new project - just basic parameters about objectives, target audience, and the learning approach, which would be personalized, online, and self-paced. But this was enough. Soon, diagrams and tables appeared on the whiteboard, accompanied by questions. Many questions. Plus numerous ideas, some more relevant than others, that got everyone thinking. Gradually, each team member contributed to the discussion, helping define the project's framework. The diverse professional experience each person brought to the table created rich, multifaceted thinking that helped shape our path forward. When we looked back at that first meeting after The Hive launched, we were delighted to discover that our initial planning had materialized almost entirely - a testament to the precision and professionalism invested.
Each team member's prior experience also directly influenced the micro-development stages. Throughout the process, we leveraged diverse strengths acquired from various backgrounds: from production and design software expertise to knowledge of Moodle tools and coding skills.
Principle Two: Autonomy and Transparency
The next phase involved distributing work among content developers. We used a shared, transparent file where team members could select content areas based on their experience and interests. The file remained accessible, showing individual tasks against team progress. Workloads and task distribution were visible to everyone.
Each person owned their assigned courses while maintaining the flexibility to manage their workflow within deadlines. We understood that autonomy didn't mean working in isolation - everyone knew they could ask for help, and there would always be volunteers ready to assist.
Principle Three: Active Engagement
Every update and change was immediately shared among team members - from schedule changes and budget adjustments to client requirements and logo selection options from the designer. This kept everyone connected to the project and its evolution. We were all responsible for decisions, accountable for outcomes, and full partners in both success and failure.
Principle Four: Problem-Solving Orientation
We regularly met to discuss emerging challenges during development. We examined where our initial vision met reality and how to bridge any gaps. When needed, we formed smaller task forces to help manage workloads. For example, producing a marketing animation video required scriptwriting and animator supervision. These smaller teams operated with the same principles of sharing, transparency, and choice, while keeping the larger team informed of progress.
Beyond these principles, we maintained team cohesion through simple practices:
- Celebrating small victories
- Maintaining a relaxed atmosphere in meetings and daily work, with plenty of humor and empathy
- Tackling tedious tasks together in shared spaces, with background music, snacks, and friendly competition
As a result, both the team and I as manager felt supported. We had a safety net of dedicated, caring people ready to help with complex situations and challenges. This sense of empowerment radiated outward - new developers joining the project brought high motivation and eagerness to contribute, ultimately helping establish the project as the Ministry of Education's flagship initiative.
Like andragogy, where learner relevance is a core principle, our team felt deep ownership in the development process. Though I've moved on from CET, I fondly remember The Hive's development period and the dear team members I managed. Learning developers who skillfully created a growing learning campus from scratch. The joy of creation, thought processes, and mutual enrichment we experienced will guide me in all my future endeavors.
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