What's the Most Effective Instructor Guide Layout

Take a moment to google "example instructor guides." Long behold, you find hundreds of different styles. Each one delivering the information with a different method. A new instructional designer can find it overwhelming without the guidance from an experienced instructional designer. 

Every designer has a preferred style but you have to use the one that's best for your organization. In this article, I will discuss my favorite layout and why I use it. It would take forever to write about each format. Let's start with this one. 

I can not share my exact layout with you. While it is similar to other guides out there, I feel I have perfected it to make things easier for my instructors. 

Here is an example I will refer to: http://www.ddiworld.com/DDI/media/facilitator-exchange/SampleFacilitatorGuidePages.pdf

Why do I like it? Here are a few reasons:

1. It accommodates instructors at all levels. Whether someone is a pro or a novice, he/she can use the guide as little or as much as desired. It provides the necessary information for a new instructor and the layout makes it easier to see the main point if a facilitator is an expert on the topic. 
2. It only includes several icons. I have worked with some designers who have 10-15 different icons in their guides. There is no way a facultative can remember that many icons and what each one means. I personally use five icons and I also add shading to some sections to differentiate instructions from class content. 
3. It lists a suggested time for each section. It is so simple but so helpful. It's easy for a class to get off schedule from discussions and side conversations. Incorporating the allotted time for each section helps the facilitator effectively manage the time. I personally take a timer into all my classes to ensure I don't run late in my class. I only have a few hours to train. I use time wisely. 
4. Everything is documented. Some guides will only have a PowerPoint slide with text. It is up the instructor to make decisions on how to expand on it. This method clearly establishes the actions to be performed by the instructor and the content to deliver. This ensures that all facilitators cover the same information and the class material is consistent. 

I could go on and on about this topic. It is hard to do since I write these posts on my iPhone. For now, I'll stop here. 

Just remember the instructor guide is a tool. A powerful one at that. Do not underestimate the value it can bring to a training.