Overview

The Business Problem

The technical account management leadership team noticed that several Solution Owners responsible for overseeing and maintaining progressive workflows and data measurements struggled to identify workflow problems and improvement opportunities. They had difficulty diagnosing issues, accurately representing problems, generating actionable plans, and adjusting them as leverage points and cues changed. Additionally, they did not thoroughly evaluate the short-term and long-term effects of any workflow revisions, builds, or deprecations.

The Solution Owners struggled to investigate the issues causing workflow delays or failures thoroughly. Instead of identifying the root causes, they often settled for the first plausible response that came to mind, quickly implementing a fix and moving on. Unfortunately, this approach led clients to return weeks or months later with complaints about broken workflows and, even more concerning, lost revenue.

The Business Goal

To enhance the health and performance of our premier clients’ accounts and workflows, we aim to improve client satisfaction scores and reduce the number of tickets and escalations by 30% by the end of Q4 2025. This goal will be achieved as Solution Owners implement the new role protocols and apply the insights model to improve performance.

The Solution

A three-part training program was developed using Cognitive Task Analysis to identify issues, barriers, skills, and best practices. The program includes the following components:

  1. Soft Skills Training – Participants engage in soft skills training that incorporates metacognition—thinking about their thinking—within the context of their daily tasks as Solution Owners (SOs).
  2. Research Methodology Practice – Trainees learn to use research methods to effectively investigate client accounts.
  3. Feedback Utilization – They are taught to use feedback to rapidly gain expertise.

Additionally, participants practice using a workflow optimization checklist for auditing and improving workflows. Finally, they dedicate time to developing best practices for monitoring and maintaining client accounts, including strategies for transitioning from reactive to proactive modes of operation.

Project

A three-course sequence delivered over a defined three-week period.

Client

Technical Account Team Leads at LiveRamp.

What We Did

Using a modified ADDIE model, we developed a vILT training program. The trainer and the course designer were the same individual.

Click here to View Project

The Analysis and Discovery Process

I started with one central question: How do successful technical service professionals think, and what do they achieve in this role?

I interviewed seven TAMs nominated by leadership. They were great storytellers, knew their clients and our products well, openly shared mistakes, had balanced confidence, and knew when to use workarounds to achieve their goals. I transcribed and coded over 23 hours of interview data . During my data analysis, I conducted an extensive literature review on macrocognition, Positive psychology, workplace decision-making, intuition, and gaining insights.

I used Miro to organize the data and develop the curriculum.

The Design Process

Learning Experience Design

The training was divided into three courses, each lasting no more than 90 minutes. A key aspect of the design was to ensure that learners gained practical insights from the content and could immediately apply the key takeaways in their evolving roles as solution owners. Active learning was central to this training. Participants were encouraged to engage both individually and in groups. A Miro board was created for the participants to utilize during the training, allowing them to share their in-class work with classmates. The training concluded with a significant role-playing activity, where participants practiced handling a difficult conversation with an abusive client.

Pre-Mortem and Revision

Before launching the training program, my team and I conducted a pre-mortem to ensure that we were (a) effectively addressing the problem and the needs of learners requiring upskilling, and (b) providing value to the Technical Services Division of Customer Experience.

 

The Pre-Mortem Method for Risk Analysis

We set aside one hour for the team to engage in this exercise. We began by envisioning the following scenario: The training has been a complete failure in six months! Each team member was asked to consider what went wrong. They were encouraged to look into a “crystal ball” and reflect on how the training failed our learners.

 

To facilitate this discussion, we gave everyone 2 minutes to explain the training’s failure. Then, the leader shared one reason, after which each team member provided one response before returning to the leader for another reason. To ensure everyone had a voice, no one could dominate the conversation by sharing more than one reason at a time.

 

After sharing all responses, we asked the team to generate potential remedies. We allocated another 2 minutes for this brainstorming session. Once the time was up, each team member shared one remedy at a time until all ideas were collected and discussed.

The benefits of this review session are substantial. It fosters a culture of trust and candor within the instructional design team, allows members to identify potential problems in the plan, and helps mitigate overconfidence regarding the project.

Final Products

Course One: Elevate Your Solution Owner Skills Part One

To review this course, click the play button to listen to a podcast recording generated using Google Notebook LM. As you listen to the podcast, click through the slide deck to see how the presentation flowed. Please note that the podcast skips over the interactive sessions.

In this first episode of The Deep Dive, you’ll learn about the cognitive skills and abilities Solution Owners use in their role. You’ll also learn about the four phases of the account process and how to use the ValueSelling Framework as a research methodology to research your client’s account history and its business and personal value.

Course Two: Elevate Your Solution Owner Skills Part Two

To review this course, click the play button to listen to a podcast recording generated using Google Notebook LM. As you listen to the podcast, click through the slide deck to see how the presentation flowed. Please note that the podcast skips over the interactive sessions.

In this second episode of The Deep Dive, you’ll learn about the audit and optimization process and how to use the checklist when completing this work effectively. We will also go back to these cognitive skills and see how interconnected these skills are in the phase of account ownership.

 

Course Three: Elevate Your Solution Owner Skills Part Three

Course three focused on understanding insights and the three pathways to gaining key insights into technical workflows and customer experiences. The session began with a video to spark conversation and engagement, so please click on the video to enjoy it. This course was more hands-on, utilizing Miro for participants to collaborate in groups. The session concluded with a large role-playing scenario that involved having a difficult conversation with an abusive client.

In this third course, you will explore three key pathways—Coincidences and Contradictions, Connections, and Creative Desperation—to gain valuable insights into client interactions. You will also evaluate your work practices, focusing on monitoring and optimizing your clients’ workflows to identify improvement opportunities.

You will also outline future skills and tools for enhancing effectiveness in your role, such as software solutions and better communication strategies. Additionally, you’ll examine the Whirlpool of Reactivity, understanding its triggers and learning strategies to maintain composure in difficult situations.

To reinforce these concepts, you will engage in a role-play activity simulating a challenging client conversation. This will equip you with the skills to navigate such interactions effectively and foster more constructive relationships with your clients.

What I learned

Knowledge

I gained significant knowledge in macrocognition and cognitive task analysis. Additionally, I explored the concepts of insights and intuition, which are essential for professionals in critical roles such as nursing, firefighting, policing, and engineering. I plan to apply this newfound knowledge to my upcoming projects at the company and beyond.

Furthermore, I learned a great deal about the complexities of the technical solution owner role and the services they provide to our clients. This understanding will allow me to develop future training and professional development opportunities that will support our business.

Skills

I am continually refining my interviewing and qualitative research skills. I am improving my ability to identify critical questions and lead up to them in a way that elicits the responses I need. This project also enhanced my skills in After Effects and video editing. I collaborated with a colleague who created the AI-generated video images that served as the primary source of video footage.