Real projects involve learners creating something tangible and relevant to their actual job—such as a report, a configuration, a presentation, or a campaign—while applying the concepts taught in a course or training. Instead of passively consuming content, learners actively build something that contributes to their real work, making the learning meaningful and integrated.
This technique builds competence and confidence. By aligning training with real outcomes, learners experience immediate relevance and practical application. It also creates intrinsic motivation—people care more when they’re working on something that matters to them or their team. Plus, learners retain knowledge better when they apply it in context.
Real projects are especially useful in complex onboarding, strategic enablement, and role-specific education. Think: setting up a partner portal, drafting a go-to-market plan, configuring a software integration, or creating a customer success workflow. These aren’t exercises—they’re real deliverables that benefit the business.
For user onboarding, real projects might mean configuring their account for launch, uploading and tagging their first assets, or completing a setup flow using their own data. Instead of sandbox demos, the user walks away with something ready to go live—accelerating time to value.
In customer education, real projects can help users build out full workflows, campaigns, or dashboards using your platform. For example, a marketing customer might complete a live email automation or A/B test using their data. The outcome isn’t a quiz score—it’s a campaign that drives ROI.
For partners, you might have them set up a co-branded landing page, submit a joint proposal, or simulate onboarding a customer through your process. These projects reinforce your product’s value chain while preparing the partner to operate independently.
Sales reps might build and deliver a real account plan, prospecting sequence, or sales pitch for an active opportunity. Rather than role-play in a vacuum, they refine assets they’ll actually use—leading to both learning and pipeline progress.
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