How to Start an L&D Function in a Small Organization
- Irina Ketkin
- 15 minutes ago
- 4 min read
You work in a small company, and everything is going great. Then one day, someone just says, “We should do some training!” and boom – you’re it! Sounds exciting, right? Also… a little terrifying? Especially since you are the one-person learning team (and still doing five other things on top of that).
In many small organizations, L&D doesn’t come with a job description, a budget, or a roadmap. It usually starts with someone suggesting “something for the employees,” and suddenly it’s your job to figure it all out. So, where do you begin?
Table of Contents:
1) Don’t Start with Training—Start with Listening
Before you open PowerPoint or Google “leadership training templates,” talk to people. Really talk to them.
Start with your founders, team leads, or anyone in a people-facing role. Ask questions like:
“What’s the biggest challenge your team is facing right now?”
“What would help your new joiners ramp up faster?”
“Where do you think people are struggling—but might not say out loud?”
Then talk to a few individual contributors too. You’ll start to notice themes. That’s your starting point—not “what training do we need?” but “what are people trying to do, and where are they stuck?”
2) Clarify the real needs
One of my favorite tools to use here is the Performance Analysis Question (PAQ):
“What should people be doing that they’re not doing now?”
This helps you pause and really think: is training the answer, or is the problem somewhere else?
Maybe your sales team isn’t missing skills—they’re missing a clear process. Or maybe new managers aren’t bad at giving feedback—they’re just afraid of upsetting people because no one told them it’s expected.
Before you jump into training mode, use the PAQ to dig into what’s really going on. We talk more about this in another post: Why Your Training Fails—and How to Fix It.
3) Pick One Area and Create a Simple Pilot
L&D doesn’t have to start with a 12-month learning strategy. Start small. Pick one area that’s business-critical but relatively safe to test.
Maybe it’s onboarding. Or improving team communication. Or helping managers run better one-on-ones.
Whatever you pick, make it lean. Think:
A short checklist for new joiners
A 45-minute Zoom session on setting expectations
A buddy system for cross-team shadowing
Get it out there, ask for feedback, and make it better next time. That’s how you build momentum. Design thinking can help you run quick pilots and get results – find out more in our article “Design Thinking for Learning Professionals: An Introductory Guide”.
4) Make It Visible and Useful
When you design learning, you’re also building trust. Trust that can help you make bank.
Explain what you’re doing and why. Loop in managers. Share results. Even if it’s just someone saying, “That one-pager helped me prep for my first feedback conversation,” that’s gold. Use that feedback to create more like it. Use these kinds of messages to promote what you’ve done. Remember, just because you’re a one-man band, doesn’t mean your work should be invisible or “speak for itself”.
In small orgs, stories and outcomes spread fast. If people see that your stuff is useful, they’ll ask for more. And that’s how you grow the function—by becoming helpful, not just “the training person.”
5) Build with What You Have
You don’t need fancy tools or platforms to start an L&D function or run training sessions. You probably already have what you need:
Google Docs for materials (think presentations, job aids, handouts, etc.)
Zoom for live sessions
Slack or Teams for reflection prompts
Notion or Trello for learning hubs
Focus on usefulness, not perfection. Test, tweak, and keep going.
6) You Don’t Have to Do It Alone
If all of this still feels overwhelming—like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew—you’re not alone. Building an L&D function from scratch is no small feat, especially when you’re juggling other responsibilities.
The good news is that you don’t have to do everything yourself. Sometimes, bringing in a seasoned L&D professional can make all the difference. Whether you need help designing your first learning program, figuring out what to prioritize, or delivering a tailored workshop for your team.
Not to toot our own horn, but we’ve been doing this for a while. So if you would like to partner with us, take a look at what we offer on our Services page. From custom trainings to strategic consulting, we’re here to support your journey—whether you’re just getting started or ready to scale up.
Final Thoughts: Start Small, Think Big
Starting an L&D function from scratch can feel like standing at the bottom of a mountain with no map. But here’s the truth: you don’t need a map to take the first step.
In small companies, L&D is about solving real problems, not building shiny programs. So start where people are struggling. Solve one thing well. Then another. Then another.
That’s how you build L&D that matters—one useful, scrappy, human-centered step at a time.
