When my name was called for Best Performance Support Solution at DevLearn’s DemoFest this year, I’ll admit—I was completely shocked. DevLearn is one of the largest learning technology conference out there, and DemoFest brings together some of the most innovative minds in L&D.
But more than the award itself, what made the experience truly rewarding was the opportunity to connect with other L&D professionals who immediately saw the potential in this solution. The conversations that followed, hearing how others envisioned adapting this workflow for their own organizations, reminded me why we do this work in the first place.
The Problem: Intake Chaos
If you’ve worked in Learning & Development for any length of time, you know the intake process pain all too well. It’s that special kind of organizational chaos where requests come from every direction, priorities feel murky, stakeholders feel unheard, and your team is left playing project whack-a-mole.
I’ve experienced this frustration firsthand across multiple organizations. The intake process always seemed to fall into one of three categories: difficult, disconnected from leadership, or downright chaotic. Sometimes all three at once. (Fun times, right?)
That’s what drove me to build something different.
The Solution: An Automated Intake Workflow
The project I demonstrated at DevLearn is an automated intake process workflow built using Make.com. The goal was simple: give stakeholders a voice while providing L&D teams with a seamless process to delegate, prioritize, and align on projects.
No more requests lost in email chains. No more confusion about what leadership actually approved. No more wondering if you’re working on the right things.
This solution creates a clear pathway from request to action, with transparency and accountability built in at every step. Stakeholders feel heard. Leadership stays informed. And L&D teams can actually focus on what they do best: creating impactful learning experiences.
See It In Action
Want to see how it works? Check out the demo video here.
The Tech Stack
One of the best parts about this solution? It doesn’t require enterprise-level software or a massive budget. I built this using tools that many organizations already have (or can easily access):
- Make.com – The automation site that connects everything
- Typeform – For clean, user-friendly intake forms
- Google Sheets – To collect responses and create a dashboard
- Slack – For real-time notifications and team collaboration
- Trello – To visualize and manage the project pipeline
- Email – Good ol’ reliable email for stakeholder communications
The magic isn’t in any single tool, it’s in how they work together to create a smooth, automated experience.
Let’s Connect
If you’re struggling with your own intake chaos or you’re curious about how automation could streamline your L&D operations, I’d love to hear from you. Whether you have questions about this specific solution or you need support implementing something similar for your organization, don’t hesitate to reach out.
