Switching from in-person to online training comes with its fair share of challenges. Use these three tips to maximize employee engagement with your online training.
1. Automate the mundane
When shifting from doing something the way that you always have to a new way of doing things, there will always be a learning curve. In this case, there's a lot to learn as you shift from teaching in person to providing virtual instruction.
The trick is to figure out which things you really need to spend your time on and what would be better handled through technology and automation. For example, an instructor shouldn't be spending time and energy dealing with things like setting up meetings or sending calendar invitations; that time can be better spent on creating and preparing curriculum. These administrative tasks are perfect examples of things that need to be automated in order to stay efficient in this agile workspace.
2. Use the right tools
The money you spend on new technology or solutions won't mean a thing if they aren't being used — let alone used effectively. When it comes to online learning, there are many tools available to help make learning engaging and exciting. This includes everything from whiteboards to quizzes to gamification tools that help measure and enforce lessons in real time.
But remember that these tools aren't a one-size-fits-all solution—you're always going to need do some trial-and-error experimentation to determine what the right tools for your organization are. It's key to use the right tools for your organization, which can best be determined by mapping out your company's training requirements before going technology shopping.
3. Incorporate interaction to overcome distraction and isolation
Engagement is a huge success factor in all aspects of work. In fact, Gallup estimates that the cost of poor management and lost productivity from employees in the U.S. who are not engaged or actively disengaged is between $960 billion and $1.2 trillion per year. And these numbers are reflected in organizations worldwide as well.
Engagement is the key to making the most of technology and training investments. It's also one of the biggest challenges when it comes to any kind of learning. This is especially true in virtual learning, where you can't rely on body language or on being able to see facial expressions.
Engagement involves both the trainees and the trainers, and both parties face challenges in a virtual learning environment. For trainers, creating meaningful and successful connection online can be difficult. There can be a lot of distraction in large virtual classes with multiple speakers or hosts, and engagement is difficult to establish and maintain.
In addition to employee disengagement risks, working remotely can also offer several distractions, from email to chats to Wi-Fi connectivity issues and much more. Combating these distractions and increasing engagement makes interactivity essential. A major way to help increase engagement is to use breakout room technology. Most video collaboration platforms, such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom, have an option for breakout rooms. These are like the virtual version of a study group, in which smaller teams of learners are grouped together to discuss the information from a specific lesson or assignment in real time.
Maximizing your virtual instruction
Virtual instruction isn't just physical instruction transmitted via video. It's substantially more nuanced than that, but it can be tricky to navigate — especially when learning has shifted so quickly to remote venues in the case of the pandemic and emerging hybrid work environments.
Online training requires a lot of concerted thought and effort to achieve the same levels of success, but too often, companies have taken a lift-and-shift approach that results in frustration and lack of engagement. Instead, use the interactive tools at your disposal to create a more engaging and fulfilling learning experience, no matter where your learners may find themselves. Your employees—and your organization as a whole—will thank you.
Travis Damgaard Campbell is a Microsoft 365 specialist focused on turning Microsoft Teams and SharePoint Online into an integrated platform for corporate training. Travis strives to maintain a growth mindset and loves working with the Learning & Development community in his role as Senior Business Manager at LMS365.