Last week, we covered 5 tips to have in mind when shaping a remote training program, which is especially important with more and more businesses having branches and employees all over the world. When we return to normality, it’s also fair to think that more and more people will probably ask to work from home more often, or on a regular basis. And while having a remote training solution in place can play a significant role in increasing business efficiency and reducing cost, it also has various benefits on employees, like improved morale, higher productivity, and less need for supervision. You can read more about Benefits of Employee Training right here.
To ensure that your solution trains your staff as effectively as possible, here are a few things to consider:
- Choosing the right solution for your company
There are many eLearning solutions available in the market and it is very important to choose the right one for you. Know your needs, check if the software is easy to use, if content can be created simply and very importantly, make sure it has some sort of performance tracking options. Some other features might also be interesting for you, like localization, especially if you have to train employees who speak and understand different languages or anonymization, to handle confidential data.
- Engage with trainees
To keep your trainees away from the fierce number of online distractions you need to find ways to engage with your remote team to keep them focused and motivated. You can collaborate with them by chatting through online forums, live messaging systems and video conferencing so that they feel connected. Also, trainees will get more out of sessions by hearing out their co-worker’s experiences and interacting with them. You should keep interaction time in all your training sessions.
- Engage your staff
This approach helps in generating the interest of the learner rather than making it look like work. There are 2 steps to this: grab your employees attention (be creative: the more unique, the more memorable), then let them understand the context of the lesson (if workers can connect with a real life situation they know they will experience, or have already experienced, they’re more likely to remember).
- Let people learn at their own pace
Once the content has been created, let the learners learn at their own speed: nobody wants to feel pressured. While you need a schedule for obvious reasons, make sure to add extra time to what you had originally scoped – if too tight, it can only cause frustration and disappointing results.
- Track and Analyze
Introduce tests at the end of each module and use the results not only to evaluate your staff, but also to understand where the main challenges are. Not only will you be able to track people’s progress, but you’ll also have opportunities to improve your training content. Many online learning solutions, like Assima, let you schedule tests after every module and allow you to see where people struggle and fail, thereby understanding the areas to improve.
- Socialize
When working or training remotely, it’s easy for a team of human beings to become a list of very impersonal names, and it’s therefore important to foster interaction between them. Open an informal messaging channel such as Slack, where your employees can informally interact. Or host casual talk sessions on a regular basis. This will help your employees in staying motivated and increase the feeling of being part of the organization.