By Iain Scholnick
In the fast-paced environment of the modern day world, businesses are starting to find that their learning practices (often overlooked) are lagging way behind current trends in software and usability. Advancements in technology and the wider adoption of consumer online experiences from mobile apps to popular social media sites have started to influence all corners of the enterprise and SMB workplace including the solutions they use day in and day out.
Traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS) are becoming a thing of the past as changes in learning and training have made them obsolete. Many small businesses continue to use outdated learning systems, either because they’re comfortable with them or it’s too expensive to replace a whole system. What they don’t realize is that retaining these old-fashioned systems are actually stunting employee development and damaging the company’s potential.
Here are a few tips to help you integrate learning into the core of your business while enriching your workforce.
No one has time for hour-long training sessions. Break it down into bite-sized chunks.
Many employees find it distracting and burdensome to “have to “participate in several hours of training in one sitting. In today’s day and age people consume information in small bites from 140 characters on Twitter to small posts on their Facebook wall. Trying to teach large chunks of information at once is outdated. Instead, try to use “learning sprinkles,” which are small, easily digestible pieces of information, to help your employees expand their knowledge or learn a new practice. “Learning sprinkles” can also be tailored to a hyper-specific task, like a project a team of employees are working on, in order to ensure that learning is properly integrated.
Make learning relatable by building a system directly into employee workflows.
A common problem management can face is that the top-down nature of some LMSs sometimes results in a decrease in efficiency. All-encompassing programs are rarely effective as they cause employees to waste time learning unnecessary features or practices. In order to make the learning process easier for your employees, it is better to incorporate social and work-specific experiences into your systems. It will make it much easier for your employees to complete training when it is relatable to what they are currently working on.
Take advantage of the benefits mobile platforms offer.
Learning can and should be a social experience, and your employees will most likely respond positively to a system that incorporates peer learning. Social learning democratizes learning by removing your employees from isolation and makes the experience more enjoyable and more effective. Luckily, it has never been easier to socialize learning than it is now with the invention of live video and web chat programs. Mobile programs allow employees to ask questions and bounce ideas off of each other, which can speed up the learning process. The power of mobile connection also allows your employees to reach each other at all times, which means the learning never has to take a break.
You should take a look at the LMS your company has in place in order to make sure it is accomplishing everything you need it to. The business world, and even the education system, is starting to move away from traditional learning methods, so being ahead of the curve surely isn’t a bad thing. Strive towards socializing and shrinking aspects of your learning systems so that employees can stay engaged and focused. These learning tips should help you re-vamp your LMS and help your company rise to the top of the industry.
Iain Scholnick is the founder and CEO of Braidio, a cloud-based collaborative learning platform that focuses on learning, networking and collaboration. A veteran of the Internet, wireless and security vertical industries with 20 years of technical, business operations and start-up experience, Iain was also the founder and CEO of LicenseStream, the first comprehensive platform allowing owners of digital content to significantly extend the reach and revenue potential of companies already licensing their content online. He can be reached on Twitter @braidthis.
