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At first glance, remote training appears to be tailored for the digital workplace – something that can be integrated seamlessly without much disruption.
The reality is that things are more complex than they seem. Delivering a remote training program may appear straightforward, but implementing a strategy that produces powerful results is a technological challenge that depends on the maturity of your digital workplace strategy.
Is your organization ready for remote learning?
Before you start with remote training, you need to reach a certain level of technological sophistication. Cloud storage, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and integrated systems streamline the process of course creation and delivery in addition to helping management track users with advanced analytics.
You may be pushed into remote learning even before you are ready. Employee experience, integrations, hybrid work, and the proliferation of software are just a few of the reasons companies are forced to look to remote training as a serious option.
To find out if you can leverage these new systems, it helps to figure out where your business is on its digital evolution path. We’ve outlined five levels of the digital workplace, measured by five systems that include technology, collaboration, productivity, leadership and culture. The higher you are on the digital track, the more effective your learning strategy will be.
What remote training looks like across the 5 levels
Level 1 – Here the office is the center of everything. All training happens at a particular time at the office. If you are sick or traveling, you miss the training and have to catch a new session later. Some parts of the training might be digital, but they happen on local systems.
Level 2 – This is when you try to replicate everything that happened in the office in virtual environments. During this stage, companies scrambled to convert in-office processes using digital tools in an effort to “make it work” temporarily until things returned to “normal”. Training is done over a video call, with the trainer reading out their script and everyone else trying to stay awake.
Level 3 – This is where you start to get some unique benefits from digital tools. For example, you might adopt a learning platform that allows people to go through training programs at their own pace and from any location. In addition to allowing users to complete specific courses and learning paths, many of these platforms offer key metrics to managers that help them gauge the success of the program.
Level 4 – This is where you rebuild the system with new values. You might rethink the end goal of the training and find a new blend of digital and in-person elements that maximizes the benefits of each. Trainings can morph from a one time event, to an ongoing engagement that contributes to lasting change. APIs can connect platforms to improve the use of tools and better data collection.
Level 5 – This is where companies push the boundaries and experiment. What does it look like to use AI as a personal assistant to guide someone through all the required training? If someone is struggling with a concept, can technology automatically suggest an internal or external course? How can virtual reality training and other tools open new doors?
Remote learning best practices
Success in e-learning is typically achieved by balancing user personalization with the standardized educational goals of the organization. Here are some tips to get you started:
Define your remote training goals
Clarify any learning objectives and goals before getting started. For example, does the organization want to certify employees for a specific set of skills, or is the learning more casual? Is there a hands-on component to the learning process? Defining all this ahead of time will bring clarity to all steps that follow.
Tailor remote learning strategies to employees as much as possible
With so many styles and formats available, you can customize e-learning to suit the needs of your employees. To learn more about how they like to learn, you can send out a survey with questions that include:
- What is your favorite learning format?
- Do you prefer long or short learning sessions?
- Do you need to write things down to learn them?
- What do you enjoy most about learning?
- What is your biggest complaint?
- What are three skills you’d like to develop?
Answers to these questions can help you customize a remote training program that will support workers and encourage them to upgrade their skills.
Choose the right remote training software
With so many remote training software options available on the market today, you are sure to find one that is ideal for your team. Some essential questions to help you decide include:
- What is your budget per month? How much can you afford per subscription?
- What are the critical features you need? Which ones are secondary?
- Can you integrate the software with any existing systems to share data?
Once you have narrowed down your choices, see if you can do free trials of all the options. And it’s always a good idea to get your team involved and follow up with a survey before making the final choice.
Top remote training challenges
Some commonly reported challenges of online learning include:
Mental and physical fatigue
Fatigue is common with all digital work. Some ways to address this issue include frequent short breaks and varied work schedules that allow workers to engage in physical activity throughout the day.
Technical issues
Technology has come a long way, however many issues remain and are a work in progress. Ways to prevent technical problems include keeping software updated, maintaining a secure internet connection, and conducting frequent maintenance on all devices.
Lack of physical connection
Not all training is suited for pure remote learning. Managers can include a physical component to the training that allows team members to get together to increase collaboration and connection.
Ready to learn more?
Having a remote learning strategy is an essential part of the digital workplace. It’s also one of the most straightforward components once you have the right systems in place.
The future holds many exciting possibilities, but also requires new skills and approaches to work. Is your team ready? Listen to workplace strategist Bob Pulver discuss the constant challenge of upskilling and how to address it for your team on The Digital Workplace Podcast.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
At first glance, remote training appears to be tailored for the digital workplace – something that can be integrated seamlessly without much disruption.
The reality is that things are more complex than they seem. Delivering a remote training program may appear straightforward, but implementing a strategy that produces powerful results is a technological challenge that depends on the maturity of your digital workplace strategy.
Is your organization ready for remote learning?
Before you start with remote training, you need to reach a certain level of technological sophistication. Cloud storage, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and integrated systems streamline the process of course creation and delivery in addition to helping management track users with advanced analytics.
You may be pushed into remote learning even before you are ready. Employee experience, integrations, hybrid work, and the proliferation of software are just a few of the reasons companies are forced to look to remote training as a serious option.
To find out if you can leverage these new systems, it helps to figure out where your business is on its digital evolution path. We’ve outlined five levels of the digital workplace, measured by five systems that include technology, collaboration, productivity, leadership and culture. The higher you are on the digital track, the more effective your learning strategy will be.
What remote training looks like across the 5 levels
Level 1 – Here the office is the center of everything. All training happens at a particular time at the office. If you are sick or traveling, you miss the training and have to catch a new session later. Some parts of the training might be digital, but they happen on local systems.
Level 2 – This is when you try to replicate everything that happened in the office in virtual environments. During this stage, companies scrambled to convert in-office processes using digital tools in an effort to “make it work” temporarily until things returned to “normal”. Training is done over a video call, with the trainer reading out their script and everyone else trying to stay awake.
Level 3 – This is where you start to get some unique benefits from digital tools. For example, you might adopt a learning platform that allows people to go through training programs at their own pace and from any location. In addition to allowing users to complete specific courses and learning paths, many of these platforms offer key metrics to managers that help them gauge the success of the program.
Level 4 – This is where you rebuild the system with new values. You might rethink the end goal of the training and find a new blend of digital and in-person elements that maximizes the benefits of each. Trainings can morph from a one time event, to an ongoing engagement that contributes to lasting change. APIs can connect platforms to improve the use of tools and better data collection.
Level 5 – This is where companies push the boundaries and experiment. What does it look like to use AI as a personal assistant to guide someone through all the required training? If someone is struggling with a concept, can technology automatically suggest an internal or external course? How can virtual reality training and other tools open new doors?
Remote learning best practices
Success in e-learning is typically achieved by balancing user personalization with the standardized educational goals of the organization. Here are some tips to get you started:
Define your remote training goals
Clarify any learning objectives and goals before getting started. For example, does the organization want to certify employees for a specific set of skills, or is the learning more casual? Is there a hands-on component to the learning process? Defining all this ahead of time will bring clarity to all steps that follow.
Tailor remote learning strategies to employees as much as possible
With so many styles and formats available, you can customize e-learning to suit the needs of your employees. To learn more about how they like to learn, you can send out a survey with questions that include:
- What is your favorite learning format?
- Do you prefer long or short learning sessions?
- Do you need to write things down to learn them?
- What do you enjoy most about learning?
- What is your biggest complaint?
- What are three skills you’d like to develop?
Answers to these questions can help you customize a remote training program that will support workers and encourage them to upgrade their skills.
Choose the right remote training software
With so many remote training software options available on the market today, you are sure to find one that is ideal for your team. Some essential questions to help you decide include:
- What is your budget per month? How much can you afford per subscription?
- What are the critical features you need? Which ones are secondary?
- Can you integrate the software with any existing systems to share data?
Once you have narrowed down your choices, see if you can do free trials of all the options. And it’s always a good idea to get your team involved and follow up with a survey before making the final choice.
Top remote training challenges
Some commonly reported challenges of online learning include:
Mental and physical fatigue
Fatigue is common with all digital work. Some ways to address this issue include frequent short breaks and varied work schedules that allow workers to engage in physical activity throughout the day.
Technical issues
Technology has come a long way, however many issues remain and are a work in progress. Ways to prevent technical problems include keeping software updated, maintaining a secure internet connection, and conducting frequent maintenance on all devices.
Lack of physical connection
Not all training is suited for pure remote learning. Managers can include a physical component to the training that allows team members to get together to increase collaboration and connection.
Ready to learn more?
Having a remote learning strategy is an essential part of the digital workplace. It’s also one of the most straightforward components once you have the right systems in place.
The future holds many exciting possibilities, but also requires new skills and approaches to work. Is your team ready? Listen to workplace strategist Bob Pulver discuss the constant challenge of upskilling and how to address it for your team on The Digital Workplace Podcast.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
