Some articles from spring and summer 2020 emphasize how training has been changed by the need to train remote workers. This article is an example: “Training and Development in a Post-COVID-19 Workplace” by Keenan McBride, CPTM, from June 7, 2020.
Recommendations such as, “Virtual training should always be direct and to the point to engage learners and keep their attention.” are not so very different from the core of all good training programs. Bringing value to the trainee is enhanced by identifying the agenda and delivering it.
What has changed, then? I would suggest there are key elements at risk in high-quality training: engagement and application.
While it’s a straightforward (though not necessarily simple) matter to make a presentation that can be viewed, we know that training for improvement requires more of the trainee than passively watching videos of how to do something – or how to do it better! Training sessions that are more interactive – that require input or responses – encourage the trainee to engage with the material. In this remote environment, the trainer becomes even more of an “invisible facilitator” than in the recent past. There was a time when face-to-face facilitation was prized, and the best trainers “connected with” their trainees to create an emotionally powerful – and useful! – foundation that improved receptivity to the training activities and material. Improved participation delivered improved knowledge and skills.
The second element at risk is application. If the trainee is remote and the training itself requires practice of the learned skill, for example, or requires demonstration of knowledge with the opportunity for improvement, the attention of the trainee and the willingness to focus are paramount. Ensuring the trainees have learned and can do is a critically important phase of any training. The risk with remote learners is that the screen may serve more as a filter than a portal. Especially if the trainees are working from home – not just from a remote office setting – their attention can be more easily and frequently diverted, and their motivation to devote mental energy to the topic may be diminished by their relative comfort and isolation.
Solutions include overcoming the engagement barriers with much higher levels of trainee input/response, much more personable interactions even amid ever shorter, more frequent training events, and ensuring relevance of the training topics to short-term trainee benefits. Application of training knowledge and skills must also include more frequent, bite-sized knowledge checks, as well as increased opportunities for each trainee to practice skills and showcase improvement. These are more likely to also lead to increased satisfaction by trainees, improved workplace performance, and increased management appreciation of training initiatives. -MW-
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