In today's climate, we're seeing an increase in organizations with distributed workforces, whether it's by geographic location, in the field, or at corporate and home offices. With a remote workforce, learning and development efforts don't need to change, but they do need to adapt.
Tips and Tricks for Training a Distributed Workforce:
Communication
- Ensure you are communicating any changes multiple times in multiple ways. Some organizations have an intranet where messages can be posted because email messages often get buried or overlooked.
- Send two or three pre-training emails before a training event. This makes people aware of what’s expected of them and why it’s important to attend (the WIIFM, or “What’s in It for Them” approach)
- Make sure to provide enough lead time before each session so participants have ample time to sign-up, block their schedule and complete any pre-work before attending.
Collaboration
- Get management involved and strongly encourage their employees to attend.
- Encourage a company leader to attend to answer any business-specific questions.
- If a company leader can’t attend, ensure questions are captured during the session, and a FAQ doc can be distributed after to all participants.
Engagement
- Make learning fun –add games, stories and other elements to keep the session an enjoyable, impactful learning experience.
- A virtual facilitator can drive collaboration in putting participants into a role-based scenario just as easy via a technology platform or webinar software.
- Ask participants to come prepared with questions or scenarios they would like to discuss after the session as a way to make it relevant to their roles.
If you're looking for assistance with implementing a eLearning for your organization, let us know! Ardent has been in the Learning & Development industry for nearly three decades and have implemented countless eLearning solutions.
Click here to contact Megan, our Vice President of Business Development for complimentary consulting hours for a custom learning solution.
