Bottom-Line Performance

In live facilitation we often remind folks to shut off their cell phones, we select an appropriate learning environment, schedule the time – it’s a training event. Just as Gayle indicated in her recent post that it’s important for learners to apply good business practices when taking e-learning, it’s also important for the organization to give the learners permission to do so.

In some work cultures or due to personal bias a learner may feel that they aren’t really “working” when attending training. This may feel particularly true for distance learning, when they can easily distract themselves with their “real” job. So give learners permission to learn and restrict their activities while taking the course. Remind them that their development is important to the organization. Ask learners to block the time on their calendars for training. Prompt them to limit distractions (mute their phone, close other windows on their desktop, sit in a quiet area, etc.). Recently I saw an example of an e-learning course that also reminded participants to ensure they were set with any beverages before they begin the course. It was great as it helped enforce the idea that the training time is valuable. Give learners the message that it’s “ok” to put their usual activities on hold for awhile so they can focus on their development.

Of course, you must follow up with interesting valuable content so that you don’t lose people along the way, but that’s another story.  Provided you have an excellent course, how do you set the scene in your organization for distance learning?

Tags: best practices, distance learning, e-learning, online learning, synchronous learning, virtual training

This entry was posted on Friday, July 17th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under distance learning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.