Online Learning and Development: A Plan for the 90%

A Plan for the 90%

    With supervisors and employees alike, you will find varied responses to learning. Some individuals are intellectually curious and a few are outright self-improvement junkies, but many lack the desire to learn anything much less follow up, and follow through afterward. This is where the 90% gets lost. Therefore, we need a plan.

     This is the get on board plan. Lack of supervisory support is often the cause for improper conditions to apply new skills and limited opportunity to practice them. The first step is to overcome this early by making certain the content is relevant. Relevant content ensures time spent training is valued NOT resented. The second step is to require the supervisors to attend your training first. Hold them to the same standards as their employees, this in no trial run. The third step is to hold them equally responsible for their employees follow up and follow through. This third step requires an action plan.

    The action plan consists of five steps. It utilizes technology, encourages feedback, and provides instances for practice as part of the ongoing learning process. Simply by having an action plan, we set the tone that learning is part of the job description.

    The first step is to have employees locate the follow up home page. Here links to manuals, data, FAQs , and best practices are all accessible. This helps avoid the 90%. If they do forget, they can find it.

Image Source: ConcentricSky 

    The second step is for employees to summarize what they learned for the other employees. A great way to do this is on a blog, like this one! They can also leave comments for one another, leave feedback for the instructor, and read (and hopefully remember) what others have learned.

    The third step in the action plan is to assign the employees a follow up peer. This should be someone who attended the training at the same time but preferable from a different location or department. The follow up peer is someone the employees can collaborate on best practices and compare their progress with. One way to do this is through a wiki. Action plans linked via Google docs share the most current information here.

    The fourth step is to assess progress through simulations of real-life incidents. For organizations without their own simulation modules, Second Life offers a platform for this. If this is an impossible feat, a second option is real-life case studies. The case studies are not as effective for practice as the simulations. However, they can still be engaging through collaboration on a wiki, and they are certainly better than no practice at all.

     The fifth step is for employees to take their supervisors back through the experience using all the technology and information they have gathered and shared. What better way to solidify the employees’ learning than allowing them to teach it to another. The supervisor benefits from hearing the information again and from new perspectives. The supervisor will then assess and determine when the employees are ready for the next course or if the plan of action needs repeating.

     Forget the difficulty. Find the opportunity. Now is the time for online education. When we engage employees and satisfy supervisors with relevant content...when we save money for companies, shrink the 90% and grow organizations by doing so...then we have something 'to show for it'. So, what are we waiting for?