Onboarding And Training For The Remote Workforce: Learning And Development (L&D) Strategies

Learning and Development (L and D) teams are seeking new ways of reaching a remote workforce. Leadership pros recognize that remote learning challenges (even for adult learners) are formidable. Because being consumers in a digital world doesn’t necessarily make us great learners in a virtual world. The old-school training strategy of the “sage on the stage” doesn’t always translate from stage to screen. Without innovation and fresh ideas, trainees are bored, disinterested and wondering how much Zoom one person can handle. How do top-tier onboarding and leadership training programs drive learning objectives in a more powerful way? What are the alternatives to the “talking head” training we’ve all experienced online - is there another way to accelerate objectives? Here are three virtual presentation strategies that can make a difference - going beyond an old-school, lecture-based approach.

1. Experience is the Best Teacher: Remember The Jimi Hendrix Experience? The artistry of the unforgettable Jimi Hendrix illustrates an overlooked aspect of learning, leadership and onboarding. Effective training, not unlike a timeless guitar riff, is an experience. The transfer of knowledge begins with listening. But the experience is something internalized - something that is transferred beyond the words, videos and software tools. Just as Hendrix’s music went beyond the notes and the chords to create an experience, today’s L and D pros have to consider how to drive the experience - because an experience is what is often missing in virtual training. An experience is internalized. Even today, some five decades after Jimi Hendrix left this world on September 18, 1970, the experience remains. What is the experience you want to create for new employees, senior executives, or newly-minted subject matter experts? Look past the format to the experience. What do you want attendees to think, feel and do? What new knowledge will they demonstrate as a result? Just like great music, great training is about change. What’s the transformation you’re trying to create? Hendrix wasn’t afraid to innovate - what are you doing that hasn’t been done before? Build that experience from the moment the training begins.

2. Don’t Think - Do: Online learning taxes even the most patient among us: is it realistic to expect people to sit and retain a 60-minute lecture online? There’s a better way: remember that learning happens by doing. Consider the sport of boxing for a moment, as a metaphor for knowledge transfer. Knowing all of the rules of boxing and the history of the sport since 1871 is interesting. But all that knowledge isn’t going to help when you’re about to get punched in the face. If you want to accelerate learning, put people in the ring as soon as you can. That doesn’t mean people will get punched (it’s a metaphor, after all) but it does mean that participants must become active learners. In my experience, lectures on leadership are a start but where it really gets interesting (and valuable) is when leadership becomes a verb. As a leader, if you’re watching the instructor to see if she’s in sync with her powerpoint, you’ve missed the point. You’re not looking at the experience of the training. What are the trainees doing to put ideas into action? Move to hands-on activities as soon as possible, even in new skills-based training. Challenge yourself to never go more than 15 minutes without breaking the trainees into groups and letting them interact in a Zoom room (or Virbella cone - pick your flavor). Peer to peer learning is the key to internalizing the experience at a deeper level. Here’s why:

3. The Student Becomes the Teacher: Seneca, the ancient Greek philosopher, believed that “People learn when they teach.” This concept has become known as the Protégé Effect. How are you turning your trainees into protégés? In a well-documented study, two groups were asked to study some material. One group was told that they would be expected to teach the information to others. The second group was just told they would be tested on the details. Not only did the first group have better free recall of the material, they correctly answered more questions on the test. But get this: the first group never actually taught anything to anyone. Just the expectation alone was enough to create the effect. In your training sessions, particularly onboarding and leadership trainings, how are you setting the right expectations? How often are you letting the real experts in the room (yep, those are the students) teach new skills? Don’t wait to transition trainees into teachers. That way, you leverage the power of peer-to-peer learning. How long do you want to wait before you acknowledge (and leverage) the expertise inside the class? If it look like learning is a long journey, look again. It’s just the path you’ve chosen that’s taking so long. Make the student the teacher at every possible turn, and you’ll accelerate the learning via the Protégé Effect.

During times of isolation, training programs can provide a sense of connection. That connection comes from material that is put into action - not just passively received in a lecture or download. Whether I’m working with a professional association, Fortune 500 client or franchise organization, my attention is on interaction. Because if I say it, but they don’t experience it, how does anybody know what information was really received? When the audience teaches each other, the message becomes meaningful. By moving from broadcasting to collaboration, online training becomes more powerful. Because instructors in learning and development see new skills demonstrated right away - even before the surveys are sent out. Look in the direction of questions and exercises that can drive new behavior. Because knowledge is important - but it’s action that creates real results.