July
11,
2024
Technical Training That Is Effective and Fun.
It’s one of the ironies of organizational training. Employees consistently say they want better systems training from employers, but often groan at the thought of attending.
What to do? Well one way is to teach them two things: the skills they need AND that training at your organization will truly make their work lives better.
Here are a few ways make your training a great experience for learners.
Don’t train on everything. Too much of a good thing is still too much. Learners get overwhelmed and they retain less. Train only what’s Common, Critical, and Catastrophic.
- Common: What do they need to do every day or every week?
- Critical: What are the most important activities to the organization?
- Catastrophic: What would cause great harm to the team or the business?
Chunk your learning. Let their needs determine the sequence. First, what will the learner need to know in the first week to successfully use the system to do their job? Next, what do they need to know in their first month? Then, what do they need to know in their first three months and beyond?
- Build the foundation first. Start with the basics then move on to more advanced functions once the learner has demonstrated proficiency.
- Set the right pace. Allow enough time and practice for each skill to “set” before moving on to the next one.
Mimic real life as much as possible. Develop system simulations that mimic the real system. Then wrap authentic work scenarios around the simulations. Use realistic data – inputs and outputs – so it feels like they’re really working.
“Show Me, Let Me, Test Me.” Demonstrate a key task, follow up with guided practice and remediation, then give an assessment where learners complete the task and receive a score with feedback.
Create a theme. Are your learners secret agents who complete their mission by successfully closing customer service tickets? Maybe they are space explorers on a quest to qualify the most leads in the sales system? Or perhaps they are explorers using an adventure map to learn to navigate the new HR system. Metaphors, characters, and stories are powerful. They anchor new information, boost retention, and make learning fun.
Practice, practice, practice! Before you let users loose on real data and customers, make sure they have it down cold. Use a sandbox environment to allow learners to practice and make mistakes without impacting the business.
Bake in milestones and rewards.
- Create proficiency levels they can aspire to reach (e.g., Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert).
- Offer badges, coins, or tokens. Consider something like a department intranet site with a leader board.
- Give top performers a chance to train or coach others, either during training sessions or on the job.
Use these tips as a checklist, to make sure you’re doing all you can to make systems training work for your learners and your organization.
