In today’s ever-changing technological world, attention spans aregetting shorter, learning and knowledge management is more critical, andtechnology advances faster all the time. How can we keep our LMS and learningexperiences up to par? Further, the needs of training administrators and the learners’expectations of a familiar and engaging experience are also evolving rapidly. Howdo we at least stay in the game, if not ahead of it?
We can address these issues by asking ourselves, as trainingprofessionals, “What do the learners want?” The answer to this may changeperiodically, but based on the analysis of trends, (and human nature) thelearners, in a nutshell, want it to be about them.
Expectations
So, what are the learners expecting from an LMS? Based on my experience,they expect a learning environment that:
- Is intuitive, transparent, and specifically tailored to their needs based on their culture, job, and what they need to know to succeed in their role.
- Is easily accessible at all times whether online, offline, or mobile, quickly supplies the information needed within a few clicks, has a workflow that logically follows their own thinking, and allows them to help themselves through the system when needed.
- Looks and feels familiar, like the web technology used every day in their personal lives, ideally allowing them to interact with other, similar users of the system on a social level for sharing of experience and information.
It’s all in the details
To take a closer look at this ideal environment, let’s examineeach part.
Making the experience intuitive and easy to navigate
Long gone are the days of clunky workflows, clicking at multiplehit points and drilling down to get what you need. We now live in a well-established“Web 2.0” world. While they are absorbing knowledge in a virtual or self-pacedenvironment, learners expect and deserve an interface that guides them directlyto what they need in very little time. Gettingtrained on the training system is no longer an option for today’s users.
Creating a tailor-made learning system for the learners
Regardless of what buzzwords we use to describe it, learningportals need to accommodate learners individually, whether on the basis of jobrole, location, company, division, department, or any number of other variables.Just show them what they need and make iteasy to access.
Enhancing navigation
In addition to prescriptive learning based on training “pushed” tothem, giving the learners the ability to effectively and efficiently search or“pull” the available knowledge is a must. Searchengines do it; then why should the search box in the learning portal be anexception?
Making learning available when and where they need it
Whether learners are online, offline, or mobile, they need to havea system that is available to them whenever they have time to learn. Forexample, the time spent on the airplane may be the only free time members of asales team have for learning. Trainingresources must be available anywhere, anytime—in small chunks that are easilydigestible in a short span of time.
Making it work
The last thing a learner wants is to be prohibited or held up inany way due to poor technology planning. This includes waiting for content toload, not being able to access learning offline, and anything else that can makethe experience cumbersome for the learner. Delays can and will eventuallyresult in a situation that is not only painful for the learner, but also forthe administrator. Ensure that thesystem, the content, and the delivery mechanisms are appropriate and reliable.
How to deliver what learners want
Now that we’ve identified the learner’s needs and expectations, let’sexamine some key points on how, from a technology perspective, we canaccommodate them and ensure an experience for the learner that addresses thesechallenges. In addition to meeting the challenges, addressing the challengeswill also create an environment that gives the administrators the informationthey need to be successful in managing knowledge.
Engaging learners early
All too often a new system need is defined, evaluated, acquired,and implemented before bringing the end users into the communication loop. Oftentimesthis is too late to make adjustments that would have been easier to make earlyon had the learners been involved in defining the requirements or during theimplementation process. If creating a learner-driven environment is a top goal,incorporating your learners’ inputs early on makes the solution much moreeffective.
How to execute
Companies have adopted different methods to accomplish this goal. Onehealthcare organization utilized its clinical educators to host “town hall” typemeetings. Promoted via the corporate communications department, these meetingsgathered workers of diverse skill sets at scheduled times in groups of 20 to 30.During these meetings they conducted a verbal poll regarding prioritiespertaining to professional development and at-work learning. They did this toidentify what made a system and learning program most valuable, given theconstraints of a fast-paced environment such as an acute-healthcare setting.
Another manufacturing plant hosted “lunch and learn” events foremployees that highlighted the organization’s learning and performance goals. Itlater solicited feedback through surveys and questionnaires based on theinformation gathered during the sessions. This helped the organization to redefineand focus on organizational and workplace issues that created barriers to learning.This further lead to establishment of an executive leadership committeededicated to resolving such issues and helping the organization in meeting thestrategic and learning goals.
Create usability groups
Although focus groups andgovernance bodies are not a new concept, we often overlook creating them aroundthe learners’ quality of experience. Including end users in groups that look atthe workflow and layout of the system will ensure that we deploy it in a mannerconsistent with what users want.
How to execute
Interview system administrators and power users to find out wherethey spend the most non-productive time online or offline in their daily tasks.Then choose a system that is flexible enough to meet the workflow of the power users,instead of making the users meet the workflow of the system. See that the newplatform eliminates current feature or function bottlenecks and increasesefficiency by automating workflow tasks.
Make the training activities usage task specific, not systemspecific
Do not overload users with dozens of features and functions thatare of very little value to them. Instead, focus your training specifically oncompletion of value-adding common tasks.
How to execute
Put the software on the back burner and find out, from a taskperspective, the most repetitious activity in a day that will heavily utilizethe system. Do this for each job role within groups. This will help in prioritizingyour system requirements and in delivering team and/or job-specific training. This will also save theorganization a great amount of effort, time, and expenditure, and it increasesuser adoption numbers and speed.
Gather feedback and take action
If you didn’t have the luxury at the beginning of the cycle toinvolve end users in planning and design, it’s not too late. Gathering feedbackfrom the users on an already deployed solution is equally effective now as itwould have been then. Immediate action may not be feasible, but that doesn’tmean that the next release can’t incorporate changes that make the system morelearner-driven. Further, soliciting feedback engages learners more, as theyfeel involved in shaping their experience for the future.
Offer help
Integrating in-line help into the system will allow learners toquickly pull up task-specific aids from the interface, without any constraintof availability.
The bottom line
Creating a user-centric, comprehensible learning experience isjust as critical as integration, reporting, or any other back-end function ofan LMS. Regardless of how great the manager dashboard looks, or how advanced theanalytics functionality of an LMS is, if it is not engaging and appealing tothe end users, it is not going to be a success.
The key element here is to provide learners with easy access toinformation whenever, wherever, and however. And time is of the essence. Makingit painful for the end user to access the system and to get the relevant informationwhen they need it defeats the basic purpose of the LMS and directly impacts ROI.
To put it simply, if we cannot make a training module as simple asplaying Angry Birds, no prizes for guessing which one the learners will bedoing more often.
