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Versatile Microlessons Are Powerful Performance Boosters
Microlessons star as just-in-time learning, performance support, and refreshers or“fine-tuning” of previously learned, potentially complex information, accordingto Diane Elkins and Tanya Seidel of Artisan E-Learning. They are ideal for sales reps, who “need to know little thingsabout a lot of products,” Elkins said.
When else might microlessons be appropriate?
“It’s not ‘everything you need to know’ about a certaintopic,” Elkins said. “So, if you’re covering sales, you wouldn’t have amicrolesson on how to be a great salesperson; that would just be sosuperficial. But if it’s ‘three quick tips on how to deal with a priceobjection,’ well, that’s just a quick hit I can get—I’m about to go to ameeting, I know they don’t like my price, I can go to that meeting, andbeforehand, I can watch this video or take this course.”
Elkins cites another example where microlessons are a perfectfit: “I was talking to a potential customer … one of those companies where theysell products through individual reps who sell from their home or throughparties,” she said. “They said, ‘The more knowledgeable people are on ourproducts, the better they’ll sell them. And most of them are working moms.’” Withmicrolessons, those reps can be sitting in their cars, “and they’ve got anextra five minutes, and they can pull out their phone and get up to speed onthe features and benefits of the new product,” Elkins said.
Solutions-based learning
Seidel explains that microlessons are more solutions-basedthan conventional eLearning. “People are going to go to them because of aspecific problem or need or challenge they have,” she said. “It is need-driven,as opposed to ‘the company wants you to have this set of skills.’”
That fits with another scenario that Elkins described: “Ialready know how to run a meeting, but I have some difficult participants andone person who always hogs the show, or we have some trouble reaching groupconsensus. So let me just take a quick video on that one skill. It’s not goingto give me everything that I need, but it solves a very specific problem thatI’m having in my day right now.”
Learner “pull” is a primary factor driving use ofmicrolessons. “It’s the YouTube concept, basically,” Seidel said. “I’ve changeda toilet, I’ve installed floors—all from a video that I’ve watched on YouTube.It’s that same kind of concept of looking for something to meet an immediateneed.”
Even so, she said that Artisan E-Learning has also seen (andcreated) successful microlearning where organizations pushed the courses tolearners. “We’ve seen microlearning used in gap training, for bridging skillsgaps,” Seidel said. “That same client is turning around and is now using it asemployee onboarding training” to give new employees a quick introduction to thecompany’s products.
Elkins adds that microlessons might be pushed to learners toreinforce earlier learning. “We all went through some training last week ondealing with an angry customer, so I’m going to push out to everybody thisfive-minute refresher or deeper dive on ‘Four Things You Should Never Say to anAngry Customer.’”
Find it fast
The “just-in-time” nature of microlessons means thatlearners often look for them when they are short on time. They’re waiting foran appointment, riding the train, or about to go into that sales meeting withthe difficult client. Microlessons should be cataloged in the LMS, haveeffective tagging—and, above all, be supported by strong search ability. Learners“should be able to go in and type ‘difficult meeting participants,’ andsomething should come up,” Elkins said. “They do it because they want somethingshort and sweet. So if it takes five minutes to find—it shouldn’t take longerto find it than it takes to watch it.”
Many forms and functions
As far as format goes, microlessons can be videos, text,games—“I think anything is fair game,” Seidel said. A microlesson might teach asingle skill, reinforce prior learning, or simply make an important point.
A recent project that Elkins described wasn’t even reallyteaching: “We just finished a project where we really challenged ourselves tosay, ‘What else could it be?’ In some cases, it wasn’t even traditionaltraining at all. We did a few things on meeting skills,” she said. “One of thethings we did was what I call a ‘benefit builder.’ Yeah, I can teach you theskills, but if you don’t appreciate the benefits—why it’s important to run ameeting effectively—you may not take the training, or you may not take the timeto change your behavior.”
The benefit builder was an app that asked the learner toenter some information about a regular meeting: how many people attended, theattendees’ average salary, how often the meeting took place, how long themeeting lasted. The app would then spit out a number—how much that meeting costthe company each year. “It didn’t even really teach a specific skill, but itwas designed to make you go, ‘Wow; that meeting costs this company $27,000 ayear. I now have a new perspective that’s going to make me manage my meetingsdifferently.’”
And the “skills and drills” format is a microlesson thatteaches a single skill. Describing a microlesson on when to write out a numberin words vs. using a numeral, Elkins said, “We give the three rules, then 20questions. One skill—and then you drill it until it’s locked into your memory.That can be way more valuable than taking an hour course with all the grammar skillsthat you will then forget,” she said. “So yes, you only walked away with oneskill. But man, you know it.”
