While this sounds ambitious, we see organizations across the globe looking for new approaches to efficiently make sales people more knowledgeable and successful. For these changes to achieve the desired results, they need to be introduced in a compelling way. They need to break through the sales person’s natural resistance to change and appeal to their competitive nature. Communications should leverage key characteristics of the company’s brand and sync with other corporate initiatives. It should stimulate anticipation for the change. Before it’s released, you want the salesperson saying, “I can’t wait to take this new training and use this new technology so that I can sell more and achieve my goals.” 

Understanding the Sales Team

So how do you stimulate this desire to try something new? While you may not have the budget for an advertising campaign, you can choreograph a creative communications program. To do this, you need to understand your sales team, their backgrounds, needs and aspirations. Based on this understanding, you can develop a creative idea and message that connects the new way of learning with their goals. Be sure to involve some communications and creative design professionals to help develop the concept.  Involving someone in your IT area is also a good idea.

Rolling out the Program

The creative communications program should start prior to the “launch” of the new learning environment. Depending on your organization’s culture and technology infrastructure, you may use posters, email, video, the company Intranet and other tactics to get the message out. When the new environment is available, you’ll want to include a feedback channel so the team can share their experiences. Amplifying positive experiences and addressing concerns will trigger a peer effect in adopting the new changes. By tracking and communicating results, you can also create peer competition and accountability.

Gaining Team Member Buy In

Beyond the “launch” of the change, you’ll need ongoing communications and incentives to motivate use of the new learning environment. This is especially important to inspire the members of the sales team to contribute, engage, and participate. You’ll need to continue to emphasize the value of participation to each individual as well as the team as a whole. By building and adopting a new learning environment, your team will have fast and efficient access to formal learning, shared knowledge and collaboration. This can help you outsmart and outperform your competitors by getting to market faster. You will also be bringing better intelligence to your customers enabling them to better benefit from your products and services.

Now more than ever, sales organizations are investing in new ways of training and learning. We have found that organizations that use creative communications programs to introduce and promote the adoption of new learning environments achieve much better results. We would like to hear about your findings. Has creative communications helped you get learners to adopt new ways of learning?

As I leave for retirement today, I’ve seen quite a few technology changes in the field of training and development myself. In 1989, I created my first interactive video using an authoring platform called IconAuthor, and it required a newfangled operating system called Windows 2.1. Computers weren’t fast enough to play video, nor were the hard drives large enough – even though the brochure for my stock IBM AT said it contained a “whooping 20 MB hard drive” – so we used a videodisc player connected through a serial cable. Very clunky, but very, very exciting! For the first time instructional designers could do more than simple page-turner training. True branching became a possibility, and learners could see the impact of their choices in full-screen video.

Soon after, Apple Computer introduced the Macintosh with Hypercard which, according to Steve Jobs, was an object oriented “programming language for the rest of us.” Now instructional designers weren’t constrained by the limited functions in programs like IconAuthor. True, the first images were in black and white, but the introduction of Quicktime a short time later let us play digital video from the hard drive. You needed to squint to see it, though, because the standard video window was only 160 x 120 pixels. 

Other technological improvements followed rapidly – Windows 95 was a game-changer, as was the introduction of the PC authoring system Toolbook along with cross-platform tools like Director and Authorware. CD ROMs became easy to author, but they were soon supplanted by the ubiquity of the internet. Learning management systems made tracking learner performance easier, and now mobile platforms have made accessing learning opportunities almost effortless for the user.

So how would all these changes affect someone like my great aunt and her one-room schoolhouse view of education? Probably not as much as we might think. After all, she used state-of-the-art technology when she taught – chalk, blackboard, eraser. So how did her students learn, even thrive, using such primitive technology? The answer then as now has much more to do with the art of teaching than the technology itself.

My great aunt knew her students – their educational achievements, their language skills, their needs. She developed her teaching approach based on how students learned, gave them enough practice to make sure they understood the material, and tested early and often to confirm her impressions. And she made heavy use of social learning – in a one-room school there’s always someone who is learning the material for the first time, or who has just learned it, or who is just about to learn it –  and this built-in support group went a long way in reinforcing knowledge, behaviors and attitudes. If she found something in her teaching plan that didn’t work, she modified it the next time she taught.

Back then there were no instructional models to follow like ADDIE, Kemp, Gagne, Bloom, and Mager. Teachers simply did what was necessary to help students learn based on their daily experience in the classroom. In my mind we would do well to build our instructional design plans as though we were back that one-room school ourselves, face-to-face, without technology. Anticipating student reactions and questions. Giving feedback. And then, when we have a vision for the course firmly in mind, choose the best technology to help learners grasp the information.

The bottom line is this – technology has radically changed the way we can package and deliver training. But the essence of what teachers do has not – and should not – change. Know your audience, design for their needs, develop meaningful content, teach it, and see how well it worked.  And then do it all over again.

My great aunt would approve.

Blended learning is not just combining online with classroom instruction, although that’s part of it. It also uses a variety of teaching and presentation methods within the classroom itself.

Consider your options

The place to start planning for blended learning is during the analysis phase. What do learners need to know, and when do they need to know it? What technology infrastructure is available to support the learner, and what computer skills do they possess? Do they have a preferred learning style? Identify this information and make it an online prerequisite for the course. Subject history, terminology, and content overview all fit well into an online format, and it helps level the playing field for learners new to the subject compared to those with more knowledge or experience.  When learners arrive in class everyone has a similar working knowledge of the basic information.

That was the approach used by the Penn State College of Medicine as part of its Scientific Communications curriculum. Students were required to complete a short online segment before each class, most ending with an assignment to be completed and brought to the next class meeting. Class time was used to look at students’ work and then begin to build on that foundation for the remainder of their time together. The result was that faculty could focus on building complex skills instead of teaching basic knowledge.

Class time can be used to answer questions and build on basic information, or course, but there’s more to blended learning than that.

Explore opportunities for interactivity

My ninth-grade civics teacher rarely spoke a word, choosing instead to write his notes and comments on the board which we all laboriously copied into our notebooks. That was not teaching. Neither is the modern equivalent of reading PowerPoint presentations word-for-word. The strength of live classroom teaching is the interactivity between teacher and learners, and between learners themselves. While this can be done online, it can be more effective to use a live classroom setting.

What does this look like? Consider collaborative assignments like posing a problem to a group of learners and challenging them to find the answers. In medical school they call this “problem-based learning.” A group of six to eight students are assigned a “patient” – actually just a case history contained in a chart – and asked to make a diagnosis or devise a treatment. Students are free to search the Internet, talk with experts, and read journals. Along the way they learn considerably more than just how to treat the patient. Anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and other topics are just some of the collateral knowledge they pick up. And to bring the blended learning example full circle, they often use technology to present their findings in class.

So the next time you’re considering using blended learning, look beyond the obvious classroom/online dichotomy. While each has its strengths, both can be made stronger by blending elements of technology and live interaction in different and creative ways.

Push. Pull. Or Collaborate.

When designing content, consider whether you will use content push, content pull or collaboration. Content push is intentionally delivering the instruction or materials to the learner (e.g.  sending the learner a link to a mobile learning module). This may be anything from simple presentations and animations to more sophisticated simulations and games designed to drive content to the learner.

Some of the most effective mobile learning uses ‘pull’ mode (where the learner requests the information or knowledge) rather than ‘push’ mode. The key is motivating learners to seek out content. Today, most learning takes place informally. In the pull model, learners determine when to access content, and the mobile application provides ready access.  Examples could include a wiki, reference documents, or a just in time learning module that functions across the organization.

Collaboration is another way mobile technology can enhance and support performance and learning by connecting learners with their peers.  Collaboration can take place across social networking or online discussion boards.

Regardless of how you distribute the information, try using these seven tips to design impactful mobile learning.

1. Design for the Small Screen. Keep in mind that mobile applications have limited screen size, smaller keyboards, no mouse and limited bandwidth for multimedia files.  It’s important to design for form as well as function on mobile devices, rather than just porting an existing design to the mobile platform.
2. Keep it short. Research suggests chunking e-learning into 10 to 15 minute modules. However, with many users accessing mobile devices while they are on the go, it makes sense to keep mobile learning modules even shorter, as brief as 2 minutes per segment.  This allows users to take short learning breaks between their other activities and takes into consideration the likelihood of frequent interruptions.
3. Keep it simple. When designing m-Learning, remember the acronym KISS:  Keep It Simple and Straightforward.  Users have small screens and little bits of time so low information density is critical for effective mobile content.  Mobile users demand quick, clear, and easy-to-use applications, so interfaces should be intuitive and task-oriented.
4. Talk to the hand. Design for users who like to operate their mobile devices with one hand and for users who have what we call the “fat fingers” issue.  So, the clickable areas should be surrounded with as much white space as possible. Also, remember that typing on a mobile device is challenging, so keep data entry to a minimum. Limit responses to optional choices or short fill-in-the-blanks. Think of mobile applications as tools for learning and not just another content delivery system.
5. Keep designs colorful but simple. Consider bright, yet clear illustrations, which are less processor-intensive than a detailed photograph or complex animation. Don’t use media in situations where it isn’t needed. The more complex the visual element the more bandwidth is required for download.  You don’t want to run the risk that your images can’t be seen and users won’t finish the training.
6. Make it relevant. Mobile learning is very effective for ‘’just in time training’’ and can help you reach your audience before or after a ‘learning’ event.’ You can address essential knowledge critical to changing behaviors immediately. You can also tune up previously acquired skills presented through e-Learning or classroom-based instruction.
7. Make it ongoing and flexible. For m-Learning to be effective it must remain pertinent and connected to the original message. Materials must be updated regularly. Remind your audience that resources continue to be available to them. In addition, mobile learners should be able to bookmark and return to a mobile nugget, wherever and whenever they choose.

Through the boom in advanced mobile technology, how we access information and learning has evolved. Chances are your organization can take advantage of mobile learning. The key is defining this need and finding the right m-Learning solution that fits your user, your technology infrastructure and your culture. These best practices reinforce our belief that mobile learning is most effective in a blended learning model as well as when it is continuous, ongoing and accessible.

How are you using mobile learning in your organization?

The following are links to blog posts that served as resources for the above tips.
Ten Tips for Designing Mobile Learning Content – Learning Solutions Magazine
Mobile Learning Best Practices and Lessons Learned – the Learning Generalist
10 Tips For Designing mLearning and Support Apps – eLearning Coach
Two Bite Brownies = Mobile Learning – eLearning by Experience blog
Five Practical Mobile Learning Tips – Upside Learning blog

In 2010, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt described the mobile ecosystem as a “confluence of computing power, connectivity and cloud computing” and proclaimed a new focus for the industry – putting mobile first.

With this new focus comes a new emphasis on mobile learning.  A recent e-Learning Guild survey reports 70.2% of respondents are using their personal mobile devices for business applications.  That translates into using their devices to learn, not to mention browsing the Web, connecting to social networks, making purchases and playing games. The same survey found that “companies are progressing on the mobile front, and while the initiatives are as yet small…the percentage of companies that plan to do m-Learning has increased from 38.5% in 2007 to 51% in 2011.”

When does using m-Learning make sense?

In a blended learning model

Effective m-Learning is more than simply repackaging existing e-Learning. Rather it should enhance learning and support additional training materials like e-Learning modules and instructor-led training. M-Learning can activate knowledge before classroom training through exploratory exercises, or summarize the main concepts afterwards. M-Learning can be an excellent tool for just-in-time training, too.  For example, it can deliver readily available information in the form of performance support, like on-job-training materials, job aids, forms and checklists. It can also provide real-life scenarios using simulations and scenario-based games.

When it is continuous, ongoing, flexible and accessible

Learners want access to information on their own terms. For some that means they want access when it’s convenient, while for others it means access at the moment they need it. M-Learning should be available 24/7. It lets companies push out updates, offer reference materials via wikis, blogs, and forums, and provides collaboration through social networking, coaching or mentoring, and conferencing.

Here are a few examples of m-Learning in practice.

Customer Training & Sales Support

JPL partnered with Voith Turbo Inc. to create a mobile bus simulation that lets municipal bus drivers improve their driving skills, saving municipalities money and conserving energy. The development model we used delivers training on several platforms, including mobile and desktop. The beauty of this model is that it lets drivers learn real life skills where and when they have time to study.

JPL also worked with Medtronic to create a training and marketing tool that gives physicians up-to-date information on programming implantable devices and monitoring patients. The interactive simulation also gives hands-on experience with the latest technology to Medtronic sales people and clinicians. Like the Voith simulation, the Medtronic application is part of larger blended learning curriculum that includes a standard desktop e-Learning component.

Patient Education

Another JPL client, Jackson Siegelbaum Gastroenterology, needed a systematic way for Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) sufferers to track their symptoms as they work through the process of an elimination diet. Essentially, the application becomes a hands-on health education tool that lets patients actively manage their illness.

JPL developed an iPhone application to help diagnose EoE using a diary/calendar function that tracks user’s meals and snacks – thus helping them find the cause/solution to their problem. EOE Tracker lets patients share their diet and symptoms with their physician at the end of the six week period for analysis and diagnosis.

In all three examples the mobile application was one part of a blended approach.  In addition, these applications allowed data to be constantly accessed as well as updated from a mobile device. With a growing audience using mobile devices to access content, and with predictions that that smart phones will outsell all other computing devices in 2012, there is a clear demand for effective design for mobile learning. My next blog will explore these needs and discuss how to achieve this goal.

Instructional designers are learning experts.  They focus on learners and determine how information can best be structured in light of learners’ existing skills, knowledge and learning preferences, as well as the organization’s infrastructure to support learning. 

Being a subject expert and working closely with a body of knowledge changes your perspective.  You don’t see things in the same way as someone who is new to the subject. In contrast, the instructional designer is new to the subject in the same way the target audience will be.  This fresh perspective enables instructional designers to navigate the SME’s depth of knowledge and pull out the most important points that the target audience needs to learn.

Key skills that an instructional designer brings to a learning project include the ability to:

• Identify key target audience characteristics
• Quickly learn and organize subject matter
• Remain impartial in selecting information that meets both audience and organizational needs
• Restructure information to clearly and quickly teach it
• Design an evaluation to measure whether the audience has learned the material

The partnership between a subject matter expert and an instructional designer is where the magic really happens (well, I think it’s magic).  Both bring their expertise to the table – the SMEs, their content knowledge; instructional designers, their learning and technical experience.

The SME and ID Partnership

The outcome of this partnership is a learning solution that takes advantage of the SME’s knowledge combined with the instructional designer’s practical application of adult learning theory to create an engaging learning experience.

The result?  Changed behaviors and attitudes that deliver the business results that companies need.  That’s something every SME can appreciate.

Selecting an e-learning partner begins with defining your needs. You want to assess the strengths of your internal team and determine what you want to keep in-house and what you want to outsource to a partner. You’ll want to consider capacity, budget and timeline. You also need to determine if you want to engage a partner on a project basis or if you want a broader contractual relationship.  For more information on Learning Partnerships, you can check out my white paper on the topic.

Once you have a general idea of your needs, budget and timeline, you should develop an e-Learning Request for Proposal (RFP). The RFP is your tool for qualifying and eventually selecting an e-learning partner. It combines a clear articulation of your needs with a request for information from the provider such as company background, work samples, proposed solution, and projected costs. The completed RFP forms the basis for selecting the provider or qualifying a “shortlist” of providers for an in-person review and final selection.

We recently posted a custom e-Learning RFP template on our learning solutions website. The RFP template will help you organize your needs and reach out to qualified prospective partners. It will help you start a process where you assess the capabilities, compatibility and costs of different providers.  You will also use the Request for Proposal process to outline the criteria for selection. This is important to facilitate a fair selection process within your organization, much like when you hire an employee.

While developing an e-Learning RFP and a partner selection process requires time, it will help you properly document your needs and assess the qualifications of prospective partners. This will ultimately increase the likelihood of a successful relationship that increases the value of your training investments.

When it comes to training, telling an interactive story continues to be one of the most effective methods of engaging and educating people.

What does it look like?

Let’s say that you need to train your company’s project managers on how to accurately gather information and estimate a proposal. During your needs analysis you discover that project managers are not asking the right questions to accurately gauge project complexity which in turn impacts the estimate. In general terms the program might include these components:

• A fictitious company website that provides background information about the client
• A client “meeting” where learners can select questions and receive feedback about the caliber of questions employed. Questions that are reasonable but “off target” should be included to encourage the learner to be selective and not simply ask all questions on the list.
• A simulated database of similar projects for the learner refer to as they plan their response
• A “drag and drop” exercise that lets learners build a project scope from a list of key phrases, many of which are good ideas but which would not be appropriate for this particular client, followed by feedback from an expert coach, i.e., the computer module
• An overview of the estimating process where the actual Excel® sheet used for estimates is introduced and explained
• An exercise that guides the learner through completion of the estimate with feedback after every step

The above exercise teaches project managers the mechanics of the process, but there’s one more vital step – repeating the program using a different situation without providing any feedback until the entire process is completed. This measures whether the learner comprehends the content and can apply it in a realistic situation.

Telling an interactive story

DropTheWeapons.org is using a novel approach to video training. They’ve created an interactive video on YouTube called “Choose a Different Ending.” In this video you are a teenager who makes choices that lead to increasing violence or a peaceful resolution. You make the choice, you see the consequences. If you don’t like the outcome you can restart the program and make different choices. While this is not a typical business communication project, it does show the power of a compelling storyline delivered via a ubiquitous service such as YouTube.

What’s so special about this approach?

Scenario-based training, like the approach outlined above, accomplishes three things. First, it maximizes the potential for transfer of training by placing instruction within the context of how knowledge will be used. Second, it introduces the tools that learners will use on the job. And third, it’s inherently easier to remember facts when they’re encountered as part of a story. That’s because a story has structure – a beginning, middle and an end. Within the story things happen – you encounter problems, solve puzzles and find solutions. A story draws you in, let’s you try out different approaches and make mistakes without consequences. The success you achieve is real, and that can lead to real satisfaction.

Why doesn’t everyone do this?

A common objection to scenario-based training is that it’s hard to construct realistic case studies. It can be made simpler, however, if a template is used to gather information. For example, the template might include a brief description of the observed problem – “Project managers are not getting the necessary information to write an accurate estimate” – followed by a list of discrete skills required to address the problem. These are converted into instructional objectives and then handed off to a subject matter expert to flesh out the basic content.
Research shows that good judgment and decision making skills can be taught. Most important, though, is the fact that scenario-based training delivered as an interactive computer module is simply better at engaging employees in ways that help change behavior back on the job.

In the final analysis, technology doesn’t make bad training more engaging. It just allows us to distribute it more easily to a wider audience. But properly used, training partnered with technology lets learners become immersed in an interactive scenario that captures the essence of the job. And that moves us toward realizing the well-trained staff that is so fundamental to business success.

Sadly, technology makes programs like this easy to produce. These electronic page-turners are often mistakenly referred to as interactive learning experiences by virtue of being accessed via computer. But clicking the “Next” button does not make a program interactive, nor does correctly answering a multiple choice question guarantee competence.

What options are available?

Video is one technology that has the power to latch on to our emotions, move us to make decisions, and reinforce new behaviors. For example, Susquehanna Wealth Management used video as part of a blended learning design that showed bank tellers how to broach the topic of customer referrals when they noticed large withdrawals or deposits. Since Susquehanna didn’t have the necessary bandwidth to place video online they used short video vignettes on a DVD paired with an on location instructor and a facilitator guide. Learners could see the correct behavior modeled on the video and discuss it with the instructor and others in the class.

Just Cabinets, a home furnishing retailer, needed to teach staff successful selling techniques. With almost two dozen stores in four states, maintaining consistent delivery of content was a challenge. The solution was an online course featuring videos that modeled correct and incorrect sales techniques, plus tips for successfully closing the sale. Employees were able to see how they could interact with customers and create a profitable outcome.

How do you engage learners?

Technology-mediated training can be used to engage employees, but the key lies in creating an experience that mimics the behavior you expect from learners back on the job. This means you must consider what information is required, and then construct a scenario that encompasses the key facts. Next you populate it with opportunities for learners to react, make decisions and receive feedback. Along the way you provide tools and enrichment material, like spread sheets and databases used on the job, and links to websites with up-to-the-minute information.  Finally, you place the completed module on a learning management system (LMS) so you can customize the curriculum based on job title, and track results to help measure ROI. As new training modules become available, learners can be notified via email with embedded links taking them directly to the course sign-in page.

I’d like to know what examples you’ve seen of technology-based training designed to engage learners that worked well. What were the key points that made it work? Did technology add value to the training? How would you improve it?

In part two of this blog, I’ll explore the importance of telling an interactive story to explain a process.

In, “Out-learn the Competition,” an article published in the Spring 2011 issue of Catalyst Magazine, I explain how taking a learning solutions approach to your sales training challenge can help your sales teams be smarter than the competition and win more sales.