12. August 2009 16:18
Posted by Linda Öberg
In a world that is changing faster and faster, organizations need to be agile – to keep up and stay ahead – or they won’t survive. And changing the way things are done more often than not requires some kind of learning. But these turbulent times have forced companies to make significant cutbacks wherever possible. Travel and time off the job for training is a luxury that some no longer can afford. Surveys show that a majority of Learning & Development departments worldwide have suffered from significant budget cuts this year, and as a learning designer at SamSari I notice that our customers struggle with the same dilemma. So, how do you balance the equation?
Well, the obvious first step should be to ensure that any training that you do invest in is totally aligned with your business needs. But apart from that, L & D departments are coming up with creative ways to do more with less. Transforming whole or parts of face-to-face programs into distance learning is a major trend, and there are many methods for doing so. One idea that I particularly like, because it is simple and efficient, is to break down training sessions into series of shorter “bites” of learning that can be easily accessed on the job and at the convenience of the learner. Some of our clients have started exploring the possibilities of providing 10-15-minute chunks of training material that together make up a course. Chunks could for example be made up of sound recordings which the learner downloads to his/her computer or portable media player and listens to when convenient. The same thing can be done with video clips.
To me, this seems like an extremely effective and cost-efficient way of distributing learning content. The important part is to tie these small chunks together with discussions and other exercises to create a sense of coherence and progress. Sometimes it might be useful to just use a short “bite” of learning as preparatory work to make face-to-face training more efficient.
The point is that tough times increase the need for learning rather than decrease it, and the solutions we come up with can sometimes be more innovative and efficient than they would have been in a less turbulent world. Please let me know about your own thoughts and creative solutions on this subject in the comments section!
