Designing Digitally
08/28/2018
Training employees is an imperative step that you take when bringing new workers onto the team. Also, at intervals throughout the year, you may have new skills to teach or information to convey to team members. Currently, you may use in-person methods to address these tasks. However, such an approach can also come with snafus.
While in-person training does have its perks, especially for certain tasks, you should also consider the benefits of mobile learning. Mobile learning, or mLearning, has a host of positive effects for your employees, many related to productivity.
Imagine that you want your employees to have the skills necessary to operate a new tool or to reach higher sales goals. In order to accomplish this task, you must train them. Even in a small company, finding the time to get everyone together can prove difficult. Some employees may be distracted during the meetings, and they may not fully understand how to reach the new goals. When you opt for mobile learning, however, you can develop training modules and quickly relay this information to your employees. As long as you require them to complete the training by a specified time and date, you can start to really set your sights on these new goals.
Think about the last staff meeting that you managed. Chances are that some of your employees were texting away on their cell phones and that others took protracted bathroom breaks. These distractions can interfere with the learning of other employees too. With mobile modules, you don't have to worry about these distractions. Although you cannot necessarily monitor every movement that your team members make on their cell phones, you are giving them more freedom to work at their own pace. As a result, they are absorbing the skills more readily, which can lead to an increase in their learning.
You've probably had another recurring experience at some of your staff meetings. You might go into the meetings with a particular goal in mind. However, an employee starts to talk about another issue. Soon, everyone is discussing that issue, and you are no longer working toward your goal. While you certainly want to leave room in your business model for employee feedback and concerns, opting for mobile training can entirely eliminate these superfluous conversations. Your team members can directly and immediately access the important information, which allows them to implement the skills more readily.
Mobile training solutions can also help to reduce the number of questions that employees ask after learning a new skill. For example, after the last in-person training session, you probably had a number of employees asking questions that were already answered. You don't want to discourage your team members from asking legitimate questions, but mobile training solutions can give your employees access to this information at their fingertips. While it may take you awhile to figure out exactly what to include, you can eventually implement frequently asked questions as part of the training module. As employees are trying to recall details of the training, they can simply return to the app or program that you developed. Learning on-the-go allows for this useful resource. When employees don't have to schedule an appointment with you to ask a question, they can become more productive.
During training sessions, employees may often feel as though they are lost. They may wonder if they are understanding the concept or implementing the technique properly. With mLearning, you can provide them with the opportunity to complete knowledge checks and to test out the skills that they are learning. In the tool, you can offer positive feedback when a task is completed correctly. Employees are, as a result, getting a strong sense of whether or not they are heading in the right direction. Furthermore, your team members will feel encouraged. When they see that they are improving as a result of the training module, they can feel more comfortable in the work environment. Employees who are confident are likely also more productive.
If you have been out of school for quite some time, you probably didn't learn in the same way that your youngest team members did. They likely were in classrooms where technology had a major role, and they may feel most comfortable learning when forms of technology and graphics are involved. As a result of implementing mobile learning, you are allowing employees to access information in a way that they understand. And if your employees understand what you are trying to convey, then productivity levels are likely to increase.
After your employees learn the new information, they can begin to put these practices into play quickly. Therefore, you want to encourage them to complete the training as soon as possible. Using mobile online training means that they can complete the modules at a time that works for them.
Increasing the productivity of your employees is certainly an important goal that mobile learning can help you achieve. Contact the team at Designing Digitally today to get started!
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