How Freelancers Benefit From Microlearning
Business environment in the digital age demands constant earning and development because, if we drop the ball on a particular matter, our knowledge could quickly become obsolete and we could lose our competitive edge. Businesses are aware of this phenomenon, so most of them make an effort to implement some sort of training periodically. However, a growing number of freelancers on the labor market oftentimes don't have the necessary resources to fund their professional development. Incidentally, they are the ones that need the education most, because, considering the nature of their career choice, they must be multi-skilled in order to sustain their competitive advantage.
Luckily, freelancers have a myriad of resources at their disposal because the internet makes information sharing effective and effortless. All they need to do is learn to recognize the resources that are reliable and up to date. Numerous video tutorials, how-to guides, and podcasts are readily available whenever needed, and have to some extent replaced hours of materials delivered through various platforms that are forgotten before they're ever fully implemented.
Due to their lack of time and money, freelancers worldwide, often unknowingly, implement the latest trend in professional training, the so-called microlearning. It's a strategy that entails learning through bite-sized, condensed lessons, which target specific skills and enable individuals to close their knowledge gaps ad hoc. Here are the 5 ways freelancers benefit from microlearning.
1. Better Affordability
Most freelancers charge for their services by the hour, so the adage "time is money" applies to them in the most literal sense. Setting aside resources for training courses that could last up to a couple of months might represent a major setback, given that it diverts the energy they should be investing in keeping their existing clients and attracting the new ones.
Bite-sized chunks of information freelancers need to perform their jobs and gradually perfect their practical skills are easily available online. Oftentimes they’re only one Google search away! Thanks to the rapid development and the growing importance of content marketing, most industries make the regular creation of quality and useful content imperative, so we can rest assured there'll be no lack of these specific, valuable –and free– bursts of information for the time being.
2. Higher Efficiency
Even though the traditional learning methods provide clear structure and assemble the learning materials systematically, it's still highly inefficient because all the information is delivered in bulk, long before it will be used and most of the time it's completely out of context.
As a just-in-time learning model, microlearning enables immediate reinforcement of the knowledge or skills acquired, given that it aligns with the specific situation requirements. Freelancers benefit from microlearning because they can quickly absorb smaller units of information they need to perform a specific task or solve a problem. The more skills freelancers demonstrate, the more likely it is they will impress their prospective clients. When starting a business cooperation, freelancers can't really tell if they'll be able to follow up on all of their client's requirements. However, it pays to go the extra mile and impress them with certain additional services that take little to figure out but mean a lot in their client's eyes.
3. Greater Flexibility
The omnipresence of mobile devices and 24/7 internet access are the two main factors that contribute to the rapid growth of the freelance economy. The flexibility of such employment setting is also reflected in the professional development options freelancers have at their disposal. Constant access to a selection of small bits of useful content to be consumed whenever necessary enhances learning and gives individuals more control over how and when they acquire new skills.
Due to the large volume of work freelancers often need to perform within a limited time frame and shortened attention span they're suffering from, adjusting to the requirements of an information-rich digital world might be their best option and quickly turn into their biggest strength.
4. More Autonomy
Many freelancers base their career choice on the fact that they greatly value the luxury of choosing to do only the things they excel at and truly enjoy. Or at least that's how it should be. The same goes for the professional development. Freelancers are fully aware that they need to keep their edge by constantly updating their marketable skills and knowledge.
Microlearning gives freelancers the desired autonomy when it comes to learning options as it is fully customizable and enables individuals to modify the learning process according to their personal specifications or preferences. It also caters to different learning styles, leaving the choice of how a particular skill and information will be acquired to them.
5. Faster Progress
The simple fact that the materials used in microlearning are easy to go through and quick to comprehend significantly enhances the learning process. The desired effect is easily accomplished because individuals need to rely on active learning methods, which alone ensures better knowledge retention.
One great resource tends to lead to another, and at a certain point it doesn’t even feel like learning. It just becomes fun. Chances of stumbling upon valuable information across a myriad of platforms blur the lines between necessity and amusement, so learning often becomes a positive side effect of a couple of fun hours spent online.
Conclusion
Freelancers value their time tremendously and whatever it takes to reach higher productivity quickly should become their go-to method. A foolproof way of securing faster learning progress is finding an approach to stay disciplined, adaptable, and resilient. Microlearning in its many forms undoubtedly caters to such requirements.
