How To Reduce Corporate Learners Stress
Stress isn't necessarily a bad thing. In fact, a healthy amount of stress has the ability to increase our drive and motivation, as it triggers our natural instincts and gets the adrenaline pumping. Mild stressors can even improve our concentration by fortifying the bonds between our mental pathways and neurons. When our stress levels spiral out of control, however, it can lead to anxiety, memory loss, and decreased knowledge retention. This is why it's critical to create a calm, more effective online training environment for your corporate learners, and here are 8 tips that can help you reduce your corporate learners stress as much as possible.
- Choose colors carefully.
Colors have the power to trigger certain emotions. The color red, for instance, can make your corporate learners feel as though there is a sense of urgency or immediacy. Blue, on the other hand, has the ability to calm and soothe them. For this reason, it's important to learn the emotions that colors can evoke and choose them wisely. If you want to destress your corporate learners you should opt for muted, subtle colors instead of bold and bright hues. - Add soothing music.
Calming background music can immerse your corporate learners and create a relaxing atmosphere that enhances the benefits of the online training course. This is due to the fact that music is able to influence our mood and emotional state. When we feel angry or stressed, instrumental, classical, or ambient music can balance our mood and bring about feelings of serenity and peace. Just make sure that the background music doesn't overpower your online training course design. Give corporate learners control over the volume and playback so that they can participate in public settings. - Opt for a simple, chaos-free design.
The layout and page design has a significant impact on the overall aesthetic of your online training course, but it can also create specific emotions within your corporate learners. For example, chaotic graphic design with limited white space and extraneous images can make your corporate learners feel overwhelmed and stressed. A clean design with minimal graphics, well-organized text, and the ideal amount of empty space can bring about feelings of calm and cohesiveness. Conduct focus groups before your launch to ensure that your online training course is chaos-free and puts your corporate learners into a more relaxing frame of mind. - Make them laugh.
As they famous Milton Berle once said, "Laughter is an instant vacation". Humor in eLearning has the power to relieve stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions by giving your corporate learners a mental break from the online training experience. Integrate humorous stories, real world examples, and jokes that make your corporate learners feel at ease. There is a caveat to this, however. All of the humor you use should be culturally appropriate and non-offensive. This can be determined by researching the backgrounds of your corporate learners and figuring out which topics are off-limits. - Be optimistic.
Optimism can be contagious. If your online training content is inspiring, upbeat, and positive, then your corporate learners will be more likely to feel these emotions while they are participating in your online training course. When they answer a question incorrectly or struggle with a task, let them know that mistakes are an invaluable part of the online training experience and offer them the constructive criticism they need to persevere. Give them tips that can help them correct performance behaviors and direct them to supplemental resources they may find beneficial. Above all else, be optimistic with your online training approach and make them feel supported, safe, and secure. - Let them know what to expect.
Venturing into the unknown can cause a great deal of anxiety and stress. This is true for virtually everything in life, and online training courses are no exception. For this very reason, you should make your corporate learners aware of what's in store for them. What topics will they be exploring and what online training activities will they be asked to complete? Clarify your expectations and be clear about the benefits and applications of what they'll be learning. You may even want to include a tracking bar or online training course map in your design that they can use to monitor their progress. - Rely on repetition.
Repeating an action or task numerous times can soothe our nerves and put us into a state of calm. This is mainly due to the fact that repetition centers on familiarity. We already know what lies ahead of us and are able to focus on improving rather than mastering the online training process. It gives your corporate learners the opportunity to concentrate on all of the steps and ideas involved without having to worry about absorbing new information. To make repetition even more effective you can use different online activities that are based on the same task or concept. For example, when teaching your corporate learners how to complete a sales transaction you can use eLearning scenarios, simulations, and virtual presentations to emphasize the same steps and sub-tasks. - Give them a break.
Barraging your corporate learners with an abundance of information can lead to cognitive overload, which immediately triggers a stress response. This is why it's essential to give them frequent breaks and microlearning experiences by dividing lengthy online training courses into smaller modules that are easier to digest. Brief learning breaks also allow them to reflect on the subject matter and assimilate it more effectively, which leads to greater knowledge retention.
Stressors are all around us. Fortunately, you can make your online training course a refuge for your corporate learners by creating a soothing atmosphere that is conducive for skill development. Use these 8 tips to make your next online training course more engaging, effective, and emotionally-balanced.
One of the most effective ways to reduce corporate learner stress is to give them everything they need to be prepared whenever they need it. Read the article The Importance Of Ongoing Online Training: 4 Benefits For Your Employees to discover the importance of ongoing training and the benefits it can bring to your employees.
