Design eLearning To Reduce Stress In The Workplace
This might seem a little far-fetched at first. I can hear you say, “Come on, eLearning to reduce stress, really?” But bear with me a while. According to a survey carried out by LinkedIn, employees who spend time at work learning are 47% less likely to be stressed, 39% more likely to feel productive and successful, 23% more ready to take on additional responsibilities, and 21% more likely to feel confident and happy. To sum it up, learning actually makes you happy. But that’s learning in itself, as to how eLearning can reduce stress, it’s all in the eLearning design. In this article, we’ll discuss how eLearning can be designed to reduce workplace stress.
Before we begin, you may ask, “Why are people stressed at work at all?” and the answer would be—for a number of reasons. From the pressure of deadlines to the demand to be available 24/7 to not being paid enough, to job insecurity, to juggling work-life balance. There is no end to what drives stress in the workplace. But if we talk specifics, people are stressed because they can’t learn. Again, this might seem like a bit fanciful but actually, it makes sense. The LinkedIn survey mentioned above mentions that the most inspiring thing about work is the “opportunity to grow.” Now, without learning taking place in the workplace, what will inspire employees? Secondly, the No. 1 reason corporate employees look for another job is when they realize they’re not learning and growing at their present job. Most successful, fast-growing, digitally enabled companies have the happiest employees and are differentiated by only one thing: they’ve transformed the way employees learn. But I digress, let us return to our topic for this article, designing eLearning to reduce workplace stress.
1. Use Calming Colours
Colours play a pivotal role in triggering specific moods. For eLearning, you need colour themes that calm and relax individuals, while also keeping them alert and attentive. A combination of green and orange works amazingly well, as green is a calming colour, and orange boosts alertness and creativity. Muted and subtle colour combinations are also known to calm and relax learners. You can also experiment and play with colours yourself to create mood-enhancing and engaging eLearning.
2. Add Soothing Music
Music is known globally to reduce stress and elevate mood. Music, depending on which type you use, can help learners focus, calm frayed nerves and make learning enjoyable. A great idea would be to let the learner choose the type of music they want to play while they attempt the course.
3. Keep Course Navigation Simple
Complex navigation with too many buttons and too many things happening at once can confuse learners, adding to the stress they already suffer with. An eLearning course should have simple navigation, which is easily understandable, where everything works exactly like what it looks like and exactly as it’s supposed to. Learn to use white spaces smartly in your courses. The whole eLearning design should be non-threatening, low-stress and breezy. The content, of course, should be built on the needs and intellectual capacity of the learner. Don’t screw with it.
4. Use Microlearning
Well, microlearning is a proven way to increase engagement and retention, but do you know that it can help reduce stress? Come to think of it, that shouldn’t be too hard to believe. After all, microlearning offers bite-sized chunks of knowledge that are not more than 5 minutes long. Simply put, they are simply too short and concise to induce stress. On the contrary, they boost confidence and motivate learners to learn more.
5. Employ Humour
What could possibly reduce stress levels better than humour? Use jokes in the middle of content, in the text, or in images, maybe include a funny video in your eLearning course. You can even use animated characters or mentors to deliver one-liners or act in funny ways in between the course. These strategies relieve stress, anxiety, and any surfacing negative emotions while creating a healthy learning environment. However, bear in mind not to turn all of your course into a “joke.”
In conclusion, eLearning is a great way to manage stress in the workplace. Just remember the above-mentioned tips, and feel free to add anything you think might help reduce stress levels in learners/employees.
Originally published at cblpro.com.