Top eLearning Practices For Small To Mid-Size Enterprises
Most importantly, they should also analyze how the existing eLearning opportunities can be best implemented to ensure the overall acceptance by the respective workforce and the managers. Throughout the world, SMEs (small to mid-size enterprises) are increasingly becoming vital to ensuring the overall economic well-being of the nations. It is estimated that SMEs account for around 99% of all businesses and deliver around 42% of the total turnover. Toward meeting the specific requirements of the SMEs in the modern era, the presence of a properly trained workforce is of utmost importance. This is wherein the rise of eLearning for SMEs comes into play.
When you wish to create an effective working relationship with an SME—both during the design as well as development stages— it is essential to ensure the presence of a well-defined eLearning course for your staff. When you wish to be assured of fostering a healthy relationship between your design team and subject matters, here are 3 best eLearning practices to follow:
1. Educating The SME On eLearning Development
When you undergo eLearning training methods for the employees at your SME, it helps in providing detailed information on the given subject matter. Moreover, it can also help in educating the respective IDs (Instructional Designers) to design the given training course effectively. When you wish to achieve the best results for your SME with eLearning practices, it is important for you to educate the employees on the specific training requirements.
During the training period, it is important to make the workforce understand the process involved in designing a comprehensive eLearning training course. Take them through the entire eLearning course development process with the help of supporting instances. This will allow the workforce to appreciate the benefits of eLearning for a startup.
Moreover, while delivering content through the eLearning courses, it is important to note that the more the better. eLearning is all about collecting vital information into separate comprehensive modules comprising of important content. Therefore, through the eLearning course, it is important for you to make the workforce understand its importance.
2. Scheduling Time
When you wish to impart relevant eLearning knowledge to the workforce of your SME, scheduling time is of the utmost importance. Unless the workforce or a specific member belongs to the full-time eLearning team, it is important to set a realistic time frame for accommodating the respective busy schedules.
As a startup organization or SME, if you are struggling with managing time for your workforce to ensure the implementation of best eLearning practices, here are some tips from the experts:
- You can get the entire course content with the SME eLearning module. Based on the same, you can break down the trainee’s job into several sub-tasks while providing sufficient time between the submissions of each training module.
- You should aim at providing a detailed overview of how you wish to achieve development through eLearning. You should also explain the respective stages in which the trainee’s involvement is expected along with the time interval they are expected to be present.
- Provide a specific timeline for every single deliverable. By doing so, it can help in streamlining the respective schedules of the trainees while allowing them to focus on relevant areas of work.
- Make an agreement of a proper deadline for every deliverable as well as a review cycle.
3. Using Tools For Simplifying The Review Process
What is the appearance of a typical eLearning review process in your SME or startup organization? In most leading organizations out there, eLearning review serves to be a multi-round process amongst several trainees. This process tends to result in standalone and multiple feedback documents. However, these documents are quite difficult to track as well as manage.
As such, you can look forward to making use of the potential offered by a myriad of online review tools. This will help your SME to be relieved of the challenging process of reviews. When you make use of an advanced online review process or tool, the reviews can be implemented simultaneously by the presence of multiple reviewers.
Some of the top benefits of online reviews that you can look forward to achieving for your SME are:
- User-friendliness in comparison to PPT and Word formats
- Simultaneous reviewing of the respective online courses by multiple online reviewers (this helps save time while allowing for conflicting feedback)
- Access that is provided anytime, anywhere—even on modern mobile devices
- Ability to deal with one version of the respective feedback document in comparison to the multiple standalone documents
Is eLearning Right For Your SME?
eLearning for startup organizations is an increasing trend in the modern era. A simple LNA—Learner Need Analysis mechanism—can help you to decide whether or not your startup organization needs eLearning practices. LNA is known to provide startups or SMEs with an opportunity to reflect on the respective skills that are needed to succeed, the skills that your workforce already has, and the skills that are needed to develop.
An LNA (Learner Need Analysis) in context with SME eLearning can be defined as the review of learning as well as development requirements. This in-depth review is designed to support trainees or the entire team in organizational development. LNA serves to be a vital development tool that helps in evaluating the respective skills of the employees. It also helps in analyzing the respective behaviors and attitudes of the employees in your SME.
The review tool helps in deciding whether or not the available workforce skills and knowledge are sufficient to meet the respective organizational needs. Moreover, it also carries out an in-depth assessment of the current or anticipated gaps that might exist in the learning process. The main aim of the LNA tool is to bridge the gaps through the adoption of a series of methods ensuring both support and development.
eLearning For All
The modern concept of eLearning is known to apply to all disciplines of life. The possibility that modern eLearning processes are highly accessible, open, and inter-cultural might not be necessarily applicable. This is because every group or entity out there might have individual needs and expectations. As technologies are becoming more advanced, it is quite visible that the need for ensuring universal accessibility is at the center of any major developmental undertaking. The needs of the employees at your startup organization should remain at the core of any given eLearning course that is under development.
When both technology and eLearning remain open to adaptability, it becomes apparent that content should match the respective individual needs. An SME that looks forward to employing a variety of skilled employees can most likely recognize the individual needs along with preferred learning styles. The adaptability turns out to be highly complex while ensuring financial implications. However, eLearning processes should match the respective aims, objectives, expectations, and aspirations of both the learners and the providers.
