Repurposing Assets For Soft Skills Online Training Material
Many organizations have an online training archive where they house all their outdated or forgotten resources. Like, those retro safety videos or serious games that flopped for one reason or another. But when it's time to develop new soft skills online training material, their L&D department overlooks these dusty demos, tutorials, and modules. Even though they could help your company cut costs and reduce development time. The question is, where do you even begin? How do you repurpose assets to build soft skills in the workplace and improve employee engagement? Let's explore 7 ways to recycle, reuse, and reduce your online training budget.
1. Convert Demos Into Bite-Size Skill Builders
You probably have demo videos sitting on the training shelves. They weren't designed for skills-based online training, but you can still use them to develop in-house talent. For instance, the video clip showcases positive communication skills between two co-workers. Sure, it's framed by safety policies and protocols. But you can still use a rapid eLearning authoring tool to remove irrelevant scenes and focus on active listening and non-verbal cues. In fact, it's best to create bite-size skill-building tools that are easily digestible.
2. Break Webinars Into Soft Skill Modules
Most companies record webinars for later viewing. Those who missed the live event don't miss out on the important discussion points. However, you can also break them into separate modules for your soft skills online training course. Create time stamps, so you know which sections to extract. Then add images, voiceovers, and background audio to enrich the viewing experience. As an example, your original webinar features a 5-minute personal story that highlights the importance of teamwork. Or a quick checklist of 'essential ingredients' employees need to build their interpersonal skills. Remove these clips from the live event and add them to your soft skills repository. Better still, develop a script and storyboard before the live event to make repurposing easier. Then you already have the soft skills modules mapped out and know which resources to include.
3. Reuse Audio Narrations For Online Training Podcasts
You don't necessarily have to use the entire presentation, slideshow, or live event recording. Simply repurpose the audio and transform it into a soft skills in the workplace podcast. Add sound effects, music, and interactive time stamps to improve employee engagement. For instance, they can skip ahead to the relevant portions of the podcast to get the info they need. Another cost-cutting option is to invite employees to develop their own podcasts based on their strengths. As an example, the customer service manager is known for their teamwork and positivity. Ask them to speak on the subjects and share their personal experiences. They might even develop an entire series to improve customer service scores and bolster self-confidence among the team.
4. Get Assessment Inspiration From Existing Courses
Your existing modules already have the basic building blocks employees need to develop talents. So, why not use the subject matter to create self-assessments that test employee skill proficiency. For instance, the module highlights the key attributes of a strong work ethic. Develop a quiz question for every attribute to determine if staffers understand how it ties into their work duties. Or how to exhibit this talent in the real world.
5. Transport Customer Personas Into Online Training Simulations
Many organizations include customer personas in their online training strategy. Maybe it's a personal anecdote about a challenging client. Or a customer profile that enables employees to choose the best product. Why not transport these personas into soft skills simulations to reduce development time. You already have the basis for the character. You've outlined their motivations, buying habits, and personality traits. Thus, all you need to do is create dialogue and decision points. Encourage employee training participants to apply their interpersonal and creative problem-solving skills to help the customer and achieve the best outcome.
6. Develop Branching Scenarios From Personal Anecdotes
Personal anecdotes help employees build an emotional connection with the content. Take it even further by using those stories as a foundation for online branching scenarios. The anecdote has all the plot points you need for the activity. All you have to do is chart different paths and outcomes. It's best to start with a storyboard to keep track of the decision points and where they lead. Combine those personas I mentioned earlier with these online training tales to make it even more immersive.
7. Schedule Monthly Content Housekeeping
This is more of a tip that enables you to maintain high-quality soft skills online training material and improve ROI. Schedule a monthly clean sweep of your content library. Evaluate every asset to ensure it's still 'popular' and caters to employees' needs. This may even employee surveys, assessments, and LMS metrics. The goal is to whip your repository into shape and only include assets that foster practical application. As that's the primary purpose of soft skills online training. There's nothing theoretical about communicating with customers, emphasizing with co-workers, or working well with teammates.
Repurposing existing assets isn't as simple as adding an intro and some strategically placed images. First, you must identify the objectives and ensure the content is relevant for modern learners. Then it's time to put your lateral thinking cap on and figure out how to reuse resources that aren't intended for soft skills online training. Finally, get feedback from your team to identify their gaps and personal preferences. This allows you to determine which assets warrant a spot in your online training curriculum based on relevancy and real-world application.
If you need to learn more about the importance of honing soft skills in the workplace, read our eBook Racing The Customer Service Clock: How To Develop Soft Skills Online Training That Achieves Rapid Results and find out all the benefits of investing in your employees' soft skills training.
