Empowering Employees With Contextual Microlearning
Training employees to use office technology, however crucial, can also prove to be time-consuming and can take a toll on office resources. Relying only on traditional IT training methods is an expensive strategy that keeps staff away from their desks for prolonged hours. It cannot be said that training programs are ineffective, but when coupled with contextual microlearning, the entire employee experience is enhanced for efficiency.
Making contextual microlearning a part of the IT training efforts of your organization will go beyond just transferring knowledge to your staff. Workers need help and guidance in the flow of their work as well as after a certain process has been explained. This is where contextual microlearning comes into play. Going beyond regular training, contextual microlearning provides step-by-step guidance to users as and when they need it without having to leave their digital work environment. Therefore, for sustainable knowledge transfer, contextual microlearning is a must for your workplace.
Regular IT Training Has A Short Shelf Life
Employee training programs [1] come with several challenges that make them insufficient in the long run. Let’s take a look:
- Training programs for certain software like SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, or other Microsoft 365 applications are expensive, making it untenable for smaller organizations. Smaller organizations find it harder to continue regular training of their staff, which in turn impacts the adoption and usage of such platforms.
- Learning is not everlasting. People often forget what was covered in training merely hours after. This is both a waste of time, money, and any equipment that may have been utilized. IT training is the same; it is lengthy and difficult to recall after a certain period of time.
- If employees are unable to recall what they have learned, it is likely they will spend a significant amount of time going back to training resources and looking up answers to jog their memory, causing a dip in productivity.
- One-time training offered at the time of new software adoption is only available to the then staff members, therefore, any new hires are unable to access the same information.
Standard IT training may seem the way to go about it at first but, in order to ensure that learning is sustainable, something more is required. Therefore, complementing IT training with something that is feasible in the long term becomes crucial for businesses.
Benefits Of Going Contextual
A contextual learning help system is one that proves applicable resources based on the tech tool that you are operating within. Depending on the page or part of the tool you are on, the learning resources that appear are highly relevant to that page.
Thus, without prior know-how of digital workplace technology, employees and end-users can start working right off the bat. If you are unsure of how to do a particular task in an application, simply follow along with the contextual help system that will walk you through the task and see it to completion. This help can be in the form of screen-shot videos or walk-through tabs, or other methods supported by the help system that take you from one step to the next.
The most noteworthy part about contextual microlearning is that it can be done without any hindrance to productivity levels. It allows end-users to pick up on information specific to them and put their newly acquired knowledge into practice immediately.
Start Implementing Contextual Microlearning For Employees Now
No matter what your IT training method of choice is, the end goal of all of them is to simplify the adoption, usage, and engagement of new technology. So why not invest in something that ensures the longevity of your training efforts [2]? It even goes to show that you invest in the growth and development of your people by providing them the best resources.
Solidifying learning is pivotal to maintaining the productivity of workers, which is why contextual microlearning needs to be part of your IT training strategy [3], making resources readily accessible when and where they need them. It takes away the pain points of traditional technology training, enabling organizations to make the most of their technology investment even in the long run.
References:
[1] 10 pain points of employee training
[2] Are your remote workers struggling with tech training?
[3] Microsoft Viva overview: Why context is crucial for Microsoft learning
