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The #1 Provider of Training Solutions for Growing Companies!

In this issue:

1. Blending a Successful Learning Mixture
2. Outwit. Outlast. Out-train.
3. Your Training Resolution
4. Course Review: Enhancing Your Listening Skills



1. Blending a Successful Learning Mixture

Blended Learning continues to be an effective technique for learning organizations around the world, with limitless potential for successes … and failures. How can you ensure your organization is blending the right training ingredients for development success in 2007?

Blended learning has been officially defined as a combination between four different methodologies:

• Applying different forms of instructional methods (classroom, e-learning, coaching, collaboration, simulation, etc.)
• Combining delivery technology (internet, intranet, CD-ROM, DVD, etc.)
• Mixing teaching approaches (behavioral, cognitive, and constructive, etc.)
• Integrating formal and informal learning activities (classroom vs. one-on-one coaching)

Generally speaking, however, blended learning means combining group training methods like instructor-led classroom training, with self-paced learning options, such as online courses or texts. One successful blended learning approach is to offer a knowledge assessment online, then assign a specific classroom training session dependent on the results of the knowledge assessment, and follow-up the group training with e-learning development plans and post-testing. Simple enough? Clearly, blended learning is more than handing up additional offerings to your management team and expecting it to stick with their teams. As with any learning initiative, implementing a blended learning strategy in your organization will require the commitment and motivation of a number of champions within your company.

In today’s workplace, the traditional training method of having a committed schedule of classes offered is often too rigid for our ever-changing schedules. With technology at our fingertips, and many employees working remotely or far from the classrooms at corporate headquarters, giving your employees a variety of approaches, offerings, and timetables – allows your staff the freedom to integrate training and development into their everyday work, and into your workplace culture.

Want to learn more about how you can implement blended learning at your organization?

Join us for a free educational webinar on blended learning, or download our white paper on the 8 Key Steps of Blended Learning.




2. Outwit. Outlast. Out-train.

Provided by our e-Learning Content Partner, MindLeaders.

Looking to drive e-learning usage? Why not try a contest and have some fun along with the learning? There are infinite ways to structure a training contest, but have you ever considered giving yours a TV reality show theme?

Set the Stage

Themes help to build interest and participation. And what better than a popular television show to give your contest more appeal. In place of "American Idol," you can create a contest where the winning learner is named "Training Idol." Or create your own version of "Survivor" where the learners have to complete "challenges" tied to their training. These might include mastering a certain number of courses or completing a learning plan. Pick your favorite and have fun!

Use a brown-bag lunch to discuss the contest and a follow up to announce winners (conference in remote staff, if practical). Talk it up! Get winners to share how and why they spent time training!

Your contest can focus on any measurable result, but here are some ideas:

• To encourage new sign-ups: Enter the names of all new learners within a given month into a raffle for a prize or prizes (these could be anything from pens or coupons for coffee up to an iPod or beyond).
• To encourage course completions: Put the names of all learners who complete a course (or several courses to make it more challenging) during a month (or a quarter) into a raffle. Perhaps reward non-winners with a small consolation prize as encouragement.
• To encourage course mastery: Hold a raffle for everyone who complete a specific course (or any course) with a certain level of mastery (say 80% or higher) or reward the top three scorers. This could work especially well for Sexual Harassment Awareness training or similarly required topics.
• To encourage scores improvement: Have learners take the initial skill assessment, complete the course, and then take a post skill assessment. The person with the greatest improvement in scores wins a prize. This one is performance rather than luck based. Or you can reward all those who raise their score a certain amount.
• To encourage series completion: Give learners completing an entire course series individual recognition in a company newsletter or a spot of honor on the company training intranet and/or a gift certificate or other prize. This is another performance-based award.
• To tie into business goals or objectives: Ask your people to submit a brief recap of how taking a course (or courses) improved their productivity or performance within the company, contributed to success on a specific project, or saved the company money. Either appoint a panel of judges to review the stories or be the judge yourself. In order to attract entries to this type of contest the prize should be fairly attractive (gift certificate for a nice restaurant or store, etc.). You could have a single winner or award 1st–3rd prizes. Winner’s stories could be forwarded to management to gain visibility about the value of e-Learning. This type of contest provides a winning combination: recognition for the student and visibility for the value of the training program.

Make the most of your contest:

• Send emails or create flyers placed in highly visible locations announcing the contest dates and prizes.
• Send reminder emails part way through the contest either to remind people of deadlines or to encourage those already participating or in the lead.
• Have fun!

Prize Suggestions:

• Foods (Mrs. Field’s Cookies, Candy, frozen yogurt, etc.)
• Gift certificates (local restaurants, stores, coffee houses, gyms, movies, etc.)
• VIP parking spots for “x” amount of time
• Cafeteria vouchers for free or discounted meals
• Lunch with a VIP
• Logo wear from your corporate store.
• A basket of gourmet goodies (on display somewhere throughout the month as an incentive
• Mouse pads
• Cup warmers (for keeping hot beverages hot)
• A floating trophy that has winner’s names engraved and which they get to keep on their desks or in a prominent area of the company for a month (or quarter)

If you’d like more ideas on creating a contest and driving usage, please to contact your Account Manager at 888.432.3077.

If you have an idea for a training contest, share it with us!




3. Your Training Resolution

By Candace Fisher

If you’ve been gathering data on the training dollars you’ve been spending, now is the time to pull all that information together for an annual training report. If you haven’t been collecting data, you may need to take a step back and determine how your training has tied into your departmental and organizational goals.

For each training program, you need to decide how you will evaluate its effectiveness. (Compliance with the law? Reduced accidents?) Trainers can and should use feedback to improve and/or tailor the training to the audience. While you can’t please all of the people all of the time, ask for honest feedback from the training participants – and then review and act on it. Later, following-up on the effectiveness of the training can provide information on the relevance of the training and the level of the transference of learning (whether the participants were able to apply what they learned to the workplace).

An annual training report (which may be a summary of monthly or quarterly data you already have) will help you analyze the training and its overall effectiveness so that you can clearly convey the results to senior management.

Whatever basis your organization uses for budgeting, you probably have to justify the dollars you request for your training budget. According to a November 2006 article in HR Magazine, “many [training] departments lack a systematic approach to analysis and a regular means of communicating the results to senior management. In today’s competitive environment with each business function vying for its share of the budget, that can be a big mistake.” As you develop your training report, review your current measures to ensure that you are gathering useful information that will help in evaluating effectiveness and planning for next year’s budget.

In order to do that, you should start tracking now! It’s a lot easier to capture the data as you go along rather than trying to re-create data next fall.

Candace Fisher, SPHR, is the Manager of Education for the Management Association of Illinois




4. Course Review: Enhancing Your Listening Skills

Course Code
COMM0154

Media
e-Learning

Course Overview
Have you ever been taken by surprise by an unexpected deadline? Have you ever left a meeting unsure about what was decided? Have you ever asked a supervisor for advice, only to later forget what your supervisor told you? You can avoid problems like these by using effective listening skills. Effective listening helps you to know what's going on in your organization, get cooperation from your co-workers, solve problems, and be successful in your work. However, most people don't listen very well. This course will help you to improve your ability to listen to others. You will learn the skills you need to understand what people say, read their unconscious nonverbal messages, and get others to want to listen to you. You also learn how to apply these skills in a variety of business situations such as interviews, business meetings, and negotiations.

Target Audience
People at all levels of an organization. This course is particularly useful to those who need strong listening skills, such as managers and team members, to be effective in the workplace.

Expected Duration
3 Hours

Megan's Rating 

5 Stars (Out of 5)

Megan's Review
“Enhancing Your Listening Skills” has insightful communication tips for everyone! What I found surprising about this course, is that it doesn’t just stop at ways to make yourself a better listener when others are talking, it really delves into techniques for better listening to yourself, to strengthen your own “internal communication” to avoid stress and gain assertiveness. This course also presents ways for positively handling communication “hot buttons” that others may push, causing you to drift off or think of your rebuttal. The role-play scenarios are extremely helpful in seeing the non-verbal cues and behaviors that this course teaches you to avoid. I walked away with some easy to use, practical strategies for improving my listening and overall communication style in the workplace, and in my personal life!

Megan Pack is the Marketing Manager at Business Training Library.

Interested in previewing "Enhancing Your Listening Skills"?
Demo this e-learning course!

Business Training Library - 285 Chesterfield Business Parkway - Chesterfield, MO 63005
888.432.3077 - Fax: 636.534.1001 - http://www.bizlibrary.com