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In this issue:

1. How Long Should an e-Learning Course Be?
2. How to Coach Your Staff Effectively
3. Creating a Blended Learning Environment
4. Course Review: Telesales Communications



1. How Long Should an e-Learning Course Be?

What determines the appropriate length for a web-based or virtual learning experience? With classroom learning, research indicates that learners tend to lose focus after 20 to 30 minutes spent on a single topic. Since most development activities take longer than 30 minutes, trainers tend to mix learning methods and create opportunities for group interaction and discussion to keep the sessions lively. With self-paced online learning, is there a magic number, and how do you determine how long an e-learning course should be?

In a recent article for eLearn Magazine, Chris Bennett, Founder & CEO of Ah Ha! Media, outlines a few key factors that will affect the learner’s perception of elapsed time in e-learning.

Interest in and relevance to the topic being discussed.
Bennett suggests that the learner’s interest in the topic at hand will play a big role in the amount of attention given to a particular course or module. Learning providers can create customized learning experiences with realistic scenarios the learner would encounter in his or her own job role, in order to engage their staff.

Degree of interactivity.
Another factor to consider with e-learning is interactivity. Interactive courses put the learner in control and they become active participants. The more interactive the course, the more engaging it is for the learner. Bennett offers up the analogy of playing a game yourself, or watching someone else play. Most people would rather participate!

Production value.
Your employees will definitely notice if a course is poorly produced. In considering how long the course should run – you’ll want to know if the course is organized logically, if there are any visuals, if the narration is easy to follow, etc. Imagine yourself trying to actively participate in a course for more than an hour where the narrator is difficult to understand and the course navigation is hard to follow. Chances are, you won’t remember the course’s key points … just how frustrated you were with the experience.

Learning modules.
In order for a course to cover all the necessary content, while remaining engaging for the learner, Bennett suggests breaking the material down into focused lesson plans or learning modules. This way you don’t have to sacrifice content – and you can break down the key objectives into smaller bites of information that are easy to follow. Bennett recommends that each module run between 15 and 30 minutes long.

In determining the length for an e-learning course, Bennett suggests the course can be as long as you like, so long as you break the material down into digestible modules, and consider the factors that engage and hold learners’ attention.

Access the article featured at eLearn Magazine online.

2. How to Coach Your Staff Effectively

Can coaching solve the problems of the manager in the modern business environment? The answer is yes...and no!

Companies face many challenges in today's competitive market. These may include difficulties with processes or infrastructure, technology issues, or increased competition. These types of issues cannot be readily addressed by coaching.

Coaching can be used to solve only "human" issues. In other words, coaching can help people to solve people problems. To coach your staff effectively, you must be aware of the issues you are facing. You must begin by determining whether the problem is one that can be addressed by coaching or not. To do this, you must be confident that you can eliminate all "non-human" factors from the problem. Once you have established that you are dealing with a human issue, you need to decide what type of issue it is. There are three categories of human issues.

Career development. Staff may become bored or lose motivation if they feel they are in a "dead-end job." Employees who have been in the same role for a long time may feel like this, as well as people who are so confident in their abilities that they are no longer challenged.

Performance improvement. Performance problems often occur when someone knows what is expected but fails to perform anyway. Examples of performance issues include poor timekeeping, failure to meet targets, incorrect use of systems, and attitude problems.

Knowledge or skills transfer. Many employees want to do the best job they can, but they lack the necessary skills or knowledge. This type of issue often occurs with new members of staff or when systems or processes have been changed or updated.

Every person you work with is an individual. Being an individual means having your own perspective on what is happening around you. To coach effectively, you must take time to get to the heart of the problem. You must understand the individual and the issues being faced. The majority of organizations see performance improvement as the most critical part of coaching. But to improve performance, you must determine whether there is a performance issue to be addressed or whether other problems are present. Understanding the types of issues you are dealing with will help you to coach your staff more effectively.

The key to making the most of coaching is to use it when it is appropriate to do so. There's no point hollering at the driver to go faster if the car is out of gas. Coaching can help you to deal with human work problems. By taking the time to understand the issues faced by your staff, you will be able to make the right call—and coach much more effectively.



3. Creating a Blended Learning Environment

The ideal blended learning model is one that integrates a wide range of functions that empower learners with more control to participate in several formal and informal learning activities. This notion of design is based upon building a fully ‘learner-centric’ environment to allow learners to navigate from informational to instructional content, from skills assessment to supportive tools, and from coaching to collaborative environments.

We believe that is important to provide a ‘one-stop’ learning environment by integrating all of our resources as much as possible into a single site. This approach streamlines the informal learning process by supplementing self-directed learning with mentors and experts and making resources available 24x7. It uses technology to keep content current and makes it easier for learners to collaborate and network both synchronously and asynchronously and seeks to treat learners as customers.

We propose that the highest level of blended learning is a combination of formal and informal learning with a learner centric point of view. Nothing else will produce the ongoing and consistent support for performance gains and learner satisfaction. This is the ultimate goal of training managers and executives alike.

Looking for ways to create a more dynamic and blended learning experience for your employees? Download our free white paper, "Blended Learning Solutions for Smaller Companies," which outlines the 8 key steps for blended learning.

4. Course Review: Telesales Communications

Course Group
Sales 

Course Code
SALE0433

Media
Web-based

Course Overview
Since Alexander Graham Bell said, "Mr. Watson, come here, I want you," to his assistant on March 10, 1876, the telephone has become the major person-to-person communications tool. It has taken a place of dominance in the sales industry. As a professional salesperson, it is vital that you have effective telesales techniques. As a communications medium, the telephone has a dampening effect on our interpersonal communications. This course will help compensate for this effect by introducing you to the fundamentals of communicating over the phone and how to sell most effectively over the phone. In this course, you will learn how to use the telephone to achieve personal sales success. You will be given techniques that will guide your actions. You will be given strategies that will help you compensate for the telephone's lack of nonverbal cues. Since part of telephone communication requires listening, you'll be asked in this course to listen for various verbal cues. For this reason, certain sections of this course deviate from standard SkillSoft courses in that they present audio and audio cues without accompanying text. You will require audio to take these sections of the course.

This series will be useful for learners beginning careers as sales professionals, as well as for seasoned salespeople who are seeking to take their careers to the next level.

Expected Duration
6 Hours

Angela's Rating

5 Stars (Out of 5)

Angela's Review
Telesales Communications provides information on how to effectively use the telephone as a sales tool. This course addresses how to create a powerful phone presence while providing guidelines for achieving success on both inbound and outbound calls. It also discusses aggressive listening techniques, telesales etiquette, and many other tactical solutions that will enable you to gauge and measure your success as a telesales communicator. Too often we stay away from utilizing the phone during the sales process because of what we feel is lost in the way of nonverbal cues. In this course, you will be taught various strategies on how to overcome the lack of visible cues. You will also learn how to properly conduct yourself so that you will be perceived as a sales professional while using the phone as a sales tool. Overall, I would give Telesales Communications 5 out of 5 stars. This course appeals to a variety of learning styles by allowing the participants to apply the information learned through various question and answer segments, role-play scenarios, and a multitude of other forums. Additionally, this course reaches people at various stages in their sales career. Both beginners and seasoned salespeople alike can benefit from the information put forth thus strengthening their ability to convey a successful telesales message.

Angela Martinez is an Account Manager at Business Training Library.

Preview this e-learning sales course today! 

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