With the myriad of challenges that businesses unaccustomed to remote work might be facing right now, it could be easy to overlook the importance of remote team training. Don’t! It’s a crucial investment that, done properly, will lead to increased productivity and a positive hit on your bottom line. With your team dispersed, what is the key technology to invest in to ensure your training returns on staff and company growth? Here are five top technology tips to train your remote team without compromising their learning experience or breaking the bank:-
- Keep Training In One Place
In today’s world, remote training strategies to upskill staff are no longer optional. Onboarding remote employees has to be of consistently high quality as this determines their level of engagement - crucial when you’re not chatting around the coffee machine or in the kitchen. A CLOUD LMS will keep training centrally located and consistent but at the same time accessible all over the world. New hires can be immediately added to the database, and their onboarding can be tracked wherever they are. From there on, you can continue to deliver high-quality remote training, whilst saving on expensive network infrastructures.
- Make Courses Simple And Easy To Access
You’ll probably agree that passwords have become one of the greatest bugbears of the Digital Era. From online banking and email to social media accounts and Apple IDs, the average human has hundreds of numbers, letters and special characters swimming through their heads each day. Enter the SINGLE SIGN-ON (SSO) METHOD - which allows people to access all of their cloud-based applications with the same login. Like a magic wand, SSO wafts away the hassles of training access and allows remote employees to start or resume their training with just one click. Plus, when it’s combined with mobile integrations, SSO gives remote employees the flexibility to learn from anywhere. If your LMS (Learning Management System) doesn’t have SSO support, it’s time to upgrade.
- Ensure That Learning Is Always Convenient
In order to successfully boost remote staff performance, training must also be delivered quickly enough to meet business needs. Remote workforce training needs to be accessible to all employees at all times, and from anywhere. So what’s the solution? LMS MOBILE APPS (for both iOS and Android devices.) They will allow your remote workforce to learn on-the-go through the technology they love and use the most: their mobile phones. Bear in mind that the learning content should adjust to different screen sizes and browsers (and ideally be available both offline and online) - so that the learning experience is not compromised depending on the device it’s being accessed through.
- Make Training An Interactive Learning Experience
Technological innovations have transformed the world of work. Today, your eLearning courses will be in fierce competition with information, via emails, Whatsapp, Google, social media, phone calls, Slack messages - the list of online distractions is endless - even more so when team members aren’t under direct supervision in an office. How then do you train remote employees in a way that captures and keeps their attention? The answer is LMS CAPABILITIES AND FEATURES THAT SUPPORT VIDEO, INFOGRAPHICS, LIVE WEBINARS, GAMIFICATION AND DISCUSSION FORUMS. This will make your remote workforce training fun and engaging. Plus, an LMS that supports LIVE VIDEO-CONFERENCING solutions means that you can bring the instructor to the learner, wherever they are in the world, without the costs of travel. This way, real-time, in-person training strategies can still be used for engaging remote employees.
- Monitor Learner Engagement And Performance
All employees want to know what they’re doing well, where they can improve, and which skills their next career advancement depends on. What to do when remote training does not allow traditional feedback methods (like in-person performance reviews and assessment by observation)? Invest in an LMS THAT SUPPORTS MULTIPLE TYPES OF QUESTIONS AND TESTS, so that employees can get quick and relevant feedback from managers and instructors, no matter where they work. Use quizzes with AUTOMATED FEEDBACK to help employees gauge their level of understanding as they progress through their remote workforce training. Then LEVERAGE EXTENSIVE REPORTING FEATURES that provide information on learner progress, completion rates, learning performance, course engagement and more. These insights will become key discussion points for performance conversations and career planning discussions with remote employees.
One of the biggest mistakes companies make is not training their out-of-office employees at all. So, when it comes to training remote employees, don’t let ‘out of sight’ mean ‘out of mind’. Equip your remote teams with the powerful technology they need to make continuous learning an enriching and beneficial experience for all.
If you’re interested in working with an offshore outsourcer who will help you manage effective eLearning for your remote team, download our eBook, '30 Hints & Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Remote Teams’. It will ensure you're informed and have the right questions to ask when considering remote onboarding and the next steps.