The answer is probably both. We often hear that gathering colleagues to attend face-to-face training sessions at hotels and conference centres will never be the same again. Similarly, colleagues training others at the workplace or central headquarters when implementing new systems, processes and mindsets is unlikely to be the same in future.
Recent communication technologies make it much easier for us to share knowledge without meeting in person, whether that be through sharing cloud versions of documents, guidelines, screen demonstrations, video learning, chats and conferencing etc. Furthermore, sharper focus on our climate and serious Coronavirus concerns have accelerated the need for us to share knowledge digitally rather than by transporting groups of participants to physical training locations.
So our leadership of learning is more important now than ever. We need to train the creators of learning processes and materials to reap the technological benefits of sharing knowledge in new simple ways. And we need to train the trainers on how best to specifically add more learning to encourage motivation, mindset and behavioural changes – whether that be online or face-to-face.
Significant savings and improvements can be made via newer communication technologies, which, when designed well, reduce the need for trainers and training sessions. Yet, this we now know is not sufficient to ensure true participant engagement. Seeing a series of learning videos or chatting with a learning bot can be important but often not enough to make actual behavioural changes stick at the desired quality and efficiency. Here you need a group of competent trainers/super-users as well as ongoing management attention during the roll out.
Train the trainer. Train the trainer helps your selected group of trainers or learning professionals to succeed in developing and delivering highly-relevant and engaging sessions – whether that be face-to-face or online. The goal is to ensure that knowledge-sharing and reflection are balanced and utilized effectively in motivating processes led by great trainers.
Train the learning creator. Learning creator training helps your learning and development professionals/super users create high-impact learning solutions. They select the steps and tools which can help them plan and customize to suit their specific situation. Competent learning creators develop great learning experiences with the correct blend of learning and training elements.
We hope this helped a little. In our experience, spending time on this will save you a lot of time and money – and you will achieve better business results.
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