How to combine smart working with online training

Employees who work remotely already spend a lot of time in front of the screen. If you add an eLearning course to this, fatigue and distraction could undermine the effectiveness of the training. How to make an online course interesting in the period of working remotely?

Organize the work and training week

In many companies it is now understood that distance working could be a constant and not an exceptional fact. As a result, the continuous training of employees can only move from eLearning. In order to keep motivation alive, it is important to include distance learning within your work routine and to strengthen your ability to work remotely.

Here is an example of a good routine:

• The week begins with a briefing where you plan not only the activities and work objectives, but also the training objectives;
• One day a week is dedicated to synchronous training. It takes up to 30 minutes with a live trainer to revive interest. With eLearning it is always possible to leave asynchronous training to everyone's free choice;
• At the end of the week a new briefing serves to verify the results achieved and collect the feedback needed to improve the following week.

With at least three appointments, even short ones via video, employees know what to expect from the week in front of them and are encouraged to work by objectives.

Block social isolation with engaging online courses

Courses in eLearning mode should be prepared taking into account that you learn better through eLearning:

• Short modules
• Content in multiple formats (text, video, audio)
• Interactions with others
• Periodic review of learned notions

This is even more true for remote workers who may suffer from a lack of confrontation with colleagues or have other distractions online. The trainer can divide the course into micro-contents that can be used when needed and into multiple formats. In addition, he or she should provide meetings via the virtual classroom or video conferencing options of the Learning Management System (LMS) used. Finally, it could propose again under form of simulation or game the contents already treated giving them a new useful light to refresh the memory.

Offer peer support to remote workers

If the company does not have the possibility to provide a facilitator to help employees in difficulty with the new ways of working and training, it could entrust the task to a more experienced employee and create small groups of help among colleagues according to their specializations. The ability to find a facilitator who can help employees who are most in difficulty with the new work and training methods could be entrusted to a more experienced employee and create small groups of help among colleagues according to their specializations. At the same time, offering your help to a colleague in trouble is an incentive and confirmation that you will not stop working together and learning even if you are far away.

A good routine that provides for the inclusion of online courses easily usable independently and in videoconferencing, in addition to the support that you can have from your colleagues are small tricks that allow you to live better work remotely without sacrificing the flexibility of eLearning.