If you are shifting to a remote model from a work-from-office or hybrid setup, you must already have a lot on your plate. Why add training and development worries to it? Remote training is a widely adopted approach that has helped several organizations streamline their L&D initiatives. In this blog, we talk about the challenges you will face in setting up a remote training structure, how to overcome them, and how to effectively train remote employees.
Challenges With Training Employees Remotely
Remote training is highly beneficial but comes with its own set of challenges. If you are looking to train and manage remote teams, you must consider these challenges while establishing your structure.
Lack Of Supervision
If you have just introduced a Learning and Development setup in your organization or are about to introduce one, this is the most difficult challenge for you to overcome. Since employees in your organization have not had any on-the-job training experience, they will look at all assigned courses as some boxes they need to tick. This can be managed fairly well in person but when introducing a new L&D setup remotely, it is essential to introduce them to it properly. Have sessions centric to why you’re building a training program and emphasize how it will benefit them.
Takes Longer To Access Information
Location desired information is far easier in-person than remotely. If you have introduced a new training setup, your employees will have lots and lots of questions. You need to ensure that they have easy access to all the information they need to answer these questions. Having a centralized system, like an LMS, that facilitates your training needs is highly recommended.
Social Isolation
Remote workers often feel isolated and strive for social interactions. If you have an L&D setup that focuses on individual learners, you will not be able to hold the interest of your learners for long. Opting for more social forms of learning will, however, not only keep them engaged but also motivated. Auzmor Learn has social learning features like forums wherein learners can communicate with each other regarding a specific course or topic.
Technical Challenges
Having a competent learning infrastructure is essential for the success of your L&D efforts. Taking training sessions on Google Meet or Zoom calls is simply not enough. You need a proper platform that offers your employees a rich learning experience. Implementing an LMS can help you do just that and so much more. For example, if you conduct training sessions on Zoom calls, you will have to manually keep track of each learner and develop attendance and progress reports. Whereas, if you implement an LMS, all you need to do is assign the courses to desired learners and track their progress from the click of a button.
How To Build An Effect Remote Training Structure
Here’s what you can do to train and manage remote teams in a hassle-free way.
Choose A Learning Model
Choosing the right learning model can make all the difference to your training structure. So, choose wisely and in line with your organizational requirements. These are the three forms of remote learning models you can choose from:
- Synchronous learning:
Synchronous learning mostly includes instructor-led training sessions that are time-dependent and have all the learners taking part simultaneously. This form of learning model is only suitable for companies that are smaller in size and do not have an elaborate training program.
Asynchronous or self-paced learning includes learning at one’s own pace. Herein, the learners are given all the course materials in advance and they learn in their own space and time. This form of learning is mostly instructor-free and is considered an effective form of training.
- Blended learning:
Blended learning, as the name suggests, is a mix of both synchronous and asynchronous learning models. It usually involves developing a custom solution based on the training needs. It is a highly recommended learning model and can be easily facilitated through a competent LMS.
Implement Necessary Tools
If you are looking to manage remote employees’ training, it is imperative to give them the technical support they need. Implementing necessary tools like communication platforms and an LMS will help you better streamline your training efforts and make learning a lot easier for your employees.
- Communication platform:
A communication tool or platform like Google Meet or Microsoft Teams is essential for building active communication channels. While working remotely, it can be challenging to establish a direct line of communication with your peers and managers. Offering your employees the chance to connect will help them feel more connected and comfortable.
- LMS:
A learning management system is as important, if not more, as a communication platform. It allows you to seamlessly manage, deploy and track multiple training programs, offers progress reports of your learners, and makes developing content a lot easier. It automates and eliminates redundant tasks and allows L&D experts to focus on core training areas.
If you are looking to implement an LMS, you can check out this comprehensive dos and don’ts guide curated by our experts after interviewing numerous of our clients. However, if you are looking to migrate to another LMS, we also have a guide for you to help with a seamless transition.
Prepare Learning Material
The next most essential step in training employees remotely is preparing course material for your learners. You essentially have three options when it comes to developing course content- off-the-shelf, DIY, and custom content. We suggest mixing it all up because different types of training courses need different types of content and subject matter expertise. Here are a few examples to help you better understand:
- If you are looking at compliance courses and onboarding courses that are fairly general when it comes to content, you can opt for off-the-shelf courses.
- If you are looking at product training courses, you will need in-house experts to build those for you since nobody except people who work on the product intimately will be able to build those.
- If you are looking at sales courses, you can have them custom-made based on your varied requirements.
You can further read in detail about the types of content and their pros and cons in this blog.
We recommend implementing an LMS that offers an extensive content library as well as course-authoring tools, like Auzmor Learn, to make the task of content development easy for you.
Focus On Consistent Delivery
Consistent delivery of training courses is one of the best practices for training remote working employees. If there is a break in the learning pattern of your learners, they will quickly lose interest and forget what they had learned before. To maintain a consistent delivery of training courses and content, it is recommended to upload courses that are complete and vetted by subject matter experts. It is also important to regularly update the course materials to ensure they remain relevant in the ever-changing business landscape.
Track Progress And Generate Actionable Feedback
If one of the many questions you ask while managing a remote workforce is “how to effectively train remote employees,” the secret lies in regular progress tracking and generating actionable feedback. Although, doing so manually can be a strenuous task. If you have implemented an LMS or look forward to implementing one, progress tracking will be significantly easier for you. You will get real-time completion and non-completion updates; you will be able to monitor how many employees have taken a specific course and how many courses a specific employee enrolled in and completed.
Based on your progress reports, you can survey your learners and generate feedback on your training courses. The key here is to implement the changes suggested by your learners as promptly as you can. This way they will feel valued and will be more willing to contribute to the betterment of your training programs.
Now if you are looking for an end-to-end solution that caters to all your specific needs, check out Auzmor Learn! Our award-winning LMS is robust, intuitive, and extremely easy to use (a big advantage for organizations with a multi-generational workforce). We also have in-built course authoring tools, an extensive content library, social learning features, and progress tracking mechanisms.
