There has been a growing trend over the past few years for more engaging and consistent forms of training while reducing costs. To address this, the Ten Six team have been a leading provider to clients with our online video training solutions which support enterprise project management implementations. In particular, large organizations, including global companies, who are deploying Primavera P6 EPPM are attracted to this type of training for many reasons. While it’s hard to abandon the mindset that the classroom is the most effective means of learning new skills, in todays world of ‘anytime, anywhere, on any device’, more and more organizations are embracing the consistency and time saving opportunities that video training offers.
Delivering online video training via today’s Learning Management Systems allows organizations to track the individual progress of participants as well as their performance including test scores. This provides immediate feedback on the effectiveness of the class as well as for future content adjustments and additions.
Organizations that have embraced this method of learning, often broaden the scope of the training class to cover interaction with other processes and systems while explaining how the content fits into the overall company vision. This often includes video clips from the CEO and other senior managers talking about how these new processes and tools benefit the organization at their level.
Benefits
There are many benefits to this training approach with consistency of delivery often being mentioned as a significant one within large organizations. However, there are many more advantages and below are a few that we’ve experienced first hand with clients.
- Engaging and stimulating method of visual learning makes participants more enthusiastic and willing to learn. The combinations of video, hands exercises and quizzes allow participants to see the benefits of making good decisions and the problems of making bad ones without it happening in real life. It also ensures that much more of the content is retained by the participant eliminating the need for retraining or refresher training.
- Learn faster and at your own paced. Available 24/7 participants can learn around their schedule including out of office hours. Being able to pause, restart, take notes, rewind to go over the subject matter again and pick up where you left off are huge productivity opportunities. Watch it on any device, anytime, anywhere.
- Training can be presented in a more modular format breaking down large complex subjects into more digestible pieces. These pieces can also be presented in innovative and visually creative ways not possible in the classroom.
- Training content can be focused on individual roles, include company specific processes and naming conventions. With generic classroom based training, participants are often asked to translate what they learned into how it can be applied to their role and job. Online video training can incorporate other enterprise tools, hypothetical scenarios, dos and don’ts, etc. allowing participants to have a realistic idea of how this works within the organization.
- Consistent delivery across the whole organization and focused only on relevant functionality. In large organizations it’s not uncommon to use more than one trainer to be able to training everyone within the implantation timeframe. Using multiple trainers will bring different delivery styles and methods and different ways of engaging with participants. This inconsistency can present user adoption challenges and introduce over time diverging uses of the processes and tools by participants.
- Lower cost. After the initial production and distribution costs, there are no additional costs. Organizations can enjoy considerable savings by eliminating expensive training programs, instructors, venues, travel and living expenses to name but a few.
- Track progress and performance at the individual level to measure both the participant and the effectiveness of the delivery of specific content.
- Available as an on demand capability allowing participants to take the class as the job requires it. Also, this supports the on boarding new hires by providing training exactly when its needed and not when the next classroom based class is schedule.
For those of you who want to experience online video training first hand, our Primavera P6 training class is a good example of how effective this delivery method can be.
Summary
Like video conferencing which is becoming more prevalent and has changed the way we communicate while reducing expensive travel costs, online video training offers newer ways of learning, some of which are not possible with traditional classroom based courses. Done right, online video training can be extremely effective and engaging for the individual and a great way to learn new skills. Online video training, together with all of its benefits, align with most corporate objectives and certainly support their financial goals for reducing costs.