The 2016 FocusOn Learning conference was packed with great tips for improving performance.
Last week, Pract.us attended the 2016 FocusOn Learning conference hosted by the eLearning Guild. There were dozens of amazing talks plus engaging hallway discussions with learning and development folks from all over the U.S. as well as Canada, Australia, France, and Finland. (And other countries, I’m sure.) So for this week’s No Nonsense Training Tips, I wanted to boil down the key points from some of my favorite presentations.
The Secret to Better Performance? Less Training
Mike Taylor, of Mindset Digital made the point that training isn’t always the answer to performance problems. You have to look at work flow, equipment, company communications, and even personal stressors to understand what’s really bogging your team down. Then, if training is the right answer, you can focus on exactly what’s needed and get it done faster.
Shifting the Organizational Mindset to Performance Support
Bob Mosher and Beth Daniel of APPLY Synergies teamed up with a couple other folks to discuss how to introduce new training ideas into a corporate culture. They focused on performance support systems that deliver key information to employees as they work, but their advice would apply to any new approach you want to adopt.
They suggest starting with a small, focused pilot and measuring results, then working with leadership to build from there. They also stressed that good communication is essential and initiatives have to add real value to be successful.
Beyond Content: Using Mobile to Foster and Manage Informal Learning
I have to humbly submit our own talk as one of my favorites. We discussed ways that you can use mobile devices to enhance learning on the job even if you don’t have videos or fancy apps. And if you want to improve your learning culture, don’t wait for videos; combine your current resources with mobile tracking for effective informal learning. You can see our slides here.
Get Better Workplace Transfer
Art Kohn, professor of business at Portland State University studies ways to help people remember the information they got in training. If we learn a bunch of information on Monday, by the end of the day, we’ve lost 50% of it. By the next day, we’ve lost 70%, and by the weekend, we’ve forgotten 90% of what we learned.
Kohn points out that forgetting is the natural way our brains cull out information we’re not using. So if you want people to remember what you taught them, make sure they use it regularly after training. You can learn more about Art’s work here.
At Pract.us, we’re working to make employee training practical, effective, and pervasive. Learn more.