This weekend I read an article, How to Work with Adult Learners: What to keep in mind when teaching your peers.

Applying adult learning principles to peer-based interactions is interesting to me, so I thought I'd give it a quick read. The author was speaking to individuals who are preparing for presentations in meeting type settings. It contained typical advice for individuals new to creating presentations:

• Adults want to know the "why.” 
• They want their prior knowledge to be respected. Relevance is of the utmost importance. 

Good stuff.

Whether presenting an informational webinar or facilitating a multi-part virtual learning series that’s part of a larger blend, teaching live online requires pizzazz and purpose.

As more corporate L&D programs move online, a tried-and-true facilitation process can set you up for success (in fact, we offer a comprehensive train-the-trainer program to help practitioners create a comprehensive toolkit).

In the mid-1990s, virtual classrooms (then known as ‘synchronous’ classrooms) were new. (Don’t believe me? Read some history here!) So new, most people had never heard of them.

But the people who HAD heard of virtual training were very excited. Soon, they proclaimed, none of us would ever have to go to a brick and mortar classroom again! All the ingredients were present to disrupt the Training & Development industry: trainers, participants, and PowerPoint slides! What else did we need?

Coaching involves two very important parties:

• The coach
• The coachee

The relationship and interaction between these two individuals impacts the overall success of the process. Recently, the InSync team shared what skills make coaches effective: thoughtful questioning techniques, foundational models, and a personalized approach.

Learning is a process.

As workplaces rapidly evolve to adapt to changing market dynamics, skill building must change too. Trainers work to support technical and soft-skill improvement within the same program.

How can we balance both? By using learning campaigns.

Professional development doesn’t get more personalized than one-on-one coaching.

According to the International Coaching Federation, professional coaching is a “thought-provoking and creative process that inspires [people] to maximize their personal and professional potential.” This definition reinforces two key ideas:

• Coaching encourages creative thinking. Through the process, coaches encourage participants to think outside of the proverbial box in order to identify improved ways of doing things.
• Coaching requires personal assessment. Coaches don’t necessarily tell participants what’s wrong with their methodologies. Instead, they offer opportunities for pointed personal contemplation about their current approaches and areas of potential growth.

In the digital workplace, everything is monitored and recorded. It’s far easier to attribute the impact of an individual employee to the overall success of a company. This means that people analytics plays a huge role in how leaders develop their business strategy.

Performance management, in particular, seeks to optimize a workforce by cultivating talent, enhancing performance and productivity, and driving continued learning. Today’s workforce seeks to develop authentic, meaningful relationships between employees and managers, as well as opportunities for professional development and advancement. Performance management also influences learning and development (L&D).

Virtually There Session Recap

The future of learning is blended. As content becomes more complex, learner attention spans shorten, and new technologies emerge, a combination approach to training offers engagement and impact.

But what stars need to align in order to create an effective blend? Expert Dr. Rebecca Sutherns joined the Virtually There series to share five case studies from her career that defined her personal best practices. Four success factors proved particularly pertinent to our processes.

With plenty of new instructional strategies, techniques, and technologies available to us to create modern learning, it seems creating a comprehensive and instructionally sound blended learning solution should be fairly easy.

But it’s not.

Simply stringing together a bunch of learning assets into the curriculum isn’t enough to encourage individuals to complete the blend. That’s because blended learning is much more than content associated with a common theme. Blended learning should create a purposeful learning journey; a journey in which the traveler recognizes the value of each step along the way.

Has your organization jumped on the blended learning bandwagon, yet? This formal- and informal-learning combination approach to training moves beyond “hot trend” – it offers the opportunity to support learners after structured events end.

We focus quite a bit on the instructional design required for this more comprehensive learning model. It makes sense. Blended programs include many moving parts, and the associated complexity requires thoughtful design. After all, we have to create an environment that supports learner engagement and knowledge retention, and this begins at the proverbial drawing board.

But, facilitation matters, too. Design helps us plan for program success. Solid instruction enables that success.