As Covid-19 spreads around the world, the first casualty in many organizations was training. Because for many businesses, their training and development efforts rely heavily on classroom training. And for good reason: high quality classroom training can be highly effective. But as it becomes clear that the coronavirus crisis will be around for a while, and the impact for much longer, managers need to look beyond the short term and consider the longer term. And that means answering the question: how do I build capability across my team without classroom training?
We need to build capability with or without classroom training – now more than ever
Building capability is going to be critical for a number of reasons. The world is tipping towards a significant economic downturn: the only question being just how deep the dip will be and how long it will last. Recessions are tough for any business: businesses therefore need to be at the top of their game if they are to weather the storm and thrive in an extended period of adversity.
Secondly, people will need different skills. We could debate long and hard what the longer-term impact of Covid-19 will be, but it is clear that the world will be different. For consumer goods companies they will see brand loyalty shift, and significant changes in consumer attitudes and shopper behavior. The retail world upon which consumer goods brands depend for distribution is going to have shifted too. This new world will need new skills and new capabilities for sure: surely we aren’t going to wait until the clouds have cleared before we start building those skills?
And now is the time when you really should invest in training even if it is on a small scale. Employees are feeling uncertain and disconnected – training motivates and connects and will be seen as a huge positive by all staff.
The final reason is because – most organizations should be continually building capability. We’ve conducted competency assessments with organizations across the world and on average, those organizations have a competency level of less than 50% of the targeted requirement. So for most there is a massive need to build competency even before accounting for the challenges that Covid19 is bringing.
Losing classroom training has its upsides
To be clear I’m a big fan of classroom training. At engage we’ve trained tens of thousands of marketing and sales professionals around the world. High quality classroom training events can be really powerful. Quality classroom training with the right facilitator creates focus, interaction, impact and engagement – all powerful ingredients towards creating a great learning experience. But classroom training has a couple of major downsides too. Firstly (not wishing to state the obvious!) its in a classroom! It isn’t ‘at the desk’ or ‘on-the-job’ – so it doesn’t directly create behavior back in the workplace. And in our experience, this is where most value is lost. Remember there is no value in knowledge and skills that aren’t turned into behavior. The second downside is that it all takes place at one time. Often for a day, or several days. Logistically this is often the only way to do it, but its hard for people to stay in peak learning mode for eight hours. A great facilitator can overcome much of this, but given the short attention span of most adults, there must be huge inefficiencies in learning events which take place over eight hours.
Classroom training can be great – but…
Classroom training is a great tool – part of the armory if you will. But often it’s a part of the armory we over-rely on. Losing the classroom training option will force us to consider other options. Yes, we’ll lose the brilliant power of a fabulous classroom event, but there are some significant upsides.
So if we need to continue to build the skills and knowledge of our team how do we do it without one of our key tools – classroom training? Should we just set up a virtual classroom session? NO! Please! DON’T JUST REPLACE THE CLASSROOM TRAINING WITH A VIRTUAL CLASSROOM SESSION. Why not? Because it simply won’t be as effective. The good news is, it is perfectly possible to create the same learning outcomes without classroom training – it just takes a little planning! Based on twenty years of training and developing sales and marketing teams all around the world, using offline, online, and blended learning solutions – here are my top five recommendations for creating a powerful learning program without classroom training.
Before I start, most of this advice would apply to any learning intervention, not just a zero-classroom situation. This can be used to create excellent learning interventions with or without classroom training. But I thought this was a good time to share some of our experience of how to run an effecting training program.
Set clear behavioral objectives and plan how you will measure them
It might sound obvious but, believe me, there are far too many training interventions which go ahead without clear objectives. Before moving forward, we need to be clear on what is the outcome we are looking for. And that outcome needs to be in terms of behavior. Yes – have objectives based on knowledge and skills – but the real value only comes in with behavior. Be clear about who needs to behave in which way, by when.
Design the program
Think carefully about the variety of options you have and assess which of them could be valuable for this particular learning objective. Virtual classrooms are efficient, create focus, and allow for interaction. Group coaching can be really powerful at allowing teams to share the challenges that they have had when they tried a new skill in the workplace. Short-form video courses can be great at allowing individuals to pace their own learning. Short form videos can be great as a coaching tool where it’s important to get a large number of people following standardized processes. Virtual classroom training can be powerful but might not work in every situation. Sometimes an email with clear instructions and a methodology for measuring is effective too. Different tools will work in different situations.
Blend different solutions
Classroom training often works better with a blend of supporting tools. Video for recapping and reinforcing. Coaching to help apply the skill in the workplace and so help the creation of new behavior.
Take your time
While we might have tried to cram all the learning into a day or two of classroom training, this was done for efficiency and expediency. Once you remove the constraint of the classroom its possible to spread the learning out over a longer period. In the past we’ve taken a program that, in the classroom would be a three-day workshop, and we’ve delivered it over six or more weeks. In recent weeks I’ve taken what was a three-day workshop and spread it across two weeks. This has given everyone a chance to absorb the training, practice the skills in their own time with ‘24/7’ support from me in case they get into difficulties or have questions, and the come into the next session ready for the next learning. I’m able to track the progress of every individual and give them extra support if they need it. And they are able to get on with their day-job in between sessions. You don’t HAVE to extend it, but the point is. You can.
An excellent facilitator or coach
Whatever you do, make sure you invest in the right facilitator or coach. If you are tempted to think that running virtual training online is somehow easier than a classroom – forget it. Invest in the best. And remember that if you go virtual, you can look beyond your city or country – anywhere in the world! We’ve run programs on every continent except Antarctica (somehow can’t quite get the penguins interested!)
Build in flexibility
Classroom training lacks some flexibility. If someone is sick, they miss it. If someone gets left behind, then they miss out. But people do get sick. And people learn at different paces. A well-structured virtual program creates the opportunity for different pacing for different people, and of course every session can be recorded in case anyone misses it!
Clear staged measures
Again – this could be said for any training program, but for completeness I’m going to include it anyway. You’ve set objectives. Make sure you measure against them. And don’t wait until the end. Ensure that at each step of the journey there are clear steps to measure progress in terms of knowledge, skills and behavior.
And while we’re on the subject of measures – make sure you consider how you are going to demonstrate a Return on Investment from the training. Money is likely to be tighter than normal (though we should always seek an RoI from any training investment), so it is key to focus on training that will deliver commercial as well as capability value. And if your training provider can’t do that, drop them and give us a call! – we can and do demonstrate an RoI from our capability programs.
Check the tech
As a last point, check the tech. Particularly over the next few months, with people at home, in unfamiliar environments. Test everything. Bandwidth access might vary, and individual won’t necessarily have the tech support to fix things. In addition to testing the tech, I’d also recommend having back up plans (handouts that are delivered via email in advance). In addition (building on the flexibility point above) allow time in the program for things to go wrong. Have extra calendar slots available in case you need them (its easy to cancel them if you don’t need them).
Make capability building a priority now – with or without classroom training
Losing classroom training as an option is a big loss, don’t get me wrong. But it doesn’t mean you can’t do the right thing for your people and your business and develop them, prepare them for the challenges ahead. If you are struggling with moving the capability of your team forward at this time, if you want more information, or would like to talk through your specific challenges, please get in touch now.