Implementing eLearning for the first time involves investments and countless decisions, so here are some steps that can help you make a good start.
Implementing eLearning in your organization appears to be a minefield because it involves brainstorming sessions, action plans, evaluations, investments and countless decisions to be made. Especially the planning phase is very time consuming.
But it is a fact that an increasing number of companies are moving towards eLearning every year. If you can plan carefully and move ahead with a clear vision, you can easily manage the tasks and successfully implement eLearning.
Change Management + Powerful Marketing = Successful eLearning Implementation
I was a part of the team that helped many of our customers in implementing eLearning for the first time in their organizations. Out of my experience I have captured these 5 steps that can help you to lay down a plan for the implementation.
1. Build a business case
The first thing what you need to do is make a business case. Capture all your audience profiles and their requirements. Analyze “what is working and what is not working in terms of classroom training”,”How can eLearning help your business”, “what can be delivered additionally via eLearning” and “What impact will it have on your learners”.
In simple terms, you should Link your training needs to eLearning and note down the relevant facts. Present the business case to the Top management who can take a decision on eLearning.
2. Identify the areas where the need is higher
Don’t plan to start big or on a large scale because you are still in an experimental stage. Take a broader look and identify the training areas/topics where eLearning can really help in reducing training costs and effort, for example Compliance training or Product training.
May be you can analyze your recent classroom trainings that were most expensive but least effective.
Then choose a department or a region where you can try out your pilot program. Delivering eLearning across different departments/sites/regions may have certain technical issues or other limitations that you need to consider.
3. Incorporate resistance
One reason why eLearning implementation becomes so hard is that it requires cultural change or needs change management. Learners usually resist change because of their previous training culture, computer competence, and positive opinion towards One-on-One-trainings etc.
If you do not address all these and go for implementation then you may be disappointed at the low enrollments or completion rates.
So you should take some initiatives in marketing and communicating the benefits of eLearning to learners prior to its implementation. See what all you can do and come up with a marketing plan to make sure that your learners are ready for eLearning. You can target learners with specific messages and relevant conversations to create a buzz.
4. Focus on content and Learners engagement
Once you decide on the training subject, take the help of your Subject Matter Expert to come up with good content for an effective eLearning Course.
A relevant, well designed and interactive course can obviously impact learner’s self-motivation and contribute to more learning and course completion rates.
5. Implement the Pilot Program and Evaluate the ROI
Develop and offer the pilot eLearning course to the selected area and measure the results. Analysis and evaluation are very important to determine whether it is meeting your training goals and ensuring a positive ROI.
And also this will help you to take a final decision on eLearning implementation on a larger scale.
Getting started with eLearning is a good change and will have many benefits over time in terms of Time, costs and learning perspectives. So why not get started with these 5 simple manageable steps.
