Videos cut down complex concepts into small, digestible chunks of information and offer the content as engaging visuals, thereby reducing the cognitive load for the learner. In this blog, let us look at six killer examples of video-based learning done right in different training scenarios.
There are so many ways to have learners interact with online learning content. One of these options is the use of videos. Not so long ago, using videos in training was simply considered a fad, but not anymore. Many of the world’s biggest global organizations today are employing video-based eLearning to supplement and realize training goals in an engaging and information-rich workplace.
Video-based learning – along with mobile learning – is a self-reinforcing trend, predominantly driven by modern learners. They cut down complex concepts into small, digestible chunks of information and offer the content as engaging visuals, thereby reducing the cognitive load on the learner. In this blog, let us explore how video-based learning can be done right in different training scenarios.
1. Use Scenario-based Videos for an Impactful Sales Training
It is a given that sales representatives need to be on their toes when it comes to interacting with customers along with giving away the right kind of information about various products. In other words, training for sales reps requires examples of what skills they need to bring to the table in order to boost sales. This portion of the training can be accomplished by using videos that address the most common problems learners face at work in regard to customer interactions and how to offer a good sales pitch.
Videos can help them learn key concepts and strategies, remember them, and have access to the videos on their mobile devices anytime anywhere. They duplicate the pressure and unpredictability of handling actual customers and teach sales reps the required skills in a protected environment where they can practice and get relevant feedback. Examples of how scenario-based videos of customer scenarios can help sales reps include:
- Dos and don’ts of great selling behaviors or “skills”
- How to promote products including their benefits and features
- Exposing sales reps to different customer personas and purchasing needs
- Not just conveying specs but also tips on how to seal a sales deal
2. Make the Onboarding Process More Exciting and Fun
Today’s onboarding process goes beyond a quick induction that many organizations used to think was enough for newly-hired employees. Whatever form the induction process takes, the objectives are the same: to help new hires learn the essentials and get them on board in a stress-free and engaging manner. Videos are a popular choice for onboarding, and for good reason. They take the stress out of the process and ensure a smooth knowledge transfer.
For example, an important part of onboarding process is giving new hires an overview of the company’s compliance and regulatory policies. This is usually done via face-to-face presentations or giving them extensive documentation on the procedures. However, a video that includes an experienced HR practitioner outlining the complex policies in layman’s terms and in an engaging format can have a much deeper impact.
Other examples include:
- A welcoming video message from the managers and the CEO, laying out the strategic vision of the organization
- Videos with avatars guiding new hires through different departments the company is organized into
- Short videos explaining the new hires’ their position and job responsibilities
3. Turn Tedious Compliance Content into Engaging Training
Learners feel disengaged, bored, and overwhelmed when compliance courses fails to grab and hold their attention. This results in them often speeding through the course just to finish, without paying proper attention which can be extremely detrimental for the company in the long run.
At the heart of every compliance and ethics course is a narrative: what does getting it wrong mean for the employees involved? Video-based learning is a compelling method to tell this narrative and get learners interested in compliance training they might otherwise find tedious and disengaging. They are an ideal medium to deliver compliance training, combining visuals and audio. They have a structured narrative placed within appropriate contexts that help:
- Explain the dos and don’ts of compliance and ethics
- Help learners quickly understand the principles of a multicultural workplace
- Teach them about prevention of sexual harassment by telling compelling stories that demonstrate harassment, their potential consequences
4. Use Videos to Explain Simulations of Processes
Documenting a complete production process and training learners can be a daunting task. If done through traditional methods, it produces manuals similar to textbooks (that go out-of-date every time a new piece is added to the process). Video-based learning offers a cost-effective and viable solution to this problem, allowing organizations to easily record the production processes in full and upload them as standalone videos to a centralized portal such as a learning management system which can be accessed by learners on the job.
Demonstration videos familiarize learners on the operation of a tool, process or procedure. Here is an example:
- Interactive videos can teach complex business processes in a coherent way. They can explain the steps in a process to be followed by the product engineering team or the testing team.
- Videos of software simulations can also be created using rapid authoring tools for training learners on a new piece of software. This is the fastest way to acquaint new learners with sophisticated pieces of software.
5. Reinforce Learning Post-training through Short Videos
If the training being offering is procedural in nature, that is training content whose purpose is to teach the learner how to perform a task, then just eLearning is not enough. For procedural training to have any relevance, and to ensure that learners apply the knowledge they gain through eLearning, videos are an ideal choice.
As I discussed earlier, videos are a great way to present a string of procedures in a comprehensive way that can be referenced again and again by the learners. Explainer videos, whiteboard animated videos can be used to summarize and reinforce the formal training. In the long run, these videos can function as performance support tools (PSTs) or job-aids that can be provided within the learner’s workflow.
6. Facilitate Decision-making Skills using Video-based Assessments
Interactive videos facilitate skill- and application-based training, as we have already discussed. Organizations can use this to their advantage and introduce complex situations in the assessments and test the decision-making skills of learners.
Video-based assessments can help the learner evaluate whether they have mastered a particular skill taught in the training. For example, video-recorded scenarios simulating work-related activities can be offered to the learners and ask them to provide possible responses to the challenges and problems associated with the job. Learners select the demonstrated responses they would take in a similar, real-world circumstance and are given relevant feedback instantly.
The benefits of video-based learning speak for themselves. With videos, training costs are dramatically reduced. Converting from a plain and dry training to video will significantly increase learner engagement, improve their knowledge retention, and more importantly increases the quality of training for your learners.
