How to create an effective e-learning strategy

Although e-learning is a popular and engaging way to deliver training in various settings, it’s important to remember that not all e-learning strategies will be effective for everyone. Instead, for businesses to achieve the best outcomes, there needs to be a clear e-learning strategy in place, which aligns wider business goals, resources, and audience.

From effective designs and user-friendly delivery, through to using engagement stats to tailor bespoke training paths, it’s simply not enough to just roll-out an e-learning strategy and tick it off as ‘job done.’

Results or improvements will not come naturally, so it’s important that Learning and Development (L&D) teams prioritise their actions, and plan exactly what they want to achieve before launching any internal programmes. But what are the key steps to take first?

1. Identify goals

Whether it’s delivering annual compliance training to 10,000 employees or onboarding new hires in under 4 weeks, identifying goals should always be step 1 when it comes to creating an strategy, as it will not only empower L&D to have a direction for e-learning, but will also allow teams to measure if efforts are working, therefore saving time and money in the long run.

However, whilst these overall goals are essential for L&D to report out to the wider business on how their e-learning strategies are making a difference, goals are also important for learners themselves, too.

Setting clear objectives for each course will help learners see the benefits of dedicating their time, how it will help them develop and improve their skills, and help to create the right environment for learner engagement.

It will also add value to e-learning programs overall, as well as help L&D to create a clear course structure, avoiding any cognitive overload which could prevent learners from engaging and focusing on key points.

2. Establish a jump off point

E-learning strategies are designed to connect with a wide audience, but it can be difficult to connect with anyone if you know nothing about them, how they learn best, or how they want to learn.

By looking at current engagement stats, L&D can establish the characteristics, habits, behaviours and needs of all learners, so they can build an effective e-learning experience which they know will resonate.

3. Make delivery user-friendly

Learners can be diverse – their backgrounds, gender and age can play a big part in how they engage. For example, generation X learners may struggle with new technologies and less 1-2-1 guidance, whereas millennials may prefer to learn through mobile responsive designs which they can use on the go.

Different people learn in different ways and, unless L&D know exactly how to deliver their e-learning in a way which will make them feel included and supported, it simply won’t be effective.

4. Keep content short

If training looks too long, time consuming or intimidating, it’s going to disengage the audience.

People don’t have unlimited time or patience to devote to their learning, so keeping learning modules short will not only reassure learners that L&D respect that their time is limited, but will also help them to engage more easily with the material, as it is easier to connect with small chunks of information such as short sections, quick exercises, and presentations which are not too text heavy.

5. Engage with gamification

Building a sense of gamification and friendly peer to peer competition is an effective tool for e-learning, particularly as it helps learners identify solutions to problems through the input of several people and other types of mindsets.

It also helps to motivate learners too, whether it’s through winning points, badges, levelling up or seeing their names on leader boards, and creates a sense of positive momentum throughout their entire e-learning experience, as they can physically see how their efforts are paying off.

Summary

The world of L&D has made some positive strides over recent years, with organisations now looking to adopt an employee-first strategy to e-learning.

At BuildEmpire, we’re the platform provider to help implement practices and programs that effectively engage and motivate employees, every day, through every challenge, with support every step of the way.

Our goal is to deliver solutions that not only meet your learning and business goals, but exceed them, and as your technical partner, we’ll work with you to build an engaging learning environment that fits the needs of your business and learners both today and in the future.

To learn how to put these tips into practice, and execute an effective learning strategy, get in touch.