The Anywhere, Anytime Workplace From smartphones to tablets, today’s business users are adept at using multiple devices and applications in their personal lives, making them the most technologically astute group of users ever. The experiences they’ve become used to when shopping, paying bills, locating information, and being entertained through technology have caused them to come to expect a high level of features and functionality from their technology. With this expectation, they have brought their personal technology experiences and expectations into the workplace. They want the same look, feel, and usability in their business/professional lives as they receive in their personal lives. But they’re not getting it. Yet. The year 2014 will be the year in which the questions and frustrations that business users experience will begin to be answered. Having disconnected technology is no longer expected or accepted. The organizations that will meet these needs successfully will be those who not only look at personal computing advances, but who also work with their business users to develop policies, procedures, and applications around these needs. The result? The Anywhere, Anytime Workplace. Creating content and sites specifically for mobile devices. Practically everyone has a smartphone, and a growing number also having tablet devices as well. These tools are key for helping users conduct business anywhere at any time. Up to this point, the online experience has mainly been through websites that were traditionally designed to be viewed on a PC. In 2014, however, we will see an increasing number of websites convert their content, design, and layouts to cater to mobile devices. Developing systems and applications for mobile users. In the past, connectivity limited the use of mobile devices; however, hardware and communications companies have now greatly alleviated this issue. Because of this, users have now come to expect that if they have a connection to the Internet, then they should be able to conduct their business. As a result, the conversation quickly evolves to the applications that are being used in the enterprise. Most business programs are PC-based and were not designed to run on mobile devices. So there is a certain level of frustration with having to go from a mobile device to a PC or laptop to accomplish tasks, which has raised questions around the following points: What information does a person truly need in order to be effective? How do people actually conduct their daily work? How can an application assist them with what they are trying to do? By answering these questions, businesses are able to design applications that strip away extraneous information and deliver applications to meet needs. In the meantime, the user base is bringing applications that were initially intended for personal use to the workplace. While the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) debate continues, the next debate will revolve around users bringing in their own applications and platforms as well. Coming out from behind the firewall. As we all know, enterprise programs are interconnected to some level behind the firewall. Traditionally, organizations have shied away from surfacing information in front of the firewall. When they do, the scope of that information is severely limited. Until recently, this has been accepted. However, business users are now questioning this approach. In order to be productive in the Anywhere, Anytime Workplace, users will need to have the same information available at their desks that is also available in the palm of their hand. It is not beneficial to have an application that only surfaces a limited number of data points from one application. Applications will also have to be able to connect to each other in order for the business user to be productive. GP Strategies™ is leading the charge in helping our clients take advantage of the Anywhere, Anytime Workplace trend. By aligning training to the ways people prefer to work, our clients are seeing measurable improvements in performance. To learn more about mobile content, apps, and other emerging technology trends, look for Part 2 of this three-part blog series, "Mobile Integration" and Part 3, "LMS and LCMS." Learn more about Learning Technology Trends for 2014

Mobile Integration Over the past year, GP Strategies™ has spoken with our clients, collaborated with research groups, and continued to keep our hand on the pulse of the industry. Through our interactions, we predict that 2014 will be an exciting year for the Learning and Development technology space. We believe that while there have been many applications, platforms, and process improvements, technological advancements have been small in comparison to the scope of change we are experiencing in the business world. In Part 1 of this three-part blog series, we spoke of the Anywhere, Anytime Workplace. With the use of smartphones and tablets becoming ubiquitous in the professional world, mobile technologies are the key area of focus as training organizations strive to deliver learning aligned with the way professionals work. We predict the most advancement will come in three areas: the production of mobile-specific content, the development of functional business apps, and the leveraging of Application Platform Interfaces (APIs). Developing content for mobile first. Today, people use mobile devices more than their desktop or laptop computer, and the use of mobile devices continues to increase in the workplace. This increased usage will require organizations to provide content for mobile devices. Therefore, in the near future, it will no longer be enough to have "mobile-friendly" content. Organizations will have to shift from a "PC strategy" to a "mobile first strategy" when producing content. This means any content, website, or application presented to the end user will need to be purpose-built for mobile devices, leveraging the unique features of the devices in order to create more engaging, compelling, and useful interactions with viewers. Mobile device manufacturers are steadily improving on the size, weight, and capabilities of devices. In doing so, there are a tremendous number of opportunities for business intelligence and process interactions using these devices. Instead of users interacting with static (and in many cases old) content, they are able to work with real-time content. While the addition and optimization of onboard sensors and increasingly higher quality displays on mobile devices have greatly benefitted the individual users, they can benefit the enterprise as well. As users are working and collaborating through their daily interactions, mobile devices are transparently collecting and leaving data traces. It is possible to analyze this information. In doing so, meaningful process optimization and risk reduction methodologies can be implemented and more closely monitored. GP Strategies is currently working with clients to assist them with redeveloping their stance on mobile technologies. In some cases, we have even collaborated with our clients to develop mobile content from the ground up. Filling voids with mobile apps. For a long time, IT departments have led the enterprise in the application of technology for process and data management initiatives. Businesses, however, are asking for faster delivery of projects and information. In some cases, IT simply cannot keep up with the demand. With mobile devices more prevalent in the workplace, people do not want to sit at a desktop or a laptop in order to complete their tasks. At the same time, it is not always practical to build an entire enterprise level tool just for mobile devices. Mobile apps fill the void very well. People are now accustomed to having tens of apps on their mobile device, with each app having a specific purpose for that person’s lifestyle. As such, users want the same experiences in the workplace. By having these various apps, one has the specific information they deem important for their lives. If the enterprise were to take this concept one step further and not only develop apps relevant to their business, but also combine this data along with user-specific data (gathered from mobile devices), it would have an enterprise tool that would expose actionable insights into their business. GP Strategies is working with clients and vendors, as well as internally, to develop apps for use with learning and development, and human capital systems to provide the tools businesses need to be successful. Leveraging APIs to make mobile strategies work. In order to have a mobile first strategy or develop next generation apps for the enterprise, APIs will become more prevalent. Currently, only relatively few enterprise platforms have an API. Even fewer have API structures that provide a rich level of information. This trend will decrease. As next generation business tools are developed, APIs will need to become more robust. Organizations have tons of data that is restricted to single systems or applications. With APIs, it is possible to use and re-purpose this data into other systems and processes. In doing so, businesses will be able to service their customers faster and with a higher level of customer service. In addition, the increased demand for mobile apps will create additional needs for connections to back-end data services via APIs. Enterprises are not limited to using APIs that originate from their internal systems. In spring 2013, Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) released version 1 of the Experience API (xAPI) specification. This is an API that is independent of any platform and allows for the collection of data from sources not traditionally utilized by the enterprise. The data that this API can collect is a rich source of information that can provide context for user experience delivery. Because it is not bound to a platform and is open-sourced, the possibilities are practically limitless for the use cases it can meet. GP Strategies continues to work with our partners and clients to develop API connections to surface additional data that was previously not possible. We have also completed our research and initial prototyping of xAPI use cases and are now working with clients to bring this additional information to their businesses. To see what we predict for your LMS and LCMS, read Part 3 of our Technology Trends blog series. Learn more about Learning Technology Trends for 2014

LMS and LCMS In Part 1 and Part 2 of this three-blog series on Learning Technology Trends, we talked a lot about the use of mobile devices for both learning and conducting business. This will have a direct impact on learning management technology in 2014 as leaders ask more and more, "do I need my LMS?" The LMS will need to keep up with the fast changing business world and adapt to be more mobile and app friendly. If that does not happen then we would expect to hear a lot of learning leaders say that their LMS is looking old and tired. This will relegate the role of the LMS to strictly compliance tracking. To prevent that from happening organizations will need to move more quickly to use their existing corporate portal software to give the LMS a "facelift" and to incorporate the required features and functionality in 2014. Curating learning assets will become key. Learning content management suppliers continue to promise nirvana with their products. "The LCMS will develop content, store content, track content and reuse content!" While their products certainly have these capabilities, we have not seen a successful implementation that achieves all these promises. If your investment in your LCMS is to continue to hold value in 2014 and beyond, it must deliver on its promises. As we continue to produce more and more digital learning assets across multiple platforms and devices, the problem of tracking these assets has reached a critical stage. In 2014 curation - defined as the selection, preservation, maintenance, collection and archiving of learning assets - will become a skill that learning and development organizations will not be able to function without. Our final prediction in this three part series on 2014 trends is that, as the learning and development business continues to adapt and innovate in 2014, GP Strategies will sustain its role as a visionary thought leader in the areas of learning technologies, training strategy and performance improvement! Learn more about Learning Technology Trends for 2014

We are often asked to look at what content, skills training, and tools new hire salespeople receive as part of their onboarding process in an attempt to "make the new hire experience better." This request is usually in response to sales and business unit leaders asking learning and development teams to create more globally consistent new hire training programs that drive costs out of a fragmented process with multiple stakeholders, no real clear-cut owner, and lack of accountability. When taking a step back and looking at new hire training and the overall onboarding process, we often find a lot of work going into creating new hire training content or building more distributed methods to reach and teach remote salespeople. For example, there has been some good work in building ramp-up toolkits and even creating communities that new hire salespeople can use to get the help they need. But, have you ever stopped to ask your team, "What is the business benefit of all the new hire training-related work we do?" or better yet, "How do we know our sales new hire training program is effective?" If you think about it, newly hired salespeople face a very real challenge: "How do I (as a new salesperson) meet with buyers who will buy from us and then sell them something so I can hit my quota?" Unfortunately, more often than not, the new hire training process doesn’t get close to helping salespeople answer this fundamental question. Instead, we often find an altogether different reality in existing new hire sales training programs. What we usually find looks something more like this: 500 different content assets including courses, modules, and reinforcement guides 370 hours of available training to participate in at the time of their choosing 4 different portals/internal websites to sort through 2 different internal social networking websites to engage in In more real terms, we find that only 15% of this content is really about the buyers/customer that salespeople need to actually talk to in order to "sell them something." Yep, that’s right, 15%. And, to make matters worse, this lack of focus on customers in the new hire training process increases the burden on internal subject matter experts. Oftentimes we find that salespeople have to navigate to 10 different subject matter expert functions or people to in order to figure out how they can add collective value to clients (yet these internal groups are largely ignored in the new hire training process). So, let’s recap: New hire training isn’t about customers and it’s not designed to help newly hired salespeople reach the internal subject matter experts who can help communicate value. No wonder the executive team is often wondering what the return on investment is for their new hire sales training program. Having worked in this space for a while, it’s easy to see how new hire programs can evolve over time to diffuse customer focus. Increased executive expectations and pressure by product/business unit leaders to ensure product knowledge is pumped into the heads of new hires can create a confusing web of complexity that salespeople simply need to "understand" in order to get up to speed more quickly. Suffice it to say, we often find that new hires face a steep learning curve—especially within the first 90 days.  The good news is that some learning and sales leaders are looking at the sales new hire and onboarding process as an area of targeted improvement. They are beginning to work cross-functionally to upgrade, optimize, or even transform the new hire sales training experience.  I thought it would be helpful to share some of the challenge I am seeing as they begin this work. If addressing the new hire training challenge is on your radar screen, let me offer you a brief categorization of the several barriers that get in the way of new hire productivity. No matter your path forward, these barriers need to be addressed, especially, if you’re looking to apply more than just a temporary Band-Aid to the sales new hire training challenge. Barrier 1: Failing to confront the new hire salesperson’s reality. While the future growth strategy is tied to reaching C-level executives, is it realistic to turn your new hire salespeople loose on the C-level inside your best clients the first day on the job? When we look at new hire sales training, we often hear that mandate: You just need to go sell to the C-Level! The challenge is that it might be a good idea to actually practice those conversations in the new hire experience instead of letting them practice on your customers. For many sales and learning leaders, just trying to figure out what to train and what to teach people to say is daunting—but it models the reality that your new hire salespeople face (and they just started working in the company). Barrier 2: Failing to define new hire sales training clearly. Many organizations define onboarding as the "stuff that HR does," while defining new hire training as the "stuff HR doesn’t do." This leads to a lot of gray areas in the overall new hire experience. Can you define where new hire training ends and where it begins? What about the HR onboarding process? How much of the new hire training experience is about success in role? And how long does it last? Without a clear definition of where new hire training begins and ends, you end up with multiple perspectives (like product, marketing, and sales perspectives) all asking for more time in the poorly defined process, and they seem to be all "good ideas" but together may not actually be meaningful to the new hire. While adding value to the new hire process is important, it’s doubtful that internal content providers can create valuable content if they can’t define what the new hire process is. Defining the new hire process clearly is an often very real barrier that needs to be overcome to get the right help you need internally. Barrier 3: Failing to align content, skills, and tools to the specific sales conversations that new hires need to have. If salespeople need to get in front of C-level, how much time is actually dedicated to helping reps engage at the level (not just mandate action) in the new hire experience? Or more specifically, which training content and materials are specifically aligned to helping reps get access to a specific C-level role? New hire training content needs to help salespeople achieve tangible results in their sales process. Unfortunately, overgeneralizing what it takes to be successful with all buyers doesn’t help the cause. Aligning the content that new hires need to be successful with the real-world conversations they need have with those buyers is a barrier that needs to be overcome to increase new hire productivity. Removing these barriers can dramatically affect the speed to which new hire salespeople get up and running in their role. By addressing these barriers, you are well on your way to decreasing new hire ramp-up time and giving new hires a leg up by decreasing the slope of their learning curve. Additionally, by working cross-functionally to remove these barriers, you can build a new solid foundation for new hire sales training and start focusing on decreasing the time it takes to achieve quota by: Increasing buyer empathy. Focus on helping different kinds of salespeople develop understanding and empathy with the buyers they’ll be working with and communicate in the way those buyers need. This will eventually trump run-of-the-mill product training, which has been the emphasis of onboarding and training for more than a century and had a dramatic role in getting reps sent to procurement instead to the C-suite. Driving sales objectives. Develop reps based on specific and measureable sales objectives that map to their sales process and are in relationship to the types of buyers they work with on a daily basis. Tailoring the experience. Fine-tune the experience to enable different types of reps with different messaging, stopping the one-size-fits-all new hire training experience. Building a value-added program. Engineer an ongoing new hire development process that sales leaders find more valuable (as opposed to creating a one-off time bound fragmented series of activities). Watch Brian Lambert’s latest thought leadership video on Sales Productivity.

Looking down the road, the year 2014 will be a year in which the questions and frustrations that business users experience will begin to be answered. With smartphones and tablets extending from the personal space and becoming nearly ubiquitous in the business space, technology will scramble to keep up. As a result, new technology trends will emerge. Learn more about Learning Technology Trends for 2014

A recent study published by EY  looked at the perceived strengths and weaknesses of Gen Y/Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers, the research opens up the discussion on managing a multi-generational workforce and the emergence of Gen Y/Millennials as managers. The study included more than 1,200 US, cross-company professionals with evenly split responses from managers and non-managers in three select generations: Gen Y/Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. At a minimum, the findings from this study continue the valuable dialogue into how to engage employees across generations. One of the findings of interest to me was the perception of Gen Y/Millennials in terms of collaborative team members and of them as managers. A small selection of the perceptions of Gen Y as peers: Scored high marks for being "enthusiastic" (68%) Had lower scores for being perceived as a "team player" Gen Y(45%) compared to Gen X(65%) Perceived as "difficult to work" with (36%) compared to Gen X (16%) Every generation view their own generation as entitled, including Gen Y(60%), Gen X (49%) and baby boomers (27%). Outscored baby boomers for being the "best" at "collaboration" (27% vs. 20%), "adaptability" (41% vs. 10%) and being "entrepreneurial" (29% vs. 15%). A small selection of the perceptions of Gen Y as managers:  (69%) just surpassed Gen X (68%) managers in displaying "diversity" managerial skills, or the ability to build culturally competent teams and to not discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical abilities, etc. Earned the fewest mentions for being the "best" at displaying eight out of 11 management skills, They outpaced boomer managers (33% vs. 16%) in their ability to be the best "inclusive" leaders, or involving a diverse set of people in providing opportunities, developing strategies and making decisions. In developing leaders, GP Strategies appreciates that there is a conundrum: effective leaders need to be aware of how they are perceived by others, yet the foundations of effective leadership transcend labels.  As with the debate over female leaders (as discussed in this month’s eNews from GP Strategies division Blessingwhite), young leaders need to identify what makes them unique, compelling leaders to those they aspire to follow. As our own research indicates individual engagement increases as we build confidence in our skills and as we develop a stronger sense of how to contribute to the organizations goals (see 2013 Employee Engagement research - http://www.blessingwhite.com/EE2013 )  But the engagement levels and the leadership competence of millennials can be greatly increased with the deliberate support from the organization. When engaging Gen Y/Millennials in your workforce, think about the following: How can you nurture more agile Gen Y characteristics like adaptability and entrepreneurial, while managing the downsides of being perceived as difficult to work with? How can you maintain diverse managerial skills, while building upon their managerial tool kit? How to provide multiple development opportunities for millennials to engage with the organization and develop leadership skills through on-the-job challenges? Ensure millennial leaders have mentors and managerial support to help them develop self-awareness and provide guidance along the way. Share your thoughts in the comments section below and then join us for a 20-minute webinar to hear insights from the perspective of a Gen Yer.

For years, blended learning has been implemented across organizations of all sizes. Typically, blended learning is defined as some sort of combination of live, instructor-led training (ILT); web- or computer-based training (WBT or CBT); and distance, or virtual instructor-led training (VILT). Before learning about HILT, let’s briefly explore the characteristics, and pros and cons of each of the aforementioned platforms: ILT Held in a classroom Synchronous Highly interactive, with face-to-face contact Live event "vanishes" when done WBT/CBT Requires a computer and, in most cases, an Internet connection Asynchronous Varying levels of interactivity Little or no personal contact VILT Requires Internet and a web conferencing tool (Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting, WebEx, etc.) Synchronous Moderately interactive, depending on design and instructor Can be recorded Organizations that have unlimited licenses or cost-effective license agreements for their web conferencing tools can realize added synergies by incorporating the best of both live and virtual instructor-led training: hybrid instructor-led training (HILT). What HILT Is HILT fully leverages the web conferencing tool inside the live classroom. Examples of web conferencing tools include Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting/GoToTraining, and WebEx. Whiteboards inside the tool replace or augment physical whiteboards in the classroom. This allows for easy archiving of the whiteboards created and marked up during the event. The chat panel can be used for recording participant thoughts and informal polls. Again, this gives an instant record for reflection and future use. Polling tools (if available) can be used for a certain level of anonymity when appropriate. Screen-sharing capabilities can be used to replace or augment any classroom projector. Lighting and vision issues are greatly reduced, and there is no need to worry about burned-out projector bulbs. It’s much easier to let someone else "drive" and share with the entire class when using HILT. What’s Needed to Implement HILT In order to effectively deliver HILT, a classroom will need to be equipped with a computer for every participant, unless the event is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) session. HILT works best for technical training sessions, where the use of a computer is integral to the skills being taught. The Advantages of HILT HILT can offer many advantages and possibilities over traditional "stand-up" ILT. It’s much easier to capture the components of the training for playback or archiving. While not the primary intent of HILT, remote participants can more readily join in if circumstances prevent them from attending one or more of the live sessions. By acquainting participants with web conferencing tools, HILT creates a springboard for remote follow-up or refresher sessions, as well as post-training evaluations. As you prepare upcoming training sessions, consider the resources at your disposal and see if HILT can add value to your training event, enhance the experience of the participants, and better streamline learning transfer. Is this a model that you can use in your classroom training? What barriers do you anticipate? How else can you leverage existing technology in new ways?

As learning and development professionals, we know the value of locating resources, sharing ideas, and learning from best practices from the experts in the field, so why then do we seem to underestimate or ignore the value of our own, hard-earned knowledge and insight? Our experience and expertise are unique assets we can share in the workplace. They are a professional advantage that we can leverage within the organization to mentor colleagues and use to gain new clients. The expectation that all learning and development professionals should be comfortable sharing can be intimidating; knowing how to share the insight appropriately and usefully can be misleading. We often have more opportunity to share because of the nature of our work but may feel unprepared or aren’t sure how to distill, organize, and communicate what we know and have learned from a project. By organizing the information into digestible chunks, the material becomes useful and shareable. Why share? Sharing what we know and what we’ve learned allows us to embed and process our past experiences. Both good and bad endeavors can offer a wealth of information, but sometimes it takes reliving it from another angle to realize lessons learned. Sharing these situations can help others gain a fresh perspective and avoid pitfalls. What are some methods to use for sharing? Write about it. Write clearly, concisely, and professionally about your experiences in professional journals, blogs, and social media. Speak about it. Use any and all opportunities to share specific examples from past projects via webinars or face-to-face engagements. Mentor about it. Assist colleagues and staff to understand your experiences by sharing and being open to learning from those you share with. Once you have shared your information, have a discussion to capture additional ideas. This type of collaboration not only helps capture essential organizational knowledge, it also keeps this intrinsic knowledge from disappearing when you leave an organization. Chrissy Scivicque, in her blog post 5 Ways to Share Your Professional Expertise and 4 Reasons You Should, writes about the virtues of sharing best practices: "…your expertise is a powerful gift that deserves to be shared. It’s yours, yes; you earned it. But why keep all that wisdom to yourself? Why not send it out into the world to be free and lift others to new heights as well?" Sharing your expertise, whatever the form it takes, lends professional credibility and spreads knowledge throughout the field. Leveraging knowledge can also become a part of career development strategy. It can also become another organizational asset—a way to develop and manage intrinsic organizational knowledge assets.

Engagement and retention are key factors in the success of any learning initiative. Yesterday I had the pleasure of partnering with Justin Mass, Head of Learning Technology at Adobe, to present a webinar focused on how Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT) has become a crucial component in today’s learning strategies. During the webinar, Justin and I discussed the future of the learning industry: the integration of VILT. Justin demoed a case study around how Adobe successfully used VILT to launch a new orientation program within their organization. During the session, several of our attendees posed really great questions, and Justin and I want to share our insights with you: Q: I worry that the level or quality of interaction does change with larger class sizes. As we transition from 20 participants in soft skills training to 50, 100, 200, what would your advice be? A: JUSTIN - Open-ended questions scale to the largest volume. Ask questions that help surface themes you’re trying to drive home. Polls work well, too, but couple a poll with an open chat pod to get the best of both worlds. "My choice is A," could be a poll. "Here’s why," could be a chat pod that asks the participant to explain their answer. Also encourage cross-participant engagement. DENNIS - Consider adding a facilitator for every 25-50 folks if you have a lot of interactive exercises that require feedback and observation. Q: Your assumptions seem to be massive, global, but most companies are smaller with smaller learner cohorts. How would this change your recommendations? A: JUSTIN - Design for the size of your organization. Not every VILT activity will scale to 1,000 or more. If you’re smaller, that’s great; you should be able to create an even more intimate and personalized experience for participants. DENNIS - Most typical VILT sessions are not currently being designed for massive population rollouts, but for populations of around 25-35 participants. This allows for more personalization of the content and richer interaction per participant. Q: The demo in Adobe Connect was very interesting but so busy and felt a bit distracting. Has that been an issue? A: JUSTIN - We live in a multi-stream, digital world. I try to design for the total experience and keep it alive and dynamic. It has many layers; it’s true. That’s intentional. We haven’t received any feedback that it’s overly busy or distracting. Q: Does Adobe Connect have the capability to do breakouts? A: JUSTIN - Yes, breakouts are a core feature of Adobe Connect. Q: How do you handle questions throughout a VILT session? Are there stopping points for Q&A? A: JUSTIN - We use a persistent chat pod as part of our layout design, which gives participants an "anytime channel" for asking questions. Q&A is open and ongoing. Remember, participant questions help shape the experience. Skilled facilitators will embrace that type of learner centricity and leave room to be guided by questions. DENNIS - The subject matter, audience size and logistics practicality will dictate the format of Q&A; the smaller the audience, the easier it is to stop and start Q&A sessions. If you are teaching complex topics that require audience feedback frequently throughout the session to gauge understanding, frequent Q&A pulsing is essential. Q: Do you have an outline or format for training that you recommend? A: JUSTIN - I use a storytelling format for learning design. What’s your opening? What’s your close? What’s your emotional hook? What important messages or content must you deliver? These are all leading questions that help inform a design direction. I don’t believe you can actually design learning, but I do believe you can design the conditions and environment for learning to be provoked. DENNIS - We create a very specific, detailed Playbook for the facilitator that guides the session almost minute by minute. It drives more consistency between facilitators. Q: Do you have a VILT "checklist" for creating VILT (to ensure talent profile, size volume, etc.)? A: JUSTIN - I don’t have a particular design template or checklist I use consistently. I do think about a blueprint for what makes a VILT session "high touch digital," however. Some of the blueprint elements include setting a participatory tone immediately, being seen on webcam/video, integrating a constantly moving "alive" screen display, and using video to create a media rhythm. All of our VILT sessions will use this signature. You have to define what signature you want in your experience and design toward it. Q: Do you plan to have any alternatives to testing (that can be captured and retained) if a company doesn’t have an LMS or the Adobe Training Center, that is, how to capture test results for episodic training, non-employee events? A: JUSTIN - Everything we capture in polls and chat pods in Adobe Connect lives in a digital archive. We have cumulative results on the back end. You can also send chat pod transcripts to yourself or other facilitators directly from the chat pod to collect key themes within a session or between sessions. DENNIS - There are stand-alone assessment software packages that do not require an LMS. Q: Do you have the people delivering the session involved in the design? A: JUSTIN - If they happen to be a skilled designer or can contribute to the design process, of course. Where they are just in a facilitation-only role, it’s better to spend your time preparing them for delivery with as much practice as needed to get them comfortable. Again, think about those on your team who might translate well to an "On Air" environment, especially if you’re using streaming webcam video—which I highly recommend you do. DENNIS - If possible and necessary, yes, but not always. Q: I think VILT would work for technical training, but I am not sure about other types of training where the goal is to change culture or change people’s habits at their job. What are your thoughts? A: JUSTIN - You have to ask, What changes people’s behavior in any environment? What triggers a personal "a-ha moment" for you? If YOU BELIEVE you can change a person’s behavior as a result of a learning event or intervention, I BELIEVE it can be done in a VILT environment. DENNIS - Properly designed, it can be extremely effective, especially as part of a blended program. Q: What are examples of VLIT? I heard webinar mentioned. A: JUSTIN - VILT is just the synchronous/live use of a learning platform like Adobe Connect to provoke learning. Q: How would you address localization (translation) issues? A: JUSTIN - Find skilled global facilitators and translators, and leave room in your core design to have the final product tailored by those in region who know it best. DENNIS - Same as for other modalities; see Justin’s answer above. Q: Do you build the content directly into the different layouts? It appears that you click through almost just like PowerPoint. A: JUSTIN - Yes, I architect directly in Adobe Connect. Q: Do you have to create a new meeting room for each meeting? A: JUSTIN - No. I reuse the same environment every week we deliver orientation. Once it’s built, you can keep using it over and over. That’s what you call scale, my friends. Q: How do you avoid bandwidth issues for individuals on webcams when you have a large group and not all may be on a robust network? A: JUSTIN - We don’t require participants to join by webcam for the entire session. We do a quick hello so everyone can see each other at the end. Q: Can VILT be used on a tablet or is it just desktop? A: JUSTIN - Adobe Connect has a really nice iOS app that works on iPhones and iPads. DENNIS - All devices are appropriate today, especially with the ubiquity of tablets and smartphones. Q: Do you preset the video, poll questions, etc. in those layouts? A: JUSTIN - Yes, everything is designed and set in advance, so any facilitator who is prepared can jump in at any time and deliver a consistently awesome experience! Click here to watch a recording of the webinar Reimagining the Learning Experience - A Look at How Adobe Successfully Implemented a New VILT Orientation Program

In this video, Eric Bruner discusses how to appropriately use micro-learning during employee training initiatives. He covers how to use micro-learning to prepare employees, equip them with the correct knowledge, apply new education back on to the job, reactivate education so the learning turns into knowledge and support employees in their new endeavors. Prepare: Introduction, orientation, alignment, inspiration. Equipping: Detailed knowledge transfer through the use of courses, campaigns, coaching and cohorts. Apply: Transferring learning back to the job through practical factors, checklist, certifications and active coaching. Reactivate: Recapping learning into knowledge through reflecting, reinforcement and repeating. Support: Performance support through the help desk, expert network and community. How can these micro-learning steps help enable your employees to be successful on their learning journey? Leave your reply below: