The 8 essentials of an effective training solution

Sometimes it is hard to make decisions when it comes to adapting new technology for training. It is not as simple as switching from organic brown rice to quinoa, as the changes generally affect globally and extensively for the long term.

To assist you in evaluating the effectiveness of a new training solution, here is some useful advice.

Ease of creation

An effective training solution is here to optimize your global ROI while not skyrocketing your ROTI (return on time invested). In other words, the overall time you spent in content creation should not surpass the time you saved in training. If the authoring tool you have chosen requires lots of coding and encoding, so complicated that requires an actual Ph.D. in computer science, I am sure that you would have lost your interest in creating your new training program before it has actually been implemented.

A good authoring tool should be easy to use with adequate support when it is needed.

Easy to amend

The shelf life of a training program weighs heavily on the effectiveness of a training solution. This is particularly important during on-going change management, or for legislation updates, such as in Health and Safety. A good solution/authoring tool provides you the means to amend and update your training content whenever it is needed, shelf life will thus be extended. No trainer would like to go through all the hassles to re-design and re-create a new training program when it comes to a minor update.

Sustainability is the future.

Easy to scale

When you are evaluating a new training solution, it is essential to put scaling into consideration. You would like to be able to deploy your new training solution expansively if it is effective. Scaling your training solution is not just about the capability of amending and updating your content, but more importantly, the ability to apply the same perfect training on a global scale. This could be the possibility of translating your program into multiple languages instantly, distributing your content without location constraints (thanks to the availability of numerous servers worldwide), access on any devices, not to mention LMS integration.

Remember, flexibility is the key to scale.

Ease of customization

It may sound basic but plenty of authoring tools/platforms do not allow this to happen. From customizing the front page and the logos of the portal, to going bespoke when you need further function development and/or modification of existing functions to adapt them to a specific function. Restyling and re-branding allow your trainer and you to own the entire product.

You are not Anastasia nor Drizella (Step-sisters of Cinderella, duhhhhh), you are here to find the right solution that meets all your requirements, instead of trying to fit yourself into a solution that does not deliver your needs.

Ease of integration

Integration is the twin of customization. It can be as simple as SSO integration, which allows your employees to have one unique login and password to remember ; or data connectors, which assist your administrator in keeping all the usage data up-to-date and be synchronized all the time, in one word, making things organized.

Responsiveness

Responsiveness is the key to building relationships and developing trust, this applies to both humans and software. It is crucial that the solution you have voted for has a dedicated problem-solving team for you when you are struggling. We are not talking about having a chatbot available on the website, but an actual person who is responsive and proactive to your concerns and problems. That’s as well the value of a solution, instead of being simply a tool or a website.

Now we go back to the software part –  always check if the tool you select, works on any device without additional effort to adjust and amend. I am sure you would be devastated to know the program you have been developing, is not compatible with your company’s devices as you are an Apple user. You can leave your Nokia 8210 off the list though.

Analytical data

We are talking about a training solution instead of just an authoring tool. Being able to track and analyze the data to assist you in understanding the user behavior, calculating the ROI, measuring the effectiveness of the program and so on… Meaningful and qualified usage data can help you in decision-making.

Data visualization makes it easier to detect patterns, and thus create a powerful training program.

Ease of collaboration

Teamwork makes the dream work. Cloud-based training solutions have obvious advantages in allowing collaboration, due to the fact that the authoring tool, training contents, and usage data are all held online and are visible to all assigned users. This enables authors to work collaboratively despite their geographical location, perfect for MNCs.

Now you got all the important indexes, it is time to evaluate the solutions that you are considering!