Are you ready for hybrid training?
As companies tentatively return to physical offices or field work, learning and development (L&D) leaders are now responsible for delivering flexible and effective programs to both remote and in-person employees—all in the face of changing workplace expectations and fragmented digital tools that create inefficiencies affecting engagement, time, and budget.
With all the responsibilities that come from an evolving business environment, it’s easy for training managers to overlook key issues when developing a hybrid training strategy. Explore these five common hybrid training mistakes and how to avoid them:
Mistake 1: Not recording your trainings
Imagine if every email you sent disappeared immediately after it was read—it’s unthinkable. Yet many L&D leaders take the same approach to training by failing to record their courses.
As your training programs evolve to encompass both in-person and virtual components, recording your trainings is essential to a hybrid L&D strategy that is flexible, accessible, and effective for all employees.
With so many digital tools at our disposal, it’s easier than ever to capture lectures, demonstrations, role-play exercises, and any number of training experiences your employees need to succeed. Never forget to record your training.
Mistake 2: Taking a one-size-fits-all approach to training
A successful hybrid training strategy must be purpose-built to meet the unique needs of your curriculum and employees, building on the processes that have been working and evolving those that haven’t.
Rather than taking a reactive, blanket approach to training, tailor your tools and communication process to suit the different types of training you deliver. For example, an HR compliance training might be most effective with an asynchronous, remote model, where a hands-on technical course would require synchronous, in-person demonstration alongside a pre-read on theory.
Mistake 3: Managing multiple tools to create and store training recordings
Trainers and L&D leaders have enough on their plates without the added task of juggling tools to save, edit, upload, and share training materials and recordings.
Integrate and streamline your hybrid-training tech stack with a single comprehensive tool, such as an enterprise video content management system (VCMS). Securing your training recordings in a VCMS that integrates with your existing tools like a learning management system (LMS), customer relationship management (CRM) software, or video-conferencing platform creates a more seamless experience for both trainers creating content and employees engaging with it.
Mistake 4: Neglecting on-demand training content
Training doesn’t stop at the end of a course. Yet, training videos are often saved in a folder that’s never accessed again—that is, if they’re recorded at all.
You already know how important it is to capture your training. With your hybrid workforce more distributed than ever, it’s essential to provide consistent, searchable, on-demand access to past training recordings. Easily discoverable, on-demand training resources allow employees to access critical knowledge “at the speed of need,” improving engagement and productivity and strengthening learning outcomes.
Mistake 5: Insisting on perfectly polished training videos
Think back to the most valuable training you’ve received—was it a sleek corporate training film or a DIY YouTube video?
Quality is key to successful training, but authentic, personal knowledge sharing is more powerful than a highly produced—and expensive—training video. Your trainers are already seasoned content creators. Leverage their skills for a hybrid training context and empower trainers and employees to easily record, edit, and share video training.
While there’s no single approach to a hybrid training model, prioritizing consistency, flexibility, and choice will set your L&D programs up for success.