If you’re asking yourself, “What is remote training?” or “How can I make it work for our team?”, we’ve got the answers you’re looking for. Remote training uses online training tools like webinars, online training courses, virtual training programs, and more to deliver onboarding and ongoing training to employees. This means that teammates and trainers no longer need to live in the same city, travel to one central location, or even work in the same office to receive consistent and effective training.

Advantages of remote working and training

Over the years, we’ve seen a rise in remote training for both small and large teams. Remote training software makes it easy for companies to create, store, deliver, and manage content for employee training. Here are just a few other reasons to explore remote training solutions for your training program.

Virtual training programs are flexible

Gone are the days of juggling schedules and pulling people away from their day-to-day responsibilities to attend training sessions. Remote training promotes efficient learning that everyone can do away from the office. Managers and trainers can assign training lessons to their teammates so they can complete on their own time and in the margins of their day-to-day work. This flexibility makes it simple to engage learners and prioritize learning, despite everyone’s varying schedules.

Learning is self-paced

Everyone learns differently. Remote training solutions give learners the option to consume training at a pace that’s right for them. By giving teammates control over the amount of training they consume and when they consume it, they’re more likely to learn and retain new information and do Better Work. Self-paced learning also creates a stress-free learning experience.

Knowledge recall and retention increases

Retaining information is one of the biggest challenges of training. Most people forget what they learn in training within a week. Remote training solutions give you the chance to include engaging videos, photos, gifs, and more to capture your learners’ attention. This increases the likelihood that employees will be able to retain and recall newly learned information.

Remote learning is available on-demand

Since technology is so prevalent in our daily lives, it only makes sense for teams to have access to training whenever and wherever they need it. Remote training tools for employees give teams the ability to access and find the knowledge they need in just a few clicks. This means they can access training from their home, coffee shop, or the other side of the globe.

Testing is easy

Since your employees aren’t in the office, it’s very important to ensure that they fully understand online training lessons. Virtual training tools allow team leaders and trainers to include knowledge checks like quizzes and tests to gauge how well their team understands the topic and can apply that knowledge in the workplace.

Safety and well-being can be prioritized

Remote work is also a great way to prioritize the health and well-being of your employees. In light of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, we’ve seen a lot of teams decide to take a season as a  remote workforce. Remote training ensures that your team is still able to stay aligned and complete training, even if they aren’t in the office.

Did you know?

On average, most people forget newly learned information within one week.

Best practices for training remote employees

Creating a remote training program doesn’t have to be complicated. We’ve got 6 steps that anyone can take to get started.

1

Assess your training efforts

Creating the best remote training program starts with an honest evaluation of your team’s current efforts. Talk to your teammates and review your training data to make educated decisions about your training program. This will help you decide what training you need to deliver to achieve remote training success.

2

Create a plan

Next, identify the objectives, outcomes, and goals that your online training should tackle. Are there certain topics that need to be delivered in a certain way? Who should be responsible for creating and updating training content? How will you implement training to your remote workforce? These are all important things to consider for remote training success.

3

Build

One mistake that we see too often with remote training is that it’s too long and hard to complete. The goal of great online training is to create content that is clear in meaning and free from fluff. Build your training to be direct, and helpful. We’re big fans of microlearning. This method is all about administering training in bite-sized learning that focuses on small, concise topics.

4

Deliver quickly

Instead of creating high-fidelity training that takes weeks or even months to build, it’s better to create and deliver training quickly. Your remote workforce deserves to get their hands on quality training sooner rather than later. Once you deliver the first wave of training, you can take time to revisit and update content as needed.

5

Incorporate practice

Training truly never ends. When remote training is paired with intentional practice, thoughtful coaching, and 1:1 discussion, it’s a recipe for long-term success. Give your team the chance to put newly learned knowledge to use through practice sessions in a safe environment. Then, you can review their performance and deliver actionable next steps they can take to improve.

6

Review progress and engagement

Market culture focuses on getting down to business, getting work done, and achieving results. The environment is competitive, people are focused on goals, and the organization is results-based. The culture emphasizes winning and considers market penetration and stock as the definitions of success.

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Online training tools to consider

When it comes to looking for the best training tools there are a ton of options out there. Here are just a few of our favorite training tools for employees that can help you maximize your efforts.

Zoom: Zoom is a great way to get your entire team together on video, no matter where they are. Whether you just want to catch up with one another or have a coaching session on something you recently learned, Zoom is a great way to connect with your remote workforce.

Slack: Slack brings your team together, wherever you are. Remote teams can stay productive and communicate in channels that are organized based on projects, topics, or teams. This is a great way to continue the training conversation between teammates.

Seismic Learning: We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Seismic Learning as a great tool for every remote workforce. Our simple interface makes it easy to create training content, learn from anywhere, and measure performance.

Features to look for in remote training software

Whether you’re looking to work with a virtual training company or create a remote training program internally, several features make for a great experience. Here are a few features and functions that our customers find most valuable.

User-friendly

Learning shouldn’t be difficult. With simplified usability, anyone can be a learner and anyone can be a teacher.

Interactive

Feedback loops are a critical component of training. The best training tools give learners the chance to ask questions and share feedback with the rest of their team.

Scalability

It shouldn’t take long to implement and scale your remote training program to the rest of the team. Look for a solution that works for your current team size and future workforce.

Robust reporting and insights

See who is doing what, when, and how well. Make sure that any training solution you use gives you the ability to view training completion rates, see if learners revisit certain content, and track who still needs to complete training.

Simple to update

Making updates to your current training content should be just as easy as it is to create new content. We’ve found that teams love being able to create drafts of updated content that their team can review before it goes live.

If you want to learn more about making the shift to remote training—we’re here to help. Learn more about Seismic Learning here.

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