Just in Case You Aren't on the Blended Learning Bandwagon

Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know.
Daniel J. Boorstin

Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants.
John W. Gardner


Most folks I work with know that I spent my early years in the education and training field as a high school teacher. I learned early on that you can’t just drop theory and content on kids via lecture sessions and expect them to have those “a-ha” moments that are so rewarding. When I moved into the realm of corporate training and recently leadership development, I discovered that too often training departments fall back on that style of training. Guess what? Adults don’t respond to it either.

I recently came across a white paper on trends in learning in the workplace, http://www.skillsoft.com/infocenter/whitepapers/documents/Learning_at_work_2008.pdf, published by the Chartered Management Institute in October of 2008. There is plenty of great data around the value of blending learning solutions. I enjoyed the paper for several reasons.

It provides a definition of blended learning right up front. Often in this field we use different terms to describe the same thing. It’s nice to have a point of reference. It provides lots of data around the trends based on survey results from over 1,000 managers. Plenty of good feedback about what works and what doesn’t. It proves the case for blended learning as a better way to learn not just beneficial for cost savings or efficiency.

I also find it interesting that several organizations saw the benefit of a blended approach as a way to make learning something that happens every day. Think about that for a moment: learning should happen every day. How much more powerful would learning be if the workforce could access it and glean valuable information every day? That’s the point where learners start to discover “what they don’t know” and start wanting to close the gap. I’m not talking about simple performance support tools or job aids. Rather, I’m referring to independent study as well as social interactions that improve retention and impact the business.

Often training organizations fall into the trap of justifying the work on the basis of student enrollment, course completions and dollars saved using blended (read as: online) solutions. The true value in blended learning is the ease of accessibility for users and therefore the value they bring back to the job.

Finally, if you’re looking at ways to improve your blended offerings, check out the “Practical Recommendations” at the end of the paper. It lists eight very good tips for making the leap to more blended learning.

Learning is a beach

I was doing some work for a client in Florida during my family’s annual sojourn to the beach so the timing was perfect to combine work with pleasure. I spent many hours working but found some time to enjoy sand and surf with my kids, building sand castles and boogie boarding. While waiting for that “perfect wave” I had a thought about how training organizations function.

Boogie boarding is not hard which is why I do it. It’s a fun activity for my kids and I to share that doesn’t require too much fancy equipment. I find myself constantly telling them to wait for the “right” wave and to be patient. Here lies the connection to training.

Often training professionals spend too much time waiting for the perfect moment to unleash their solutions on the organization. We bog down in “economic times”, “operations initiatives”, and “strategic focus” and don’t act when we know that we have solid solutions that would improve the organization. We find ourselves trapped because training is considered an add-on to the day-to-day events.

By shifting from training to learning, the learning organization can release its solutions and all members can avail themselves of the knowledge as needed. Of course, this only happens when the training department has built credibility and the business respects the output of the training department. In other words:

1. The training department has to be clued in to the business.
2. The solutions created have proven to have impact on results.
3. The training department has to have a seat at the operations table.

By incorporating more on demand solutions in the form of performance support tools, job aids, and social media, learners utilize learning tools when they need it, rather than when it’s convenient to roll them out.

At the same time, there is something to be said for “striking when the iron is hot.” Just like waiting for the perfect wave, sometimes the training department needs to be patient and wait for that perfect opportunity to launch a learning tool or program. When the conditions are right, that kind of launch will allow for a cool ride rather than a short spurt that doesn’t provide that needed rush of enthusiasm.

The demand for training often emulates the ebb and flow of the tide. If we just relax and watch for the right moment, we can catch that perfect wave and ride it into quality learning. At the same time, like a ship at sea, we have to adjust to the motion and make the best use of the resources at hand to keep the ship and crew on course.

Leading, Learning and Change

Everywhere you look, learning professionals and consultants are writing about coping with tough times, surviving the downturn, or bracing for the worst. I don't blame them, times are tough and many people I talk to are cutting corners and balancing expenses. By people I mean friends, family, and business contacts. Personally or professionally, anyone with a checkbook is paying even closer attention to what's going out.


So when I ask training leaders, and I've spoken to quite a few, what the biggest learning need is in these times, I get a handful of answers: leadership, continuing development, and change management top the charts. I think these are very achievable and can be closely aligned with your business results.

1. Leadership Training. Spend the time developing leaders to be more successful and building your succession plan. And face it, they will leave. Strong leaders will help guide your company in these challenging times and then be tempted away when conditions improve. How you keep them is a different conversation, but make sure you have their successor lined up.

The other benefit to leadership development is the establishment of a shared language. Leadership development, done right, involves both the leaders and the led. It creates a common understanding of the role of leaders and accountability for leadership behaviors. Employees know what to expect from their leaders, managers are better able to provide peer coaching and feedback, and executive leadership has an "apples to apples" way of describing and identifying high performers in the organization. For more on leadership and succession planning, Talent Management has a very good article on developing emerging leaders.

2. Continuing Development. Many organization are adopting the "do more with less" mentality these days. I don't have a problem with that, as long as people are prepared to do the work you need them to do, and that might mean more training. Yet in the "more with less" mindset, the learning organization has less to work with. Once again, social media comes to the rescue as does a proactive communication plan.

• Let the organization know you are creating informal learning and development opportunities.


• Communicate the topic areas and the means to obtain training.


• Partner those who have skills with those who don't for more peer training and informal development.


• Have experts answer questions on discussion boards or document success in wikis.


• Create lunch and learn sessions through which experts can share experience and answer questions.


• Remind employees to document learning opportunities and time spent practicing new skills.


• Remind your experts to document time spent teaching, training or mentoring. Ask them how you can help develop them further by making them better trainers.

This continuing development should fit hand-in-hand with your leadership development and succession planning process.

3. Teach people how to manage change. Change management isn't just a task for the senior leadership or the training department. Managing how team members cope with and respond to changing conditions falls to front line leaders. Since these line managers may be formal or informal leaders, it is important to create an awareness in the population of how people handle change and how to help people use the tension to move forward and be productive. I'm not arguing for enterprise-wide change management training. I am arguing for creating opportunities for the entire workforce to learn about the change process and some of the ways that successful organizations handle and grow from change pressure.

To be successful, organizations need to continually grow, develop and innovate. By focusing on a leadership platform, all team members share accountability for leadership. Through continuing development, team members have an opportunity to grow and be successful. Continuing development doesn't have to draw on excessive resources when information sharing becomes the norm. Finally, create a culture that knows how to adapt to and use the tension caused by change events and you will have an organization ready to cope with the challenges of today and tomorrow.