The world of leadership development training has been in flux for some time now — even before the global coronavirus pandemic. More and more businesses are demanding scalable learning that can be implemented at lightning speed, is easily digestible, and most importantly, sticks. Microlearning is a powerful way to make that happen.

Here’s its definition: “…a method that uses small moments of learning to drive job performance and employee development…[It] is short and to the point, based on a topic or problem.” 

The brain can only take in so much information before it reaches overload. According to the Cognitive Load Theory proposed by John Sweller, people have a maximum capacity for learning at any one time. It’s like trying to fit two liters of water in a cup. At one point, the cup will overflow and no more water can be contained.

Some might propose getting a bigger cup, but the far better solution is to pour smaller amounts! That’s what microlearning offers. And that is what learners need. 

The Benefits of Microlearning

With everything from elementary school to corporate training now taking place online, our understanding and embracing of microlearning are critical. In truth, it’s always been critical, but in today’s reality, perhaps this is the opportunity to make it our chief focus and highest priority. If we can, if we will, our learners will thank us!

Recent research shows that microlearning improves training engagement by 50 percent, while also enhancing knowledge retention by more than 20 percent. In addition, studies have shown that this quick and easy learning modality means employees are spending up to 40 percent less time in training.

Above and beyond the reality of higher knowledge retention and better learning, is the HUGE benefit of convenience that bite-size learning provides! 

For me, even though I’m no longer in an office, I somehow feel busier than ever while remote working! I move from one Zoom meeting to the next, crank out emails in the in-between moments (or way too early in the morning), and if lucky, find time to grab some food (which usually just means more coffee)! 

The idea of sitting down for two hours of training, though luxurious, wouldn’t work for me right now – no matter how much I might enjoy it. But 15 minutes, or so? A quick “hit” of something that helps me do my job better? Not only is that doable, but I’d actually look forward to the respite, the encouragement, and time that’s just for me!

I’m hardly alone in this. Our world is moving faster and faster, despite the forced-slowing of COVID-19. Business leaders recognize just how precious people’s time actually is.

Providing employees the most potent benefit in the shortest amount of time is not only desired but practical, especially during this pandemic. 

Though often bundled into “soft-skills,” microlearning is anything but. It’s pithy and practical. It allows us to target training to address extremely specific and timely situations. Examples we have been working on at Fierce include how to have conversations about the coronavirus mask debate, diversity and inclusion, dealing with remote working, and SO much more. 

Bite-size learning allows us to provide what’s most needed in the moment and it doesn’t take more than a few moments to absorb! This is exactly why we’re incorporating this into our own training offerings. 

We are proud of our content, our training, our facilitators, and the way in which we create in-person (even virtual) experiences that are vibrant, robust, and memorable. When we made the decision to provide that same content with no facilitator or trainer at all – completely self-paced and self-led – we wondered about its efficacy, its “stickiness,” and its impact.

The Future of Bite-Size Learning

The result? We didn’t need to worry nearly as much as we did! Leaning on brain science and trusting our learners, we’ve watched microlearning work its magic. Nothing has been compromised and, in fact, much has been gained as we can now offer our content to countless more people with no instructor required to convey the message or cement the learning.

We then pushed the bite-size learning envelope even further with 3D Simulations – a new way to train using virtual, real-world short scenarios that can be completely customized to address any problem no matter how complicated. Seeing this as the future of microlearning, we asked ourselves, “Can we create short and highly interactive scenarios that allow users to experience both the pluses and the minuses of particular conversational choices?” 

More microlearning magic, to be sure! In under 15 minutes, learners are immersed in a familiar scene (their workplace, a storefront, the nurse’s station at a hospital) and given opportunity to practice the very conversations they either avoid or fear will fail – all with complete psychological safety, real-world visuals, immediate feedback, and amazing opportunity to learn through experience.

In a world pulled to disparate extremes, riddled with tension and conflict, and experiencing more distance between humans than ever before, we need training on how to have conversations that enrich relationships. 

We need training on how to have conversations that get results. We need training on how to not avoid the conversations that most need to take place. And we cannot wait until we’re all back together again or until things settle down. Microlearning is one way in which we can enable critical training now – without compromising content or quality. 

Those of us in the learning and development space are committed to helping people learn. It’s a worthy effort. How might our learners be better served if, in addition, we were committed to adapting to how we train? 

Instead of pouring way too much water in the cup, organizations can acknowledge capacity and utilize new, exciting training opportunities to offer just the right amount at just the right time and in just the right way.

“When you are in the middle of a story, it isn’t a story at all, but only a confusion; a dark roaring, a blindness, a wreckage of shattered glass and splintered wood; like a house in a whirlwind… ” – Margaret Atwood

Life feels a little like this right now, yes? Confusion. Shattered glass and splintered wood. A whirlwind, to be sure. What do we most need at such times? Well, many things, to be sure; but chief among them is the training department, training leaders, trainers themselves.

Yes, I’m biased, given that I work for a training company. Still, my 2+ year chronology with Fierce, not to mention decades of previous experience, has proven this again and again.

I’ve heard our clients name the costs of training that have been less-than-viable or nonexistent. I’ve had the honor of training our content myself (and witnessing its subsequent results). And I’ve talked with countless individuals in training departments who know and long for the difference that strong, relevant training makes…now, more than ever before.

And as a training leader, because this is what’s most needed, I feel the responsibility to make sure that this is what’s being provided.

Why Training Matters Now More Than Ever

Today, as so many businesses are scrambling to make sense of COVID-19 and its impact on their bottom line, the skill, competency, and confidence of employees matter more than ever before.

The capacity to have conversations and communicate effectively matters more than ever before. And correct me if I’m wrong, but that is exactly what trainers, training departments, and training leaders are all about!

Multiple times over the past few weeks I’ve heard Fierce’s president, name that any and every issue that existed within companies before the coronavirus hit – dysfunction, silos, lack of collaboration and accountability, relationship issues, avoided conversations – is now exacerbated exponentially.

When we are under stress, managing rapid change, and spinning more plates than we know what to do with, those pesky problems we may have been willing to let sit on the back burner are now taking center stage. And generating heat!

Training is of critical value right now. You are!

This is an opportune (NOT opportunistic) time for training professionals to step up and lead. Your front-line understanding of where and how employees are struggling is information and context that senior leadership urgently needs to be made aware of.

Your pulse on what is happening (and not happening) right now could be what makes the difference between success, barely holding on, or far less-than in the weeks and months to come. I do not say any of this to be depressing, but rather, to encourage!

Now, more than ever before, your perspective, opinion, and expertise as a training professional matters. Your proven ability to read between the lines, understand organizational gaps and fill them with viable, relevant, and meaningful learning has measurable strategic impact.

How to Understand the ROI of Training

Let’s look at your ROI, specifically.

A recent post on The HR Exchange Network said that according to LinkedIn, nearly a quarter of Millennials and Generation Z workers name learning as the top item that contributes to their work happiness and more than a quarter of them would leave their job if they did not see a chance to learn and develop (and all this before COVID-19 and working remotely)!

The article went on to list seven more pieces of data that “prove” the ROI of training. All are worth reading, but these three seem particularly relevant, especially today:

• 24 percent higher profit margins can be the result of companies who invest in training according to the Huffington Post. Though countless companies are struggling with how to avoid layoffs, retention is just as critical. Who can afford to lose good people ever, especially now? Valuable, relevant training mitigates this risk.
• Gallup says only 13 percent of employees worldwide are engaged. How much more true might this be now that work-remote is a new mandate for so many? And for those who remain on the front lines in “essential personnel” categories, they deserve any and every from of support available.
• Rapt Media says more than $500 billion is lost every year due to employee disengagement. Disengagement is a cost that none of us can absorb in today’s business climate. And when the need for retention and engagement are more critical than even weeks ago, it’s the training department and the amazing professionals within such, who offer the expertise to address these issues and create an environment that not only survives but thrives.

How to Prove the Value of Training

So, what are some ways in which you, as a training professional, can maximize your voice, “presence,” and yes, your value, during this time? A few thoughts:

1. Trust yourself!

At Fierce, one of our guiding principles is Obey your Instincts©. Listen to your gut, your heart, your brilliant mind. Then seek an audience with those who need to hear what you have to say (whether they know it, or not).

2. Lean into what you’ve already trained.

What have you implemented successfully up to this point? Which aspect of your employee onboarding or high-potential leadership program would be most applicable for your people right now? Re-package and re-purpose that content. Send out encouraging emails. Remind people of what they already know, but might just forget in the stress of current days.

3. Take a risk by investing even more.

Though it feels tenuous to consider spending dollars on more training right now, it’s exactly the time to do it, IF you choose content that will speak to exactly where and how your people are struggling. Make the business case. Anticipate what it will “cost” if you don’t invest. Then go back to my first thought above and have the conversation(s) needed.

Despite the understandable inclination to play it safe during such times, this is NOT that time. This is the time to step up, speak up, and innovate in ways that are brave and strong and consistent with who you always have been. I’m sure of it!

Let me finish up where we started – with words from author Margaret Atwood, by way of Dr. Brene Brown in Daring Greatly (which, if it weren’t for the fact that this is her book, would be the title of this blog post):

“When you are in the middle of a story, it isn’t a story at all, but only a confusion; a dark roaring, a blindness, a wreckage of shattered glass and splintered wood; like a house in a whirlwind, or else a boat crushed by the icebergs or swept over the rapids, and all aboard are powerless to stop it. It’s only afterward that it becomes anything like a story at all. When you are telling it, to yourself or to someone else.”

Be the calm in this storm — a quiet center in the midst of the “dark roaring.” Stand strong in your value, expertise, and smart+heart as a training professional – and all of this on behalf of your employees’ ongoing learning and support. Where and how can you step forward and lead – always and especially now? How can you lean into both your competency and your confidence to provide what is most needed right now? What IS the story you will yet tell?