Training remote workers – Successful strategies to unlocking your team’s full potential via online training

As more businesses adopt this operating model, the significance of preparing staff for remote work is growing. This change happened more quickly as a result of the outbreak, and it is now evident that working from home is here to stay. However, a home-based business does not necessarily guarantee that it is operating to its full capacity. For businesses to reap the benefits of remote work while averting frequent problems, effective remote training is imperative.  We will discuss several successful strategies to unlock your teams’ full potential via online training and all organizations should consider obtaining this kind of remote training.

What is remote training?

Employees can work remotely from home or another location while gaining new knowledge or skills through remote training. It’s a phase in the learning and development process for staff members. This type of training typically makes use of podcasts, online classes, online seminars, online courses, and other digital learning materials. It could happen all at once or at different times.

Why is the need for remote training rising?

Thus, during the next five years, significant changes will be made to the way we operate. There will be nearly three times as many people working from home as there were before the outbreak. It is projected that 36.2 million Americans will work remotely by 2025. Businesses such as Slack, Dropbox, and Spotify are experimenting with combining virtual and in-person work. However, others are fully committing to allowing their staff members to work remotely full-time. Ahead are exciting times! Outside, there’s a whole other world! A TalentLMS survey indicates that 67% of remote workers seek more remote training from their employers. Whether employees have always worked remotely or have only lately been obliged to do so, it is imperative to have a comprehensive remote training program in place for them.

How can you determine whether remote workers at your organization require remote training?

Your employees and the business will benefit from remote worker training if any of the following scenarios apply to it:

• Some of your employees work remotely (at least part of the time)
• Your remote teams are not very engaged
• You intend to bring on additional remote workers in the future.
• You are moving (or have moved) to a fully remote operation
• You have teams of employees who regularly work from different locations

Successful strategies for maximizing your teams’ potential through online training

Starting a remote training program might seem challenging at first, but it doesn’t have to be unsuccessful! Here are some effective methods for training employees who work from home.

1. Use different types of remote training materials and formats

The most effective method is to use a mix of various training formats. For example, you can combine live, real-time sessions with a teacher with self-paced or on-demand learning, short learning segments, or a Q&A session with a teacher to address the issue of limited feedback.

Make sure to use a variety of file types, such as:

• Audio files
• Video files
• Downloadable worksheets
• Quick reference guides
• Checklists
• Presentations
• Webinars or virtual training sessions with a teacher

For instance, if you want to train your human resources department, you can combine live lectures with a teacher and flexible, online self-paced learning. It is also important to give learners chances to use their new knowledge and skills. They can work on projects and practical exercises as part of this. Using different types of files can help cater to various learning preferences and keep workers interested. It also makes the learning experience more personal and helps people remember what they’ve learned. Consider what would keep you interested and start with that.

2. Make the remote training accessible on mobile devices

Remote workers don’t always work from home and might not always have their laptops or computers nearby. It’s important to make sure your remote training can be accessed on mobile devices and at any time. 82% of remote workers have done remote training outside of their regular work hours, so making it convenient for them is a good idea. If you pick the right software for remote training, this can be easily done.

3. Build a community for learners

Tools like Slack, Asana, Trello, and Monday.com make remote training and work easier. Creating a community where learners can communicate can enhance the experience. These tools let you set up a place for many workers in the same online training to chat and share ideas in a fun way. This helps your remote workers connect and feel like they’re part of the team, making the online training feel more like being in person. Having a group of learners also helps solve some of the communication problems we talked about before, and makes the remote training feel more personal.

4. Evaluate the effectiveness of the online training.

It’s important to see how well your online remote training is working for several reasons. It helps you know if your workers are learning from the material, figure out which courses and training are doing the best, and which ones need to get better or be replaced. There are a few ways to check how well the remote training works online. These include:

• Talking one-on-one
• Surveys and questionnaires
• quizzes and tests after the remote training to see if the learners have learned the important skills
• tests

Kirkpatrick’s training evaluation model is useful for checking how well remote training works at different parts of the training, and for creating a system of important goals for your remote training. Choosing the right goals helps you make remote training successful and helps your company do better. When you know what works and what doesn’t, you can start making your process better and more efficient, and make it work better.

5. Make (parts of) remote learning self-paced

To give your employees more freedom, you might think about making parts of the remote training self-paced. This means you provide them with a deadline to finish, and they decide when to do the remote training to fit their schedule and how they like to learn. However, if you plan to let learners work on the remote training at their own pace, it’s important to set a schedule for them to follow. They now have something to strive for. It might also be useful to suggest that they set aside regular time in their schedule for remote training.

6. Use gamification

Gamification is a fantastic way to keep students engaged and boost their motivation, engagement, and interaction. Many online remote training tools offer gamification options, such as earning points, badges, and rankings on a scoreboard. They can also give a certificate upon course completion. Employees can then share these achievements online. Gamification is a fun way to promote friendly competition and reward your employees positively when they perform well.

7. Think about using software for online remote training

Using software for online remote training, also known as a learning management system (LMS), can make it easier to organize, run, and provide training, especially for big companies. Just sending your training materials by email to your workers is possible, but you won’t get all the good things that come with online training. An LMS helps you use all these good things and works as both a tool for remote training and a platform for virtual training.

The right LMS can help you:

• Make, change, and save your remote training materials online
• Let remote workers join your online portal and use the materials anytime, anywhere
• Track the progress and completion of the online course by the learners.
• Check and judge what the learners know
• Organize live online workshops and question-and-answer sessions

Examples of corporate learning management systems (LMS):

• Docebo
• Pluralsight
• SAP Litmos
• CoAssemble
• Looop
• Bridge

Common online education platforms:

• Infosec Flex
• TalentLMS
• Udemy
• A Cloud Guru
• LearnWorlds
• Thinkific

8. Promote a learning culture

It’s critical to integrate learning into your workers’ work experience from the beginning and continue it throughout their employment if you want to foster a culture of learning. This means that instead of being a one-time event, your online remote training sessions should be regular and continuous. Studies show that over 70% of companies that effectively improve their employees’ performance also quickly provide new training to meet business needs. This reinforces the idea that continuous online training is essential, and remote workers should always have access to remote training opportunities.

Wrap Up

Online remote training is becoming a permanent part of our work lives, so are you prepared to adjust? We’ve talked about how working from home is becoming more common, and this means that online remote training should be increasing at the same pace. It’s important to plan, make, and use useful and successful online remote training methods to make sure your workers keep improving their skills and feeling confident. In short, this will help increase productivity, keep employees longer, and improve team spirit.