Training Industry Magazine - January/February 2021 - 30

2 DETERMINE
MEASURABLE OUTCOMES

those for videos or podcasts. Instead,
plan your virtual programs with a focus
on engagement.

Once you clarify the problem statement,
identify the measures that correspond
with it. For instance, if your problem
relates to customer service and your
organization tracks customer satisfaction,
use those metrics to determine the impact
of the training. For intangible issues
that don't have clear measures, look for
related evidence. For example, employee
engagement survey scores can be used
to assess communication skill levels.

Why are these two items important
for measuring success? Well, if your
audience isn't paying attention, what's
the point? The virtual class simply
won't deliver impact.

Admittedly, these first two steps should fit into
any training program - virtual or otherwise.
Although these practices aren't exclusive to
the online classroom, learning leaders would
be remiss to not include them. Once the
problem and desired outcomes are clear, it's
time to plan the virtual learning solution.

DESIGN A RELEVANT AND 	
3 INTERACTIVE
PROGRAM
In today's environment, you must
ensure that online classes are highly
relevant to your audience. Virtual
learning competes with a host of
other priorities, and - unless there's a
compelling reason to stop and learn -
most people won't. Otherwise, they'll
partially commit to a virtual class by
multitasking through it.
So, if people gather for a virtual class, it
should be for discussion, collaboration,
practice and feedback. This engages
the audience in conversation and
provides them the opportunity to apply
learning. Avoid long lectures and save

PARTICIPANTS UP
4 SET
FOR SUCCESS
Since
learners
are
passively
participating in several forms of
online events - virtual meetings and
presentations being the most common
- asking for active engagement in an
online class may surprise participants.
But the more participants get involved
with their own learning, the more
likely they are to achieve learning
outcomes. Therefore, it's important to
set participants up for success in the
virtual classroom, especially if you
want to measure results.
Participant
preparation
includes
everything from checking technology
to ensuring advance assignments are
complete. Participants need to know
what to do, when to do it and how
to do it. For example, if a leadership
development
workshop
requires
learners to complete an assessment
before the class begins and use their
webcams for participation during the
program, these expectations need to be
communicated in advance. Otherwise,
program goals will not be met. A
participant who shows up unprepared
will not achieve the same results as wellprepared participants.

ENSURE EVERYONE 	
5 KNOWS THE EXPECTED 	
OUTCOMES
It's no secret that, when everyone
strives toward common goals, they
are easier to achieve. For measuring
successful virtual learning, this means
that everyone should understand the
intended goals of the program and how
they will be reached.
Specific to virtual training, three key
stakeholders - designers, facilitators
and participants - play integral roles.
Designers create relevant programs
that align to desired outcomes.
Facilitators share both the program's
learning objectives and the benefits
of achieving them. Finally, participants
must recognize how the program will
help them realize better results.

CHANGED LEARNER
BEHAVIOR ULTIMATELY
DETERMINES SUCCESS. 
Think of it this way, when participants hear,
" Today we are learning how to quickly
look up customer information in the new
system, so you can rapidly respond to a
question and have more time, " they will
demonstrate greater buy-in for learning
the topic, because they understand its
relevancy to their work. They will also
be better equipped to share how virtual
training enabled them respond more
effectively to customer requests. The
stated connection between what they
will learn in class and how it will improve
on-the-job performance will help learning
leaders more easily connect the dots
when measuring results.

PLATFORM
6 USE
TOOLS CREATIVELY
Virtual classrooms have more interaction
tools than most in-person classrooms.
Using these tools creatively allows for
greater participant interaction, leading
to deeper learning. And deeper learning
leads to better learning outcomes.

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Training Industry Magazine - January/February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - January/February 2021
