Ms. Zoba

Human Resources, Recruitment & Training

Optimizing Learning through Distance Training Programs

By Holly Zoba, Senior VP of Sales - Hospitality, Signature Worldwide

At least once a week someone asks me if online learning is as effective as onsite training. I generally respond by posing a question to them – which is better for you, red wine or red grapes? Just like training, both options have some value, but the experiences vary widely. Of course the material covered has an impact on the effectiveness of the method. Some research has shown that technical materials are learned better online than onsite, but generally the soft skills still lean heavily to onsite, in-person training.

Regardless of the topic, adult learners need to participate in the learning process and if you engage your audience, the delivery vehicle becomes less important.

For many hotel management companies, hotels are scattered from one side of the country to the other and sometimes they are scattered from one side of the world to the other. This can make holding a single onsite training class cost prohibitive. There are several options: sometimes a train the trainer session is held and one person is brought in to learn onsite and then sent back to train the others who were unable to attend. A second option is some form of online training – either self-driven, facilitator-driven or a webinar. In each alternative to onsite training, effectiveness of the training can be heightened as long as the participation level remains high.

For example, with a self-driven online tutorial, in addition to frequent knowledge checks or quizzes, the learner can watch a video, respond in-role either in written or verbal form and the audio files can be used later for live or phone coaching. Learning management systems have incorporated exciting games into the knowledge check portion and as long as the game rules are simple to follow, engagement can be elevated.

In the case of facilitator-driven web classrooms, the participant groups must be kept small – 10 to 12 participants at the most. Any larger and only two or three of the participants will be engaged. The others will check email, mute the audio so they can have conversations, generally capture about 10% of the information delivered while the two or three engaged participants will carry the weight of the engagement.

To avoid the 80/20 rule (20% of the group provides 80% of the participation), the web facilitator needs to keep track of who is participating and who is not. We generally do introductions and ice breakers at the beginning of our web sessions and as the participants say their name, we create a fictional seating chart. As people participate, we are able to make a notation which makes it easy at a glance to see who is engaged and who has likely checked out. Bringing the others into the session is a priority, but the tactics used must be more subtle than simply calling on them. Just as in a live class, some participants are paying attention, they are simply less vocal than others, less quick to answer or share an opinion. Chat boxes are great to get these folks involved, they don’t have to speak, they can just type in their answers along with others.

Most recently during a web session with about ten participants, I gave them each the ability to draw on the screen with a different colored marker. The activity kept a larger portion engaged as they circled important words or sometimes even drew a heart to show their approval for a topic. Even webinars with a thousand attendees can be participatory via hand raises, clapping, and frequent well executed polls or knowledge checks.

As in any learning environment, relaxed, focused participants are more likely to gain knowledge. The online experience is an uncomfortable one for some and so attention should be paid to eliminate the stressors that an online session might bring. If there are knowledge checks and they answer incorrectly, will they be able to retake? Is there a time limit on how long the session will take them? Letting the learner know the answers to these questions up front goes a long way towards relaxing the learner and encouraging the knowledge transfer process. For web classrooms, allowing participants to answer verbally or in written form in the chat box allows for individual needs to be met.

We have experimented with a variety of online learning delivery. One of our most effective is a small web classroom – again, no more than 10-12 participants – with some form of follow-up coaching – ideally one on one. We train soft skills – customer service and sales – and so role playing is essential for strong results. The follow up coaching can be done via the phone immediately after the training or we have even broken the group up into smaller sub groups and had group coaching sessions with just three or four participants online at once.

With an online experience, short, frequent sessions are more effective than long one-time courses. We have experimented with 90 minute sessions down to 20-30 minute sessions and we have found that approximately 45 minutes is the ideal length, again depending upon the level of participatory learning you have incorporated.

Another successful approach is shorter still – 5-10 minute videos with a follow-up discussion. The video focuses on one topic and presents the information in a relevant manner and then discussion questions are provided for the onsite group, or a follow up coaching call.

Pre-work is helpful to maximize any experience; it allows some information to be absorbed prior to the session, and it can also serve to alleviate any concerns from the participants as to the level of materials that will be covered.

I think the single biggest risk with any form of online learning is the lack of follow-up. The same can be said of onsite training certainly – lack of follow-up is common, but it seems an even more common problem when the participants are out-of-sight and out-of-mind at multiple remote locations. A contributor to the onsite learning process is the group discussion that inevitably takes place at breaks or after a training event, and with potentially only one participant per location, that opportunity is missed with online sessions. We will often hold follow-up best practice calls to allow online learning participants to share with each other what has worked well for them and what has not been as successful.

Ongoing measurement for the change in behavior contributes to online training success. We have an online reservations learning program that is self-driven. It is a fun session, interactive, interesting and it could be a miserable failure if we did not make ongoing mystery shopping calls to our learners. When you are trying to change any behavior – soft skills, technical procedures – some form of measurement and communication of results is critical.

And finally, make sure to celebrate results, regardless of how the training took place. Recognize successful online learners and celebrate their accomplishments. Often skeptics of an online class can be converted when they see that others have been successful in the process. When several properties are involved with the same courses, publish the top three producers of results to the other properties to inspire some competition. The more focus that can be placed on the behavior changes the online learning is trying to achieve, the more successful the process will be.

In summary, I really don’t know which is healthier for you, wine or grapes. But I prefer wine almost every time. As for training, everyone learns differently and groups come in many forms. What we must do is try to optimize the experience regardless of the delivery method. Helping your audience participate and engage with the training material is what matters most.

Holly Zoba is Senior Vice President of Sales for the Hospitality Division of Signature Worldwide, the leading provider of training solutions for the hospitality industry. Ms. Zoba has more than 20 years of sales and marketing management experience in the hospitality industry and is responsible for managing Signature Worldwide’s sales effort by determining best-fit solutions for hoteliers — helping them improve customer service and increase revenue. Ms. Zoba can be contacted at 614-766-5101 or hollyzoba@signatureworldwide.com Extended Bio...

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