Leadership

Training By Webinar (Mostly) Sucks and It's Your Fault

By Wayne Turmel

Updated on: April 2, 2011 / 11:22 AM EDT / MoneyWatch

Virtual training seems like it should be a slam-dunk. Nobody has to travel to attend the class, you can schedule them easier than trying to get everyone physically together, and you have access to the trainers and subject matter you need when you need it. You can even record them, so that people who miss the event can still catch up. So why does so much training by webinar, uhhhh suck?

Actually, the problem is not the technology or the media so much as the people. There are four stakeholders involved in any training by any method, and each bears their share of the responsibility. So why is everyone unhappy with webinar training and what can they do about it?

The Organization needs to understand some basic realities.

Just because you can cram a hundred people onto a webinar doesn't mean you should. For some reason the savings in travel and lost productivity aren't enough. There's always someone in the organization who says, "you mean the savings on hotel rooms, physical facilities and lost man-hours isn't enough, we can reduce the cost to practically zero?" Yes. You can also reduce the effectiveness by just as much. Training is still an investment.
Choose the right technology for the right reasons. Webinar training needs to be interactive and should replicate a good live learning environment as closely as possible. Choosing the low-cost conferencing provider could limit your effectiveness. How about actually asking your Training or HR people what they need instead of just leaving it to IT?

The Managers are to blame for a number of reasons:

Wedon't participate in the training ourselves, sending the message that it's not important and wehave more important things to do. If what's being taught isn't important to their manager, why should employees care about it?
They don't follow up and measure the impact of the training. Seriously, how many of us have gotten on a conference call and not even mentioned the learning event everyone just went through? It's like it never happened.
They don't hold people accountable for showing up or not, let alone whether they actually use the new skills or information.

The Trainers shoulder a lot of the responsibility. Even if the circumstances are right, a lot of the success or failure depends on those leading the training. Here's what we often do wrong:

We let our worries about the technology eliminate everything we know about good training. Even good classroom presenters struggle to become comfortable online and so we use the minimum amount of technology. If you were in the classroom and limited the questions, didn't allow people to interact, told people not to chat with each other and limited the visuals to overwritten PowerPoint slides what do you think would happen? Why is it any different online. Try to replicate a good classroom environment as much as possible.
Just because we're subject matter experts and have been in the classroom for years doesn't mean you know how to be effective online. Take the time to learn the basics and practice with the technology. This is a different set of presentation muscles than the ones you've been using. Have the humility to learn the tools and develop the right skillsets for this new medium.
We don't tailor the content to the new environment. We just take the same powerpoint and the same lesson plan we've used for years and deliver it online. Seriously, 4 straight hours online is against the Geneva Convention , or ought to be. Take the time to restructure your content and break it up into digestible pieces.
We're doing this grudgingly and it shows. Most classroom trainers are there because we like to be. Live presenting and interaction with the classroom is our drug of choice. When that fun component is stripped away, I've seen a lot of good trainers pout and treat webinars as making the best of a terrible situation. In fact, as i point out in 10 Steps to Successful Virtual Presentations, there are many things you can do through webinars to strengthen your training efforts like short follow-up modules, assigning prework so that you can make the most of your classroom time, and offering training just-in-time. Quit sulking and think about the possibilities.

The Learners need to step up as well.

Just because it's not in the classroom doesn't mean it's not important. How about you actually turn off your email and IM and pay attention? Don't just put your phone on mute and go answer email. The goal shouldn't be simple attendance, it should be to learn.
Be proactive. Ask questions and take advantage of the opportunities to learn from each other. That "raise hand"button and the chat box are there for a reason. When the instructor asks "what questions do you have?" it's not supposed to be a rhetorical question.
Actually do the assignments and follow-up work. Maybe, just maybe, this new process or skill will make your job easier or at least get the boss off your back (hey, it could happen). Focus.

As my clients have learned over the years, training by webinar can be very effective. It can also be an annoying waste of time and money. Everyone in the organization has a part to play in its success or failure. How are you and your team doing?

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photo by flickr user kevin dooley CC 2.0