The use of web conferencing for employee training is becoming more prevalent because it lowers costs to employers, provides a solid training foundation for employees, and makes re-training of current employees seamless.
Many companies are beginning to include web conferencing with their employee training as a means to reach more learners and reduce costs. In a study conducted with 533 trainers, 63 percent used web conferencing in their training plans. Here are some useful tips to help you get started with your own web conference training program.
Web Conference Training Tips
When it comes to training or instructing of any kind, one of the most important facets is to be well prepared. The better prepared you are, the more the trainees will get out of the meeting. One of the best ways to prepare, according to Amit Rathee from Infinite Conferencing, is to draft an outline of the topics you will be covering during the training session. This will gather your thoughts about what to cover, but it will also give you a flow of the course and provide the trainees a focus point for the duration of the training. In addition to drafting an outline, the following tips will also help:
- Be sure to test everything ahead of time, including the connection to facilities and any other presenters.
- Check for background noise that could be distracting to trainees.
- Consider scheduling carefully. If people from other time zones are joining in, make sure the time you have scheduled works for them. Also be sure to confirm the time with your attendees.
- Although it is important to stick to your lesson plan and remain focused, it is equally important that you remain flexible, as well. In order for people to learn anything of value, they need to be able to apply the material to their specific situations. The trainer should adapt accordingly.
- Use real life experiences or examples to train rather than relying on an outline and digital presentation alone. This will greatly increase the chance that your trainees will retain the information given to them.
- Remember to follow up after the training. This serves two purposes. The first is to get any feedback the trainees may have on how to improve the training for future sessions. The second is that most of what is taught is forgotten by the time an employee makes it back to the job, unless there is follow-up to ensure the employee retained the information.
The Benefits of Web Conference Training – A Business Opportunity for RTO’s
From a company standpoint, one of the largest benefits to web conference training is that more employees can attend the training, including remote workers who cannot always make it into the office, and for a fraction of the cost. Typical training costs average in the low thousands per employee. The majority of that expense is in the placing of the ad, interviewing, and hiring of an employee; however, some of that cost is also included in the training. This is why turnover is usually unprofitable for companies that invest heavily in training programs.
Deliery training using “Virtual classes” represent a new business opportunity for RTO’s. Using virtual classes could represent in substantial savings for RTO’s clients. There are areas of knowledge (Understanding a particular regulation, standard, framework, theory), and procedural skills (loging into a computer system, following specific steps to complete a task), where “virtual training packages” can be created and re-used providing great value to RTOs and their clients.
The industry expect to receive support and solutions from training organisations (including RTOs) to meet their training needs, and certainly using the technology available is one way to respond and fulfill those expectations.
