Change Management Efforts Are At The Heart Of e-Learning Success: 4 Tried And Tested Ways

Most modern organizations realize the many benefits of training within the organization and want to reap benefits of effective workplace learning. They are willing to devote budgets as well as time for training. To ensure training efficacy, newer ways and methods like technology-aided learning are being adopted. But implementing e-learning on an organization-wide basis entails a lot of changes within a structure of the workplace as well as the mind-set of employees. To reap benefits of e-learning success, it is necessary to acknowledge changes and work towards managing them well.


Before starting change management, it is also important to make sure that learning is aligned to pertinent needs of learners. This will effectively minimize change management efforts needed for learning efficacy. Once the needs of learners are identified, proactive steps can be taken to make the learner comfortable with new platform of learning. Here are some learnings derived from change management efforts within organizations which contributed to unprecedented success of e-learning endeavours.

• Create avenues for both offline and online learning: e-Learning is undoubtedly a great way to train employees and it provides time and cost efficiency as well. But it is important to note that learners may not have uniform internet connectivity and that should not stand in the way of learning. So if an option of download and save is provided, learners can catch up on learning even when they are offline. For sales personnel, it also gives them the opportunity to print saved documents, to share with prospective clients and to increase the impact of sales calls. The option of offline learning can lessen the need for change management efforts as learners can take required time to get used to online learning but still continue learning through that transition period.
• Design the learning portal to increase learning ease: The e-learning portal should have a modern look that excites learners and be easy to work on. It should have easy navigation and a simple structure that does not confuse learners. E-courses too should align with the simplicity of design to make sure that learners need to go through a handful of meaningful clicks to access desired information. The e-learning portal design plays a big part in encouraging learners to access e-learning more and learn continually.
• Market e-learning endeavour well: In addition, it is also important to sell e-learning implementation well among all learners. Marketing messages need to be sent to announce the launch of e-learning portal with illustration of all the benefits. If e-courses provide certifications, it should be duly highlighted to get learners excited about learning. E-mails or messages should also be sent from time to time to keep learners abreast of new and existing courses on the e-learning portal.
• Illustrate the benefits of e-learning: In addition to the above, it is important to share what the training is all about and explain benefits of training. While e-mailers and text messages are effective, there is always a chance that learners just ignore them among the deluge of similar promotional mails in his or her inbox. To get the attention of learner, you have to do something that goes beyond ordinary. For instance, for leading MNC, we created an animated promotional video that provides information about all available training events within the e-learning portal. A short video was utilized as a marketing tool for various learning events of the year. With its eye-catching design and an animated character, learners were further motivated to know more about events and were more inclined to attend them all. Compared to traditional mailers, the video was able to reach out better to learners and motivate them well.

Effective change management efforts help learners access more of e-Learning and complete assigned e-courses. It helps to establish efficacy of e-learning in the minds of learners as a medium that has a lot to offer – not just in terms of information but also for sustained support that enhances their work output.