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One of the most efficient employee training methods is synchronous online training, giving employees the drive and framework they need to meet their performance expectations. But there is a catch to this. Synchronous online training needs to have the ideal balance of interaction, cooperation, and assistance for it to become unforgettable and exciting for your employees.
Employees who participate in synchronous training can get feedback immediately and feel involved in the learning process. This article will teach you what is synchronous learning and mention some practical tips that eLearning professionals could use to create synchronous online training materials that are both engaging and informational for corporate learners.
What Is Synchronous Learning?
The term “synchronous training” comes from the phrase “in sync,” which denotes two persons joining together simultaneously. Synchronous training refers to in-person learning where learners and instructors can interact proactively in real-time.
This type of learning strategy replicates face-to-face interaction, whether it be digitally or physically. Here, information transfer takes place instantly. Several individuals are learning the same material in a synchronous setting at once. So there are many different viewpoints present in the space.
Synchronous training can now be conducted between both physical and virtual teams, while it was previously primarily done in person. All that is needed, whether synchronous training is being conducted on a computer monitor or in a classroom, are honest, in-person conversations between the person instructing and those being taught.
In-person role plays, one-on-one tutoring, break-out rooms, text messaging streams, live-streamed seminars, and lectures, among others, are all forms of synchronous training.
Pros Of Learning In A Synchronous Setup
- Real-time learning- The employee can learn how to deal with difficult circumstances as they arise.
- Communicative session– To make the session more engaging, the L&D might quiz the customer service team members on their understanding of the concepts they have been trained on.
- Collaborative learning – For example, the CS team can talk about what they’ve learned after the training and assist one another with complex concepts.
Importance Of Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is vital for every organization. It contributes significantly to the performance of an organization and enables it to expand. Since engagement is higher in synchronous training as compared to asynchronous training, it increases employee motivation and satisfaction over time. This is because employees perceive it as a clear investment in their career, which increases the likelihood that they will get more involved with the company and, consequently, become much more productive, successful, secure, and happy.
Moreover, individuals will be more driven to learn and participate if they experience a sense of community and know that everyone is striving towards a similar goal. Synchronous training also has the enormous benefit of enabling real-time feedback. The instructor can observe the learners and determine whether or not the learners are motivated and interested in the lesson.
Keep employees engaged using synchronous learning with the following tips:
Prioritize Resource Sharing
Give your employees relevant materials in advance and ensure they have received them. This prevents individuals from wasting time downloading the resources during the training sessions and enables any download issues to be detected and fixed beforehand.
Meetings Should Incorporate Synchronous Training
Include your synchronous learning in the existing team meetings. For instance, conducting quick quizzes and verbal tests in a remote team meeting is a terrific way to keep things productive and save time.
Be Ready
Make sure you’ve turned on all of your equipment, logged in, reviewed your papers, and planned relevant solutions for potential inquiries before your meeting begins.
Ensure That Learners Feel Welcomed And At Ease
The degree to which participants felt at ease and welcomed will significantly impact this type of training’s efficacy. Conduct the training gently, let employees know when it’s appropriate to ask questions, and be friendly when you introduce yourself to ensure they feel as joyful as possible.
Consider Inclusivity
Different individuals require different amounts of visual and aural stimulation when learning. Keep this in mind throughout your synchronous training, and propose useful methods such as printing out notes to go along with slides, going over them in detail, and speaking more slowly.
Keep It Brief And To The Point
Don’t go above what is necessary. Prolonged lectures covering broad themes will bore your audience. Choose what is important and prioritize that.
Choose A Method To Record It
Planning this kind of training will take a lot of your time, so make sure to record it. It is advantageous because you can return and watch it later to find any gaps. Additionally, you can distribute it later to individuals who skipped the training and those who wish to review particular sections.
Distribute Feedback Forms
Distribute a survey asking for comments from all employees after the session has finished. Find out what they liked, what they thought could be improved, and the training’s main takeaways.
Look Out For Exhaustion
Paying attention to learner exhaustion is crucial for remote teams because online meetings may be extremely draining. Allow learners to take brief intervals, and do your best to maintain lively conversations to prevent this.
Include Team-Building Exercises To Make It Enjoyable
Linking team members from different parts of the world and promoting creativity, job happiness, cooperation, and team spirit are just a few of the many advantages of team building. Sync your training with some team-building exercises.
Conclusion
You can engage and energize your staff for training by having everyone participate in an online game at the start of the training. Choose from a puzzle game or a Christmas game, then play through five quick rounds to help teams relax and evaluate their ability to work together. Include icebreaker activities to meet the team, make everyone feel at ease, and develop trust-based relationships.
In this article, we spoke about what synchronous learning is, its pros, how it is implemented for employee engagement, and additional tips for building an effective synchronous training program. We hope it will help you better understand the concept of synchronous learning.
