Canada Association of Tourism Employees

6 Studying Methods For The Hybrid Office

What is the hybrid workplace?

The workplace of the future is hybrid. It implies a mix of office and remote workers, some of whom can even take turns working in an office and remotely. This hybrid model implies that the team members are geographically dispersed and may even span multiple time zones.

This presents a multitude of challenges, many of which can be solved with an effective hybrid learning strategy and roadmap in the workplace.

In fact, the hybrid workplace existed before COVID forced most knowledge workers to engage remotely. The response to the remote operations triggered by a pandemic demonstrated that many organizations were ready to face the inherent technical and operational challenges. Now that a hybrid workforce is the accepted reality, many companies have recognized their potential to increase productivity, retain and attract top talent, and improve workflows.

It has not only been shown that a hybrid workforce can remain competitive in the market, but flexibility has also become one of the most sought-after employer attributes among top talent. Employees are looking for organizations willing to adopt the hybrid mindset in the workplace, which makes them essential for recruiting and retaining talent. And most employees report that they would like to stay virtual or at least want to move into a hybrid workplace model.

But many companies are still struggling with cultural issues and trying to adapt learning tactics and mindsets in the workplace.

What are the challenges in transitioning to a hybrid workplace?

This transition is no longer a technical or operational challenge, but a cultural challenge.

Training professionals need to adapt their techniques to help employees develop the skills and mentality necessary to navigate successfully in the new hybrid workplace environment. This means that an additional variable is added to the Training Needs Analysis (TNA).

The typical TNA took into account things like the number of learners; established knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs); and motivation. But now that the workforce is a mix of remote and on-site workers, training solutions need to adapt.

What should be the vision for a hybrid model plan?

Most companies have yet to determine their strategy or tactic in order to train in a hybrid workplace. The following are the key points to consider when creating a roadmap for on-the-job learning for a hybrid workforce:

• Keep in mind that it may be impossible to adopt a common location. This includes not only the geographical distance, but also time zones.
• There is an increased need for management training. Managers need to understand how to adapt to very variable environments. Agility and flexibility are key competencies for managers and organizations.
• Managers and employees in a hybrid workplace need to develop a deeper level of trust. Managers can no longer monitor productivity by simply walking around hoping for chance encounters. You have to consciously coach and look after your employees, even over a distance.
• Employees need to develop a higher degree of transparency in their work processes and learn to use virtual tools for more collaboration.
• Workplace learning teams need to develop iterative and accessible feedback loops between learner and learner. This will help workplace learning teams quickly understand what works and what doesn’t. You will be able to iterate with agility and improve training results and performance.
• On-the-job learning teams need to work with IT and HR teams to ensure more effective onboarding processes and ensure new hires get the support they need right from the start.
• In a hybrid workplace, learning strategies must take into account the strengths and weaknesses between teacher-led training (ILT), virtual teacher-led training (VILT), mixed solutions, and fully online training solutions.
• Workplace learning teams need to consider what learners are looking for [1]: Flexibility, trust, communication, commitment, motivation and cooperation.
• Companies should try to develop a learning culture that enables employees to continuously strive for experimentation, improvement and excellence.

What are the indispensable learning strategies in the workplace in the hybrid workplace?

The following 6 strategies are key to successful on-the-job learning in the hybrid workplace:

1. Eliminate as many distractions as possible

Don’t expect employees to work on complex tasks while answering emails or constantly monitoring messaging apps.

2. Grant employees STime for concentrated learning …

… As if they had an office door to close.

3. Integrate learning into the workflow

Learning in the workflow is often the most effective strategy for change management. This can be done through micro-learning applications, just-in-time training, and performance support systems. This also deepens how personalized learning can be for each employee, their tasks and interests and needs.

4. Create Immersive and experiential learning Opportunities through the following:

• Lifelike scenario-based and use case learning.
• Improved learner engagement in traditional learning solutions.
• Augmented Reality that enhances the learning experience. Today’s technology has made it easier to augment reality through virtual reality headsets and even mobile applications.
• Immersive learning combats the forgetting curve [2]to get employees to apply what they have learned immediately and repeatedly.
• Use multiple learning modalities with blended learning solutions.

5. Use collaborative and informal learning for:

• Social interaction, creating a space in which knowledge can be discussed, assessed and applied
• Coaching and mentoring with interactive and direct feedback loops
• Content curation and discussion forums

6th Plan accessible eLearning

This is critical because the employees in a hybrid workforce are spread across geographic areas and time zones. Asynchronous eLearning allows learners to complete training when and where they can and at their own pace.

Which learning strategies must go down in history?

Consider the following learning strategies and determine if they are active in your learning tactics and practices in the workplace. If so, consider replacing them with more effective practices.

• Virtual lesson that tries to mirror training led by a personal teacher
  The transition from traditional on-site classroom training to asynchronous blended models is not a one-off process. Trainers cannot simply do the same thing in a virtual environment as they can in a live environment. A hybrid workforce does not respond well to learning designed for face-to-face interactions.
• Live training or face-to-face training
  While it’s still important, it probably won’t be as popular as it was in the past. Hybrid workforces require a new learning strategy where learning on the job can be done in the workflow [3]So plan to effectively combine these sessions with online assets.

Farewell Thoughts

Culturally, many employee-learning organizations are behind the technical and operational advances made to accommodate a hybrid workforce. I hope the strategies outlined in this article will help you adapt workplace learning to embrace and benefit from a hybrid workforce. In the meantime, if you have specific questions, please contact me or leave a comment below.

References:

[1] Training the modern learner – delivery strategies and content formats that work

[2] How to compensate for the forgetting curve in your employee learning programs with microlearning

[3] 3 micro-learning strategies to promote learning in the workflow

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