Microlearning

MICROLEARNING

In our work, the need to learn new elements is more continual than in most industries.

• Our ability to learn is the key factor to surviving as an organization  

That being the case, we have developed methodologies for learning for our staff that shorten the time needed to learn.

This article is about one of those methodologies - microlearning.

And yes, we realize this is a new name on a learning technique that has been use for thousands of years.  However, wonder, for yourself, if you are using this practice for yourself as often as you could.

Microlearning, in is most simple form, is about taking in new information is smaller segments and "resting" between chunks to allow your brain to do the processing necessary for storing the information in a manner that allows for more ready recall in the future.

Let's look at an example.

One of our new associates came to us with typical information technology skills.  She was proficient in using word processing applications and messaging tools.  She had some skill using spread sheet, presentation, and graphics tools.  

However, her responsibilities included loading and testing software applications.  This work required the need to:

• Understand hardware to be able to troubleshoot failures
• Be able to fix problems related to Windows operating system software
• Know how to use software for imaging computers

If you have experience with computers and software, you know these skills require a significant amount of knowledge.  And we only had a few quarters to help her develop these foundation skills.

So, we used microlearning to speed up the process.

The first step was to get a grounding in hardware and operating systems.  We used the CompTIA A+ training for this.  Most every day, our associate (we'll call her Beth because that is her name) would self study for 15 - 30 minute increments.  She used elearning and books (e.g. CompTIA A+ Exam Guide) to study.  

Once she felt she had a good level of knowledge from self study, we paired her with a subject expert to work in a classroom environment.  Because we are in the training business, we have an option available to us that is not as readily available to others - having one of our experts train her in 1 - 2 hour sessions over a period of time.

The result was that Beth was able to develop the proficiency needed to fully take over the tasks of preparing software and hardware within a few months.  We predict that this process would normally take over a year.

This method works well for us.  We continue to use it for our staff.  Of late, we have added these microlearning methods to our mix: 

• short how to videos
• blogs
• how to manuals
• reading on mobile devices while on the go

I hope our experiences motivate you to integrate microlearning into your learning processes so as to improve the speed at which you intake and recall information. 

That's it for now.  I hope there is some take home pay for you from the 3-5 minutes you spent reading this article.

Robert     

A Missing Element in Your Training ?

Due to my schedule, most of the learning I do is self study - sometimes even while waiting for a traffic light to turn green or while going to the....no, I did not just start to write that.

Being an introvert who is pressed for time, self study works well for me - much of the time.  I can study before anyone in my family wakes up, during lunch (an excuse not to go out and socialize with others at lunch), and after our child's bedtime.  And I can do it alone. Aah, blessed alone time.

In the process of becoming certified by Google to teach others how to improve their work skills through using Google software applications (e.g. docs, sites, forms, etc.), I have been using self study methods (reading student manuals, watching online videos, and practicing executing commands and actions on the software).

However, self study lacks one element that keeps me from progressing faster.  That element is intensity. 

For example, when I realized my ineptness at communicating in front of groups (in seeing a video of a speech I gave), I knew that no amount of self study would make me a better speaker.  It was to the Abe Lincoln method I went (you remember - wear the stump down).  I knew of no better place to wear down a stump by speaking than Toastmasters.  Over the past two years, my weekly participation in Toastmasters training has been a good environment in which to get practice and develop skill faster.  And to the point of the story I go - intense training, like Toastmasters, is the best way I know how to develop skill faster - in most instances.

Admit it, you know this from your own experience.  You remember the teacher, coach, or parent you hated (at the time) from whom you learned the most because they pushed you hard. 

So, back to Toastmasters.  Being thin skinned and self conscious, I don't do well when others evaluate me.  You see, I have this insane desire to be perfect (whatever perfect is).  And when someone points out my shortcomings, I give a fake smile - you know the one trying to cover up the fact that I am boiling inside ("who are you to tell me...") - as if they buy the fake smile.  So, I grin and bear it.

As much as I don't like the discomfort of being constantly evaluated each week, it is the intensity of the training that helps me make faster progress.

Lest you ever see me speak, I have learned that I am a man of few words (read: introvert) who likes to think about a situation before speaking.  I am not a person who likes to figure out a situation by talking about it.  I can figure it out by my own thinking, thank you very much.  This lack of verbosity assures that I won't be replacing Joel Osteen any time soon.  

That being said, I have won a few contests, improved my clarity, gained a higher level of comfort in speaking in front of groups, and added some humor to my talks (what little humor I can muster).  And this is due to the intensity of the training.

So here's your tip for the month from Uncle Bob - you are not going to learn to swim, cook a hamburger, make love, or know how to catch a fish by self study.  You learn about how others do it, but you will not know how to do it.  On top of that, the environment needs to be intense to produce faster results.

To eat my own dog food, I will be teaching practice online Google classes and getting evaluated.  Did I say how much I look forward to being evaluated by others on my teaching abilities. 

Go forward and do likewise.

State of Ohio Funding for Training

Funding for Training - state of Ohio

The state of Ohio is in process of formalizing a plan to invest monies collected from taxes on casino revenues into training for Ohio employees and organizations.

The program has not yet been announced.  The expectation is that the appropriate state official will make the announcement in the coming months.

The information below provides additional advance information.

Program Overview

• 50% of tuition reimbursed (up to $4,000 per employee and up to $500,000 per company) for qualifying employees and employers

Program Eligibility:

To be eligible for financial assistance, the following requirements must be met by both the employer and employee.

EMPLOYER ELIGIBILITY – an eligible employer must operate as a for-profit entity in a state-designated targeted industry with a facility located in Ohio that has been in continuous operation for the 12 months immediately prior to submitting the application.

Targeted industries are:

• Advanced Manufacturing

• Aerospace and Aviation
• Automotive
• BioHealth
• Corporate Headquarters
• Energy
• Financial Services
• Food Processing
• Information Technology and Services
• Polymers and Chemicals

EMPLOYEE ELIGIBILITY – an eligible employee is someone who is directly employed by the company at a facility located within Ohio and meets all of the following requirements:

• Employed in any of the following business functions: production, back office operations, information technology, logistics, or research and development
• Earning an hourly wage of at least 150 percent of the federal minimum wage ($10.88 as of January 1, 2012) plus benefits
• An Ohio resident
• At least 18 years of age
• Working at least 25 hours per week

Note: an employee who is employed in a retail/service function is not eligible for the voucher program.

Eligible training activities include:

• Classes, either non-credit or credit, at an accredited education institution
• Training that leads to an industry recognized certificate
• Training provided in conjunction with the purchase of a new piece of equipment
• Upgrade of computer skills (e.g. Excel, Access)
• Training for the ICD-10-CM/PCS diagnostics classification system (regardless of whether the employee works for a for-profit or non-profit employer)
• Training from a national, regional, or state trade association that offers an independently certified training curriculum and testing
• Training for improved process efficiency (e.g. ISO-9000, Six Sigma or Lean Manufacturing).

Ineligible training activities include (but are not limited to)

Training that is not eligible include:

• Training that is already being reimbursed by another State or Federal training program (e.g. Ohio Workforce Guarantee, National Emergency Grant, etc.)
• Continuing Education Units (CEUs) required for continued professional certification
• Soft Skills (e.g. diversity, ethics, HR law, management and leadership, sexual harassment, etc.)
• Training which is reimbursed/required by other public agencies or departments (e.g. OSHA, Worker’s Compensation)
• General Equivalency Diploma (GED)
• Profit-oriented courses (e.g. sales, marketing research, and Dale Carnegie training)
• Conference fees
• Wages of trainees while being trained
• Travel costs

Below is a list of information that will be requested on the application.

• Company Information: Company Legal Name, Address, FTI#, NAICS Code, Industry Type, Description of Business, Date of Establishment in Ohio, Number of Employees in Ohio, and Company contact information.

• Employee/Trainee Information: Employee Name, Job Title, SSN (will be encrypted via our IT office), Date of Birth, Work Address, Ohio Resident Requirement (Yes/No), Hire Date, Work Function (Back Office, IT, Logistics, Production, Research & Development), Job Description, and Hourly Wage Rate.

• Training: Name and Address of Training Provider(s), Course Title, Course Description, Training Start and End Dates, Training Will Result In (Certificate of Completion, College Credit, Industry Recognized Certificate, Other, Systems Certification), Training Outcomes for Company (Secure a New Contract, New Domestic Market, Expansion of an Existing Client Base, New Export Market, New Business Partnership), and Training Costs per employee.

Training Summary: Training Outcome for the Employee (New Skill for Current Position, Training for Career Advancement, Skill Modernization, Training for a New Position/Promotion). If you have assigned an employee to more than one course, you will have to repeat this process for each course they are assigned

Success with Google Messaging

Success with Google Messaging

A driving reason for our switch from having an internal messaging environment to using Google messaging was security and simplicity.

As a small company, our processes for scrubbing mail, keeping virus protection up to date, fixing a compromised server when necessary, and other maintenance items for properly maintaining a messaging environment were not up to our standards. That is why we looked at using a service for this software.

After researching several alternatives, we migrated to Google Messaging in the summer of 2011.  We have been pleased with this product.

Here are the key benefits for Arden Corporation: 

• As a small business owner, I don't worry about our messaging servers getting compromised and losing time rebuilding a damaged environment
• We spend significantly less time reviewing Spam mail because Google has a better solution than our previous software
• We spend no time monitoring our messaging environment (e.g. looking at dead mail, checking log files)
• We now use chat (infrequently) and make some of our phone calls from our computer (instead of our office phone or cell phone)
• It is easier to access our e-mail regardless of where we are working 

These are some of the benefits we have enjoyed.  Over the coming months, we will be sharing more about the benefits (and disadvantages) we are finding as we look to move more of our computing to Google products (e.g. Google Docs, AnyMeeting).

Don't Lose Priya

Her name is Priya.  She came to Cincinnati from New Delhi, India in September of 2007 on an H1B Visa.  She is a hard worker for her company – one any company would be thrilled to have.

One of the concerns Priya has is that her company has provided little training.  Being that education is a top value for her, she is concerned that she is getting left behind in her field.  While some of her friends are getting more versed in developing mobile applications, creating web based document management systems, and handling security issues, she continues to be focused on the same programming work as when she first came to America five years ago.

Since her employer has not invested in helping Priya for the past five years, she is actively looking for a better work situation.  It is not a better salary that is motivating her.  Rather, she is motivated by the need to work on technologies that are current and will help her keep her skills current – and which also make her even more valuable to her employer.

During this recession, many of our clients stopped investing in education for their staff.  Now that they are running profitably, many have still not added training back in.  We have seen the negative affect of neglecting employee training in the past few quarters as more IT staff are leaving for better opportunities.  

For example, one of our clients recently lost a key infrastructure person to Juniper.  Juniper is focused on establishing a presence in this region and is hiring people away from companies like yours.  The manager with whom I spoke said this person is “irreplaceable.”

Another client lost one of their key IT people to a growing medium-sized company.  One of the employee’s key motivating factors for leaving was having the ability to implement his ideas for improving the business (through improved technology). 

The number of companies vying for your staff has increased significantly in 2012.  Will investing in education lessen the possibility that you would lose a person like Priya ?

Yes, you know it does. You have experience with this and you are smart enough to know that investing in building your employees increases longevity.

And of course, there are always other factors you can’t control that impact longevity – spouse transfer, wrong cultural match, etc.  But do you want to risk losing those people like Priya who are looking for further development – especially when investing in training only helps both of you in the long run?

If you would like to talk more about how to improve your business through technical education, visit www.ardentraining.com or e-mail me at  robert.gepfert@ardentraining.com to schedule an initial meeting

On line Education: Advantages and Disadvantages

Most of our customers have experience with on line learning programs - both self study and those that involve a subject expert live on line.

Over the past few years, the reactions we have gotten from our clients about live on line training has been more diverse (and more emotional) than other methods of education.  Some swear they will never take a live on line class again - ever  Some say it is a better option for them.  

For purposes of this article, we'll look at three categories:

1. On line self study classes
2. On line live programs - led by a subject expert
3. In person education - led by a subject expert (in the same physical room as the student)

As with many things in your life, there are advantages and disadvantages.

Some of the advantages of on line self study can include:

• Greater control over the amount of time spent on a particular topic
• Ease of repeating content
• Time flexibility

Some disadvantages we have seen are:

• Most individuals lack the self discipline needed to "stick with it"
• The amount of time it takes is more than other learning methods

Some of the advantages of on line live programs can include:

• Eliminates travel
• Ability to participate in an environment of your choosing (e.g. your home)

Some disadvantages we have seen are:

• The amount of time a person can use this medium (less than when in person with a trainer) - e.g. 2 - 4 hours versus 4 - 8 hours
• Missed communications due to lack of face-to-face connection

Some of the advantages of working with a subject expert in person can include:

• Longer attention span of learner
• Increased emotional involvement and impact of training as a result

Some disadvantages we have seen are:

• May necessitate travel time and cost
• Limited autonomy when in another's environment

My conclusion, at this juncture, is that more use of and research on results is needed to enable one to have a better understanding of a good mix of self study, on line live, and in person live education for their personal situation.  

One key trend is combining self study and live programs to increase skill development.

Energy Management: Your Personal Energy Management

In preparing for a learning session on personal productivity for an upcoming annual meeting for an IT consulting company, I gained more clarity that personal productivity is closely tied to how you manage a key commodity - your energy.  

Your energy management is resource allocation.  Since many of our clients are involved in resource allocation of technical resources (their staff and their own), thinking of this in similar terms may help you.

The amount of energy (e.g. calories as measurable units) you have available each day is relatively constant.  That means that the better you are at using your energy on the activities that are most likely to yield desired results, the more you accomplish your objectives in a shorter time frame (assuming you are clear on key objectives).

Let's bring this down to a practical level.  You have an energy cycle each day.  One improvement you can make is doing key activities that require more energy at your peak energy times.  This helps insure that key activities get accomplished (i.e. before you run out of energy for them).

For example, the time of day I am generally most mentally vibrant is from 6:30 am to 8 am.  I normally work on more mentally demanding tasks (marketing plans, studying new technologies, analyzing information) during this cycle.

My energy from 8 am - noon is also high.  Being that communications with customers is one of my highest priority activities (and one that I spend 6 - 8 hours a day on), I focus on higher importance customers communications in the morning.

I experience an energy drop in the afternoon.  During that time, I will be involved in activities that build up my energy.  I may take a lunch break, read, get quiet time, run an errand, or other actions that build up my energy.

My energy renewal at this time may also be caffeine (which I do not use in the morning), scheduling internal or external meetings at this time (because they normally take less energy), or exercise (yes, I am fortunate to have autonomy to do so on some days). 

Then I am good to go until 5 pm.  If I work past 5 pm, it is normally on actions that don't take a lot of brain power (e.g. lower priority e-mail communications, prioritizing actions, reviewing receivables, etc.)

At night, the energy I have depends upon the demands of my family.  When I am involved in family activities that drain me (like shopping), I fade fast.  On a good night, I'll spend time playing with my daughter (which is energy giving), eat a meal, and get an hour of reading or studying done.  As an introvert, I get energy by doing activities alone (e.g. meditating, reading, fixing things in the house, building things, etc.)

In addition to being smart about allocating your activities to be in sync with your energy cycle for the day, it is prudent to know what drains your energy (so as to minimize these in your life) and what gives you energy (so as to do these more consciously more often).

Some of my energy givers include:

• Mental conditioning
• Mobility
• Exercise
• Quiet time
• Reading
• Meeting new individuals
• Being in a new place
• Changing tasks
• Productive use of my time
• Trying new activities
• Taking risks
• Doing things that I am afraid to do (e.g. Drop Zone, jet skis, four wheeling)

Some of my energy drainers include:

• People who have a developed habit of complaining
• Too much socializing
• Involvement in activities that bore me (e.g. shopping)
• Watching others do things (TV, live sports)
• Sleeping more than eight (8) hours
• Too much sun
• Too much sugar in my blood 
• Change of sleeping pattern

Another factor is your work environment.  Realizing that some elements of your work environment are not under your control, focus on those that are.  For example, when we moved to a new education center, my workstation was in the nerve center (our euphemism for server and storage room).  I found, after working in that area over a period of months, that I would experience a significant energy lag in the afternoon.  I was able to be productive ten (10) hours a day when I worked in an area that had natural light (and less so in the nerve center).  So now, I am a roving worker - working in whatever windowed room is available that day (I work using a laptop).   Being that change gives me energy, changing rooms also gives me an added energy boost.

Here are some work environment factors for you to consider:

§         Independently or collaboratively 

§         Autonomously or supervised 

§         Quiet or active environment 

§         Length of time you like to work

§         Prefer focus on one task for a while or moving between tasks often

§         Do interruptions normally energize you or irritate you 

§         Working with scheduled planned in advance or figure it out as you go 

§         Do you enjoy attending meetings with others 

§         Is it important to have your work environment uncluttered 

§         Do you prefer routine in your day

      Again, I recognize that an office worker can only control some of these aspects.  Even if you can only improve one, that may get you some extra productivity.

      My expectation is that if you improve one or two habits from these ideas and put them into practice, it would be realistic to have a 2% to 4% gain in the amount of work you get done - and in today's age where the worker productivity (at least in the USA) is at an all time high, even 2% is significant.