Why remote training is the solution for many businesses

This post was originally published by Jenny Boling on lessonly.com.

Remember when the option of working remotely wasn’t the norm? When it felt so strange to hear about someone who had the option to head into the office or stay home and get the job done? Although the transition to working from home in March of 2020 was fast and furious for a lot of organizations, many companies are now figuring out that remote work is the future of work—pandemic or not.

According to a Buffer report, 99% of survey participants said they would like to work remotely at least some time for the rest of their careers. That said, in our future of work, remote work can present an opportunity for all of us to think about what it truly means to collaborate and how it can improve our organizations. 

What are the benefits of remote training?

I could write several chapters about why I think remote training software brings value to any company and team, but let’s start with a look at some of the key benefits.

• Provides flexibility: Employees can pursue training from the comfort of their home, during their lunch breaks, and on their own schedule. Distance learning can fit around existing responsibilities, and allows people to choose their hours and maintain a healthy family and social life, which is a strong selling point for many employees. 
• Saves money: No more travel expenses, conference rooms to book, or meals to provide like in a traditional in-person training scenario.
• Learn at the right pace: Everyone learns differently. Remote training tools give learners the option to review training at a pace that’s right for them. By giving teammates control over the amount of training they consume and when they consume it, they’re more likely to learn and retain new information. Self-paced learning also creates a stress-free learning experience which also impacts retention. 
• Increase well-being: In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, we’ve seen a lot of teams decide to take a season as a remote workforce. Remote training ensures that your team is still able to stay aligned and complete training, even if they aren’t in the office.
• Stay relevant: Employers and employees are facing one of the fastest workplace revolutions. And, keeping individual and professional skills updated is difficult in a fast-paced world, especially when balancing personal commitments, a part-time or full-time job, and more. Virtual training software makes updating, managing change, and communicating new developments easier.

Ok, so we know the number of people working from home is rapidly growing which means your computer based training software should grow in this area, too. As we transform the norm of work environments, it’s imperative to stay on top of the learning experience and keep your teams in the know, wherever they are. But how do you pick the best learning and development software?

Features to look for in remote training software

Whether you’re looking to work with a virtual training company or create remote training strategies internally, there are a number of virtual training best practices that make for a great experience. Here are a few features and functions that our customers find most valuable. 

1. User-friendly: Learning shouldn’t be difficult. With simplified usability, anyone can be a learner and anyone can create training content. 
2. Interactive: Feedback loops are a critical part of training. The best training tools give learners the chance to ask questions and share feedback with the rest of their team.
3. Reporting and insights: See who is doing what, when, and how well. Make sure that any training solution you use gives you the ability to view training completion rates, see if learners revisit certain content, and track who still needs to complete training.
4. Scalability: It shouldn’t take long to implement and scale your remote training program to the rest of the team. Look for a solution that works for your current team size and future workforce.
5. Simple to update: Making updates to your current training content should be just as easy as it is to create new content. We’ve found that teams love being able to create drafts of updated content that their team can review before it goes live.

Ready to learn more about virtual training?

We’re ready for that, too. We believe remote training is the solution for many businesses, trainers and HR departments. See why Lessonly by Seismic has earned a 4.7 out of 5-star rating with over 450 customer reviews on G2. Or, get a demo and we’ll show you more.