You are convinced that blended learning can be the future of further education in your company – but first you need to convince your superiors. Depending on the type and corporate culture, introducing a new idea or software can be a significant hurdle. In this article, our sales experts give you concrete tips on how to prepare for the conversation with bosses and decision-makers – and how to excite them about blended learning!
The goal with new ideas: Finding solutions!
For anyone dealing with topics around learning, personal development, or further training, two tasks are central:
Finding solutions to problems.
Optimizing existing processes.
Often, this means breaking with old methods or at least reformatting them.
In such a project, there always comes the most challenging step: Convincing the decision-makers of the new method, who must approve the change. Especially in large companies with classic hierarchies, a personal decision is still no guarantee for agreement. Whether time, energy, and money are invested in a change is rarely the decision of a single individual.
You have already recognized the diverse benefits of blended learning for your company and are now exactly at this next step? Then we now give you some tips directly from our sales team: My colleague Hans-Martin has contact with HR professionals, decision-makers, and company leaders almost daily. He knows from experience which arguments and methods will really help you not to persuade your boss, but to excite them for blended learning and a platform!
Tip 1: Know your boss!
The person who makes the decision can be your team leader, your supervisor, or the company head. It depends entirely on the company. What is important is that you recognize what type your decision-maker is, and which arguments best convince them:
Hans-Martin has learned fundamentally over the years about three types of decision-makers:
Type 1: The Cost-Focused Boss
This type of decision-maker primarily focuses on costs. You need to convince them that investing money in this new measure has financial benefits. Emphasize particularly the long-term savings potential and come to the conversation with a precise cost breakdown for the blended learning platform.
3 good arguments for the cost-focused decision-maker:
"With blended learning, fewer in-person appointments are necessary. This saves travel costs and daily rates for an external trainer!"
"Since participants can learn flexibly online, we have fewer additional costs due to work absences for further training."
"Developing a proprietary online solution is expensive and very time-consuming. Using ready-made software saves costs for development and for the long-term necessary IT maintenance!"
Type 2: The Benefit-Focused Boss
The benefits of the change are at the forefront for this type. Emphasize the advantages of blended learning for all parties involved: for the participants as well as for the company. It is also especially important to prepare for questions about long-term benefits – keyword sustainability.
3 good arguments for the benefit-focused decision-maker:
"Blended learning primarily offers flexibility for everyone! Participants can learn where and how they want. This way, everyone learns at their own pace and everyone achieves the learning goals."
"Trainers and participants can work together on training progress, even if no contact on-site is possible."
"With blended learning, flexible preparation and long-term follow-up are possible. Thus, the sustainability of the measures is significantly higher! This saves the company time and costs that would otherwise arise from ineffective measures."
Type 3: The Innovation-Focused Boss
For the innovation-focused decision-maker, modernization and the image of the company are central. The satisfaction of the employees is also important for this type. However, they can often be easily excited about online methods.
3 good arguments for the innovation-focused decision-maker:
"Digitalization is an important topic for companies that we cannot fall behind on. An online platform for further training supports our digital development."
"Learning with user-friendly blended learning software and varied learning content is fun! This keeps employees satisfied and motivated in the long term."
"With blended learning, employees can learn where and when they want – and at their own pace. This means less stress for employees and trainers."
Tip 2: Present your concept!
Most decision-makers do not want to hear a rough idea or a spontaneous thought, but a concrete concept. Before the conversation with your boss, think about answers to these questions to clarify your idea:
CONTENT: Which of our previous training contents can be well represented online and are well-suited for blended learning?
Tip for your answer: Blended learning works for almost all topics. The only limitation: If the topic is strongly practice-oriented (like a language course or knitting), a high practical share of at least 70% should be planned.
TRAINER: Does the trainer who is supposed to work with blended learning already have experience with such platforms – and is he motivated to engage with it?
Tip for your answer: The trainer is motivated when the platform is easy to use and also fun for him.
PARTICIPANTS: Are the employees motivated and do they have sufficient skills and means to work with an online platform?
Tip for your answer: Here too, the choice of software is crucial. If the platform is enjoyable from the user's perspective and the usage is almost self-explanatory, you have won this point!
COMPANY: What should be considered regarding costs, preparation time, contract duration, and data protection?
Tip for your answer: We have summarized comprehensive information on data protection and e-learning in companies for you in the blog.
Ultimately, you should convey a clear picture of your blended learning concept to your decision-maker. Prepare for possible follow-up questions and objections. Also, always keep in mind that your counterpart may have never heard of blended learning and may have concerns about relocating important processes such as further training and employee data to the internet or to an external provider.
Tip 3: Practice over theory!
You have already dealt with the theory of blended learning before making the decision for yourself and your company. However, for your boss, practice is just as important as theory – in fact, it’s the opposite!
To convince your decision-maker not just theoretically but to genuinely excite them about your idea (and the software), you best offer the boss the opportunity to try out blended learning themselves: A demo or even a completely prepared course with some relevant training content.
Now schedule an online demo with one of our experts and then create your own course to present!
Such a demo course takes more time to prepare than a purely theoretical design. However, that allows the decision-maker to experience the innovation from the participants' perspective. Clarity, intuitive operation, and fun in learning are arguments that can be wonderfully conveyed in practice – and generate positive emotions.
The cherry on top: Offer your decision-maker additional practical materials on blended learning. For example, the rocketpack: our card game with 40 methods for blended learning. Or our rocket day: the video workshop as perfect preparation for creating your own high-quality training videos.
Theory + Practice = Excitement!
You know what your superior or boss truly values. And you have theoretically well thought out your concept. Then you are already very well prepared for the decisive conversation! In practice, the free admin demo will help you.
For the theory, we have gathered 7 arguments for blended learning in your company, with which you can inspire all types of bosses. Download them as a free PDF and convince your colleagues and superiors!
