"I used to be the biggest skeptic, today I am firmly convinced of the concept of Blended Learning" – this is how Nicole Mast describes her journey to becoming a successful E-Trainer. Find out in the interview what ultimately convinced Nicole and what tips she has for aspiring Blended Learning trainers.

Nicole Mast is a self-employed trainer and coach at MenschTRAINING. In 2018, she was nominated for a trainer award by BDVT – with a blended learning program that trains young leaders in face-to-face seminars and supports them online for eight weeks. We wanted to know from her: What tips do you have for other trainers considering expanding their offerings online?

Hello Nicole, it's great that you want to share your expertise in an interview. Could you briefly introduce yourself first?

Nicole Mast: Of course. I am the owner of MenschTRAINING and offer customized personnel and organizational development. By profession, I studied marketing communication and communication psychology. I view my craft as guiding clients who either do not have personnel development themselves or, if they do, to act as an interface. From the conceptualization to implementation and follow-up, I support my clients.

My training focus is on the practical benefits for the participants. To achieve this, I dive deeply into the company to get to know the goals, values, and framework conditions well.

Assuming I were a leader looking to expand my successes. How can you help me concretely?

Nicole Mast: Typically, companies approach me because they want to provide support for their leaders – for example, in the junior level. For special challenges or to lay a foundation. In sales, this is often linked to entrepreneurial performance such as increasing revenue.

I can help by identifying goals and jointly determining: Where do you currently stand as a leader? Where does the company stand? ... After a detailed analysis of the current situation, I develop the concept with a focus on the skills to be expanded and useful leadership tools. This is followed by training, coaching, or blended learning. In blended learning, we conduct both traditional face-to-face training or individual coaching and, on the other hand, I accompany the participants online for several weeks in my Online Academy.

You were nominated in 2018 for the European Trainer Award for Training, Consulting, and Coaching as a finalist in the SME category – congratulations on that! How did this nomination come about?

Nicole Mast: A colleague of mine knows my Program4Starter for junior leaders, which runs as blended learning and suggested me to BDVT. The special thing about this program is that we involve all interfaces in the company. This means that the leaders work together with their direct supervisors and the internal personnel development.

The program consists of an e-learning component, alongside face-to-face training and individual coaching. When the participants are to conduct employee discussions and have practiced this in face-to-face training, they can refer online to what has been developed. They then conduct the conversation together with their leader and report to me during individual coaching what worked well and what challenges remain.

At the Zukunft Personal trade fair in September, it will be decided whether we will win Bronze, Silver, or Gold with our blended learning program.

You specifically offer the combination of face-to-face training and e-learning, i.e., blended learning. What convinces you about this method?

Nicole Mast: What convinced me about blended learning is the possibility of sustainability and also a bit of ease of work for me. You have to imagine that I now provide things that I otherwise sent to the client and the participants via email (traditional pre-work) online.

Once the group is opened, and participants are invited, I have the opportunity to introduce myself online and connect the participants to some extent. Typically, I also initiate self-reflection at that point. Another advantage is: I can extend the process. A traditional training session, which would otherwise last two or three days, can be extended to eight weeks.

This way, I can still provide content, assign small tasks, or engage playfully and entertainingly, for instance, through quizzes or podcasts and videos before or after the seminar. This significantly increases and ensures sustainability, which is a massive advantage for my clients.

Here are the advantages trainer Nicole Mast sees in blended learning:

1. Sustainability assurance

2. Cost-effective extension of training

3. Flexibility – for oneself and the participants

4. Added value through diverse methods

5. Ease of work for oneself

What do your online courses look like in terms of content?

Nicole Mast: I am still relatively early in my blended learning program and have been actively engaged for six months – but I have been dealing with this topic for some time. What I integrate are mainly small video units that I film myself or use existing material from YouTube. I want to show the participants that not only what we are doing in the program is interesting, but that they should also know afterward how they can inform themselves.

In addition, I offer classic PDFs for reading, connected with small tasks. At the end of a program, the participants complete a final quiz. I agree individually with my clients on what is desired: What knowledge should be tested? Should the participant be able to fail? What percentage should they have passed – etc.

Suppose I'm a participant in your blended learning. How do I experience your training?

Nicole Mast: If you are, for example, in my Program4Starter, which lasts eight weeks and is designed for leaders, you will receive a small input every Monday that fits thematically into the program. Typically, this takes you five minutes or, in exceptional cases, up to fifteen minutes.

You will then receive the tasks every Monday – and sometimes answer them only for yourself, and sometimes send your answers to me as an E-Tutor. Or I motivate you to initiate a group discussion. You would then have the opportunity to exchange with the other participants. Sometimes the instruction is also to implement something from the seminar or online support in practice. With the feedback, you then come back together in the group and receive new solutions and ideas.

The beauty of my blended learning is also: We work asynchronously. This means that everyone decides for themselves when they go online and provide feedback there. So, as a participant, you have the entire week to decide when and where you work on the content. You can do the tasks, for instance, at the office on the PC or on the go on your smartphone when you are on the train and have time. Some participants complete the tasks comfortably at home on weekends, for example, on a tablet.

Nicole Mast provides her participants in leadership training with regular input in her online academy. The participants can decide for themselves when and from where they want to complete the short tasks.

You haven't been in blended learning for long, and you're already very successful with it. What advice do you have for other trainers who are just starting with blended learning?

Nicole Mast: When I start as a trainer with blended learning, I should have experienced the participant's role myself beforehand. I've been working with blended learning myself for about six months, but I have been active as a trainer since 2003. Therefore, at the end of 2017, I completed a further training program to become an E-Tutor, which lasted three months.

This has helped me as a participant immensely to know later in the trainer's role what I need to pay attention to: What is motivating, and what could even be demotivating in online training? What communication tools work well? What learning types are there, and how do I, as a trainer, must pay attention to them?

My personal development is also very important to me. I try to further my education one or two times a year. On the one hand, because I have a great joy in learning – that is part of my profession. On the other hand, learning never stops. I also want to remain attractive to my clients and always stay up to date.

These are the tips trainer Nicole Mast has for colleagues who want to start with blended learning:

1. First, get to know the participant perspective

2. Regularly further your own education

3. Be open to the wishes of your clients

Do you also offer Train the Trainer – does that also run as blended learning?

Nicole Mast: Actually, the Train the Trainer program runs as a classic training at my place, mostly in-house. If companies want to further educate their internal trainers, as a certified trainer or coach, I am happy to share my knowledge. Currently, I am working on a new project and will soon offer training for Blended Trainers. Content will range from psychological background knowledge – How do groups function? How do adults learn? What role do I take as a trainer? – to practical tips from methodology and didactics for implementing e-learning in conjunction with face-to-face training.

What kind of tips do you give to trainers on the subject of blended learning?

Nicole Mast: In the ongoing process, you need a lot of flexibility, which I want to convey during the Train the Trainer program. Good preparation and good needs assessment are extremely important – at the same time, we as trainers need to act flexibly. Especially with online support, there are always participants who are so busy with their jobs and other things that they cannot concentrate as well or simply have less time for online tasks.

Therefore, as a trainer, I should ensure that I only offer "Learn Nuggets" – that is, I should give only tasks that take about three to five minutes. Additionally, I should constantly set impulses and pay attention to how participants react: Did they understand the content, and how do they implement it in their work?

How did you come up with the idea of offering blended learning?

Nicole Mast: I have been dealing with this topic for several years and honestly avoided it for a long time. As a "people trainer," I have a great interest in people and want to meet them personally. That was always a sticking point for me, to say: Well, e-learning, others can do that. That’s not necessarily mine; I might be stronger in other areas.

However, this has changed because I have seen how easy it can be. I used to know all these e-learning topics in a very complex context, where technology was not as advanced as it is today. That has changed; technology has become better, simpler, and more reliable. Consequently, e-learning is much more fun. I can create videos or podcasts – this was possible a few years ago, but not in the quality that I can offer today as a trainer. Thus, it is also more attractive for the participants to utilize such online learning units.

And the third point: I have a twelve-year-old daughter and see how she interacts with digital media. YouTube, for example, represents a huge learning platform for this target group. And I also find it interesting to consider: How do young people learn today, and how will people learn in the future? As a self-employed trainer, I want to stay up to date. Clients also repeatedly approached me to ask if I offer e-learning or blended learning.

These arguments convinced trainer Nicole Mast to start with blended learning:

1. I do not have to restrict or replace my personal bond with the client, but rather expand my offering through sustainable online support.

2. The technical possibilities have grown significantly and have become both easier to use and higher quality in application.

3. When I observe my daughter, I see a strong trend toward digital learning in the future. I want to be able to offer my clients the right offerings for the long term.

My impression: Many companies are already dealing with the topic of digital learning but do not have the capacity to prepare learning content and guide employees online. As an external service provider, I can provide significant support and offer something holistic and sustainable. My clients are grateful for the experience and background knowledge I bring to e-learning and blended learning.

To summarize this long response:

I was, I think, the biggest skeptic towards e-learning that existed. And today I am totally excited that it works – and so simply! Especially since we can use online support on all devices, like an app.

Thank you for your time, dear Nicole!

Are you also considering whether blended learning should be an opportunity for your training or coaching? Then take the test and take 45 minutes for an initial blended learning concept! We have selected four typical methods popular for online support for this purpose.

With this guide, you will be taken step by step through the four methods and create your first concept for blended learning. If you find that you enjoy it, you should definitely give blended learning a chance!