Are you asking yourself how training can be expanded online and offline? This is a question that is on many minds. Whether you are an online beginner looking for an entry point or a subject matter expert wanting to improve.

Many subject matter experts gathered again this year at the Corporate Learning Camp 16, which takes place annually at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. The occasion is the exchange of new concepts, wishes, and needs in professional development – mixed together from freelance trainers to HR developers to departmental heads of HR development in large corporations.

In this round of diverse experts, Konstantin Ristl and Michael Witzke also introduced the topic “Offline and Online in Training” for discussion. We would like to present the results in this article. (You can find more sessions here: “Studio@home: Best Practice Filming with a Smartphone,” “Mr. Steinbeißer, the nightmare of every HR developer,” “Training is over – now what?”.

Here to stay: Offline and Online in Training

The starting question for the session was “Offline and Online in Training – how do you implement it?”. In discussions with the participants, we wanted to find out what ways there are to design effective learning processes both offline and online, what tips they can give specifically, and what wishes might still be open.

This question immediately led to a colorful collection of best practices (which you can see in the image below).

The types of suggestions included the content design of face-to-face events, the concrete implementation of training content (in this case, practicing), and what support can be offered to training participants (e.g., online resources). The last point “support” is particularly multifaceted for me. Participants do not memorize the resources, but rather learn how to use them. Here the question is “Where do I search for information?” instead of “What do I memorize?”.

Other topic suggestions included “Learning as a Process,” “Reducing Learning Barriers,” and “Transformation into Practice.” Although these topics have been known for a long time, they are still in high demand.

Also clearly visible in the image: the voting by show of hands for which topics the subject matter experts wanted to discuss further.

Nominated:

• Learning as a Process

• Transfer to Practice

• Reducing Learning Barriers

Learning as a Process

The session participants discussed various strategies and approaches to promote effective learning. They agreed that a one-time event is not sufficient for long-term learning success. The mixture of different learning methods, social settings for learning, and communication channels are essential for learning success.

Particularly exciting: Several experienced session participants presented successfully designed and implemented learning processes. Two were selected to present the process and mechanisms and receive feedback on the examples from the group. The follow-up questions from participants without previous online phases should not be underestimated, as they lead to particularly strong reflection.

The two learning process examples fundamentally differed in one aspect: The first example emphasized the phase before the face-to-face meeting, while the second highlighted the phase after the face-to-face meeting (the presence is recognizable on the flip chart at the word “Live”).

Structure and Insights “Before the Live Meeting”

In the first example, the phase before the live meeting was relatively long at 4 months and thus presented special challenges.

A core idea in preparing for a meeting is usually “What uniform level of knowledge should participants have by the time of the meeting?”. Once clarified, small impulses with information can be set repeatedly. In this example, they were predominantly videos.

The challenge mentioned with long events is to maintain group cohesion without meeting on-site. To address this, additional webinars were offered, and internal mentors were appointed (if you are not familiar with webinars: this is a live exchange via video conference). These internal mentors can be colleagues or other trainers. Their task is to seek conversations with training participants, provide support, and generate ideas. This concludes with a two-day Open-Space where all participants get to know each other personally. (You can read about the concrete implementation of such a process at the Sparkassentag by Agateno).

Structure and Insights “After the Live Meeting”

In the second example, the focus was on the phase “after the live meeting” (e.g., the face-to-face training). The most important question here is: “How do I get my participants to practice and learn regularly at their workplace?”.

A good pattern for this is the use of exercises and learning impulses after the training ends. The session participants decided to implement one impulse per week. This is additionally linked with reflection questions. Specifically, this could mean a (learning) impulse on Tuesdays and reflection questions on Thursdays.

These important points were discussed: the impulses for the exercises should take little time, they should be easily accessible, and the participants should always be clear on how the content helps them and what to do next. A time frame of 3-5 minutes per impulse proved to be a good size in the discussion, lowering the hurdle for implementation. This way, the participant has the chance to carry out an exercise just before the lunch break or on the way home or mentally engage with the training topic. Clarity about their next action is achieved through concrete prompts on what to do.

Such a process can be easily extended over 6-10 weeks. It is advisable to make personal contact again at the end – for example, by phone.

Transfer to Practice primarily occurs “after the Live Meeting”

As you can see in the learning process examples, the majority of the transfer to practice occurs after the live meeting. Why is the transfer to practice so important? After training events, it is repeatedly observed that participants have learned the content of the training but do not implement it. Therefore, if you want to create high transfer to practice, first focus on the phase after your face-to-face training.

What recipe do you have for the greatest learning success? What surprised you the most in the selection of topics by the subject matter experts? Share your experiences with us.