Why Use E-Learning for Change Management Training and How to Get the Best Results

Organisations go through change for a range of reasons. How that change is managed is often more crucial than the objectives or reasons for the change itself. After all, without managing the change process properly, it is all too easy to fail in its implementation. How can e-learning help prevent this from happening while also benefitting the change management process overall?

There are many strategies and initiatives that can help with the change management process. Communication is high on that list, as is a structured and well-planned approach. Training is often another crucial component, with e-learning being a highly effective delivery tool for change management training.

Why Use E-Learning for Change Management Training?

There are multiple advantages to using e-learning to deliver training in your organisation. Looking at change management training specifically, e-learning can help you quickly and effectively distribute training across your entire organisation. This is particularly important if you have a large and/or disparate team.

Furthermore, in change management situations, there is often so much effort put into making the changes happen that there isn’t enough focus on bringing employees with you. E-learning training courses can fill this gap while minimising the impact on the resources required to implement the new strategy, i.e., e-learning allows the organisation’s leadership to get on with implementation while providing employees with the information and training they need.

E-Learning Tips When Creating Change Management Training

Pre-Assessments

One of the biggest causes of concern for employees during periods of change is the worry that their skills won’t be up to the required standard. This can lead to concerns about the security of their position which, in turn, can result in resistance to change.

A good first step to help with the situation above and alleviate the concerns of employees is to conduct pre-assessments so you can identify the areas of training that are required and who needs to complete the training.

Employees will then know where they need to improve, and they will have information on the training they will be offered.

Strategy Introduction and Explanation

As mentioned above, communication is a crucial element in any change management process. The planned changes need to be communicated and explained throughout every level of the company, as well as how the strategy will be implemented.

Common ways of delivering this type of communication include documents and videos, whether live or pre-recorded. However, e-learning offers more than any of these options in isolation.

You can create an e-learning course introducing the changes that are being planned, as well as why they are necessary and the steps that will happen next. This type of e-learning course can include all the above information, i.e., text-based information and videos.

You can also include additional content and background material. It is also easier and quicker to distribute an e-learning course across your organisation. Whether you have employees in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, or further afield, everyone can get the same training material at the same time. This ensures consistent communication from the very start of the change management process.

Revised Procedures

Revised procedures and policies are often outcomes of a change management process. It is important that employees understand and start using the revised procedures both in terms of successfully implementing the desired change as well as for employee morale. On the last point, morale can dip quite significantly if new policies are implemented without sufficient training or support.

One of the best ways to explain new procedures and policies in an e-learning course is via an infographic. This easy-to-read, step-by-step method of presenting information is easy for employees to follow.

New Tasks

In addition to revised procedures and policies for established tasks or workflows, there might also be completely new tasks that need to be completed once the changes in the organisation are implemented.

E-learning can also be used as a tool for explaining these new tasks to employees. Again, you can use an infographic to outline the steps in the process, but you can also add video, animation, and other elements to provide employees with more information and context.

New Structures

New company structures are often implemented as part of a change management process. If this is the case with the changes you are implementing, employees will need to understand the new structures and how they fit in.

Distributing a standard company hierarchy or structure image is a common approach, but with an e-learning training course, you can provide more detail on the new structure, an explanation of how it will be implemented, and more information on what employees can expect under the new structure.

Final Thoughts – Blended Learning and JIT

There are two other e-learning tips that can help with change management training. They relate to two different e-learning delivery strategies – blended learning and JIT (just in time) learning.

• Blended learning – blended learning involves having online elements of a training course blended with in-person elements. The in-person elements can be remote using video conferencing technologies, or they can involve employees being in the same location. With change management training, for example, you can have an online element introducing the plans and explaining why the changes are necessary. You can then have an in-person Q&A session that gives employees the opportunity to ask questions and find out more.
• JIT – JIT learning involves creating a library of e-learning training courses that employees can access whenever they need to. This type of training support can be invaluable to employees as they participate in the change process and contribute to making it a success.

Successfully Implementing Change with the Help of Training

There is usually a need for training whenever employees encounter something new, so it makes sense to offer training when going through periods of significant change. With e-learning, you can scale up your change management training to ensure all important areas are covered and to maximise distribution. This will improve the change management process and help you implement your strategy