The instructor-led training approach
Instructor-led training (ILT) is probably the most well-known form of in-person employee training. It’s a blanket term for any scenario where employees are gathered together in the same room for a lecture, seminar, or workshop. Virtual instructor-led training (VILT) simulates the in-room training experience online via webinars, Zoom workshops, and virtual classrooms on a dedicated VILT platform.
The emphasis on synchronized instructor-led training is a holdover from the days before online learning. In many ways, ILT resembles classical higher education: everyone is in a classroom together, learning from a skilled instructor. The familiarity makes it appealing to executives who may not be familiar with more advanced online learning solutions.
But just because it’s recognizable doesn’t mean it’s smart.
The biggest issue with ILT and VILT is that they’re not scalable. The more people you add to your “class,” the less benefit you get from the potential interaction between instructor and student. It’s difficult for instructors to gauge student engagement from behind a screen, particularly with an audience of dozens or hundreds of people. As a result, most VILT courses devolve into a passive online lecture, which, studies show, is an ineffective way to learn.
We haven’t even touched on the logistical nightmare of coordinating real-time training for hundreds of people at the same time.
As more companies become wholly or partially remote, synchronized learning becomes nearly impossible when you consider varied work hours and obligations. You may have to run the same training half a dozen times to accommodate your employees’ schedules, and even then, it’s likely a few will miss it.
Instead, invest in asynchronous training solutions that let employees participate in training whenever it is most convenient. Employees across the company can take the same standardized training course without the logistical nightmare of getting them all in one physical or virtual room. It’s more comfortable, and studies show that employees prefer the flexibility of learning on their own schedule.
Asynchronous learning scales perfectly alongside your company. You can create useful training materials and use them over and over again for new or upskilling employees. It works as well with 50 people as it does with 5,000 or 50,000.