Is time management the underlying issue behind low eLearning adoption rates?

Achieving high learner adoption and completion rates with eLearning has always been a major cause of concern and the block to achieving desired performance improvements. This failure is most often attributed to the relatively poor learner experience that eLearning offers as compared to other learning modes, and/or the poor quality of eLearning content.

In this article, I would like to present the case that this is not the correct conclusion.

Let us reflect for a moment on our own life experiences. If I were to ask you to name the most common cause for you not to complete a task that only had positive outcomes for you; what would it be? I would have to answer procrastination. I consider myself to be a well-disciplined individual when it comes to completing tasks that I am set, or I set myself, and yet even I fall foul to procrastination on far too many occasions.

“It is awfully hard work doing nothing. However, I don’t mind hard work where there is no definite object of any kind. -Algernon”
― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

“He who every morning plans the transactions of that day and follows that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life.”
― Victor Hugo

I suggest to you that when you compare the adoption rates of eLearning versus other learning modes that are event-based (e.g. classroom, virtual classroom, webinar, workshop, etc), that the most important difference is the fact that the event-based modes are very strictly time-bound and consequently there is zero opportunity for the learner to procrastinate. In addition, if a learner decides not to attend an event their absence will typically be highly visible and noticed.

If this is the case, how does this inform our focus and efforts to improve adoption and completion rates in our eLearning initiatives? It suggests that our focus should not be so much on improving the design, format, or content of our eLearning courses, but more about educating our learner audience on the dangers of procrastination and the benefits of adopting some form of effective management discipline in their lives – not just as applied to their learning, but to their lives in general.

We recently reviewed predictions for the top workplace skills for the future. When we consolidated research findings from five different research reports (including Forbes and World Economic Forum) we found that time management was ranked twelfth in a final list of twenty key skills for the workplace. Now, in 2020, with the emergence of COVID-19 and the need for many staff to work more remotely, time management becomes an even more critical workplace skill as our people seek to juggle their work and personal agendas in a more seamless daily routine.

So, in this current world of forced remote working with limited opportunities for facilitated learning, why don’t we address this underlying issue of poor time management once and for all for our people to ensure they enhance their productivity in all aspects of their lives, not just their learning and development?

We can offer you a great selection of eLearning courses on this very subject.

Of course, there is the obvious Catch-22 here in that your people need to complete this course itself to learn how to manage their time, but surely this is worth a try?

Also do remember, that we can deliver any of the courses through your internal LMS, or we can provide you with a dedicated and branded version of our Course-Source LMS, if preferred.

Search the full Catalogue here