This is a guest post from Vim and Vibe Productions, one of the fantastic publishers in our catalog. They’re a woman-owned small business and the creative force behind the production of TV-style learning, designed exclusively for leadership development.
“Meet them where they are” is a coaching and counseling technique employed to help people grow and change. It’s also a product marketing approach to deliver solutions in a way that people want.
We started our journey as a vendor for big enterprise in the leadership development space by working with our partner, Dell Technologies, to determine how the “market” (learners in the enterprise) wanted to consume their training.
Gone are the days of PowerPoint presentations, talking heads, and sitting through long lectures. According to the firm EMarketer, the average time spent per day consuming digital media—including social media and streaming—is approximately 7 hours and 50 minutes for adults in the United States.
If people spend a significant portion of their time being entertained online, why wouldn’t we serve up their required training in that way?
Engagement, engagement, engagement is the silver bullet for instructional design, because we know if people are engaged, they’re likely learning something. And if they’re learning something, they’re applying what they learn and making a difference in their work.
This question inspired a model of microlearning for leadership development where characters, real-life scenarios, feelings, and motivation for action are at the core of the learning experience.
When microlearning is combined with storytelling through micro short films (bite-sized videos under five minutes long), the result is a powerful tool for education and training. Micro short films can be used to tell stories that illustrate key concepts and ideas, making the learning process more engaging and memorable. For example, a short film about a business leader struggling to motivate his team, making mistakes along the way, can be used to teach others how to overcome those personal challenges.
There are four key questions to consider when you are developing or investing in this style of learning for leadership development:
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- How do I want the mindset and behaviors of our leaders or future leaders to be different? For example, if you’ve determined that a core competency for your leaders is being resilient, you may want the mindset to shift from feeling anxiety and stress during change, to feeling calm and measured in the midst of change.
- Are we teaching sustainable skills that build self-awareness and never go “out of style”? Like the example of putting your oxygen mask on first in the event of an emergency, when people start with themselves they will be the most effective leader. Skills like building trust, being adaptable and being strategic will never go out of style.
- Are human-centered skills being taught by humans? If we expect our leaders to interact with people in live settings, then shouldn’t they be learning people skills in real scenarios with real people? We love AI, and there’s a definite place in L&D for this ground-breaking technology, but it’s important to make a distinction for the people skills training.
- How much time am I asking my leaders to invest in their development? People are busy and business is fast-paced; especially at nimble organizations where resources are tight. While onsite classroom experiences can be enjoyable and effective, the time, costs and logistics are nothing short of difficult. Being realistic about the time-ask of your leaders should play a role in your decision making. Start with the end goal in mind, then use a pragmatic approach with input from your leaders to design a right-sized learning experience.
If you can answer these questions then you will find the right solution for your “market,” and when you apply product marketing strategies to your decision making for content, you will have happy learners!
Meet them where they are; your learners will thank you.