A lot has been cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. Sporting events, in-person meetings, stable supply chains, and Broadway plays. Some of these are a step in the right direction - we here at CrossBraining welcome the work-from-home revolution. Others can feel like a step back. But one thing deserves to stay cancelled: old training methods.
Companies have been forced to cancel their traditional in-person, lecture-based training in favor of remote, technology-driven training. This is incredible progress at incredible speed. But we can go further. It’s time to do away completely with passive learning. Cancel three ring binders, guessable multiple choice tests, and skippable videos (bloodborne pathogens, anyone?).
Training is a dynamic process that involves the most complex object known to science: the human brain. It needs to be hands-on and experiential. It needs to engage learners with multiple senses. It needs to involve actually performing the task that you’re being trained on.
Bring back sporting events, live concerts, hugs, and (some) meetings. But let’s all agree to leave outdated training methods in the pre-COVID past.
