Leadership Training and Online Learning; are these the equivalent to oil and water?
Online training or “e-learning” is here to stay. With higher costs of production and lost time to attend a face-to-face (F2F) or Instructor Lead Training (ILT) classes, organizations are learning to adapt and cope to the high cost of running a business and training their staff while meeting the demands of the customer in a global economy. Organizations can be successful by creating online training, a community of learning and collaboration, using the technology and resources already at their disposal and partnering with colleges and universities, and lastly reduce conflict in the online training by accepting diversity of thought and idea and bring students closer through the use of technology. When an organization takes the steps to build online communities to enhance the online leadership and soft skills training, the students/employees, the organization, and the community all benefit.
It is necessary to develop those online communities for mentors/facilitators and those being mentored, to share ideas and encourage personal growth. Building sound online communities of collaboration, ideas, and techniques is not new and many organizations have such online forums to share information and collaborate around the globe. Many times though, soft skills training, such as leadership training, is not the first type of collaboration one would find online. Hard skills are easy to share in the online community. Those skills such as technology, culture, math, history, or science can cross over many boundaries and are easily adapted. Soft skills are harder to embrace in the online community. Many times development of those needed soft skills are done in two different ways:
1. ILT Classrooms. Reinforced by practice, repetition, and study.
2. Through experience and time (trial and error).
Either of these is ineffectual and can cost to the organization in lost productivity and high employee turnover. Adapting ILT soft skills training into an online format is one challenge. The online training community must have the ability to cross over and apply their new skills and eliminate large barriers such as government, diversity, and traditions. Corporations can only look to the nearest college campus for answers to overcome these barriers.
Colleges are reaching out to corporate America to create partnerships to enhance the employee skills at a lower cost, and to use the platforms and resources already used by the school and in the organization. The primary key to a successful online community full of eager learners begins with simply applying the online training model many colleges have adopted. Kaplan states, “Creating and structuring opportunities for people to network, communicate, mentor, and learn from each other can help capture, formalize, and diffuse tacit knowledge …and can be used to increase individual effectiveness and a company’s overall competitive advantage” (Kaplan, 2002). By providing continuous feedback, and constant communication, a sound program in complexity and structure is created. For the learner this “builds trust through relationships” (Duckworth, 2002). Organizations must create a community of trust, credibility, and equability for all online learners. After these three basic values are established then learners can engage the learning process and be inspired to grow.
With most soft skills courses, online or ILT, there needs to be hands-on learning consisting of scenarios and simulations as part of the learning loop. Each of these experiences is designed to teach students in a “safe” environment, free of critics, and real life implications. Once the students have gone through simulations or scenarios, free to make errors with continuous feedback from the instructor, the student gains the needed confidence in their new soft skills and abilities. To close the loop and get the most effect from the training is to learn the tools and have the student apply them immediately in the workplace. This is the “hands-on” piece of the learning experience. “Today’s technology and leadership and soft skills training can occur online with the right blend of training, scenarios, and simulations” (Boyd, 2002). Boyd (2002) continues, “…on the need for asynchronous learning with a focus and impact on learning the principles of leadership” Boyd (2002). Online leadership and soft skills training must account for all thoughts and ideas.
Diversity of tradition and action must be able to help each student grow and learn. If online leadership training does not inspire or is too closed to new ideas, many conflicts can and will arise within the online classroom. Instructors and Facilitators must recognize the value of each student and the diversity each student brings to the online class.
The online community is more susceptible to more conflict due to the distance between learners. Conflicts and barriers are a lack of collaboration, poor social interaction Mason (2001) writes, “…collaborative working - designing activities for all the curriculum areas, coping strategies for handling non-participators, building on the advantages of online technologies and avoiding their disadvantages” (Mason, 2001). If online leadership training is to be successful there must be a higher level of social interaction and increased collaboration of sharing of diverse ideas thoughts and theories.
Many times mentors/leaders/facilitators/trainers use and rely upon technology to lead learners. This is one of the many conflicts of online training within an organization. Duckworth writes, “Technology is a tool to communicate, not a substitute for leadership” (Duckworth, 2002). The online community still needs a firm, but gentle hand to guide the learners through class and recognizing and eliminating any conflict before it arises. This will build trust, encourage participation and grow the social capital all learners and leaders desire.
In conclusion, with higher costs of production, organizations are learning to embrace online training and running the business. Organizations are beginning to use the tools and resources already within their organization to train their employees, or partnering with other skilled entities to reduce training costs while still growing their employees. There is a paradox of training those in leadership roles and a need to instill the necessary soft skills to ensure the success of organization and keep high-value, highly trained employees through online training. The organizational goal of using online learning to enhance leadership skills at a lower cost, while partnering with others, and reducing conflict in the online environment is truly an accomplishment. Through community and collaboration of thought the leadership skill of every student will be enhanced.
References
Boyd, B., Murphrey, T., (2002). Evaluation of a computer-based, synchronous activity on student learning of leadership concepts. Journal of Agricultural Education, 43(1), 36-45
Duck worth, C., (2002), Long Distance Leadership. Retrieved February 8, 2008 from, http://www.learningcircuits.org/2002/jan2002/duckworth.html
Kaplan, S. (2002). Building Communities–Strategies for Collaborative Learning.
Retrieved February 8, 2008 from http://www.learningcircuits.org/2002/aug2002/kaplan.html
Kaplan, S., (2007) Strategies for Collaborative Learning Building e-Learning and
Blended Learning Communities. Retrieved February 8, 2008 from
http://www.icohere.com/CollaborativeLearning.htm
Michael, S., (2005) Navy petty officers learn ’soft skills’ online Center for Naval Analyses studies the e-learning result. Retrieved October 18, 2007 from http://www.fcw.com/print/11_36/news/90726-1.html
Mason, R. (October, 1998) Models of Online Courses, 2(2). Retrieved
February 8, 2008 from http://www.sloan.org/publications/magazine/v2n2/mason.asp,