How to train remote employees: best practices.

Table of contents

1. Provide asynchronous learning content
2. Balance your asynchronous learning content with live online meetings
3. Keep an eye on the progress of your employees
4. Choose the appropriate tools
5. Use Easy LMS to fast track remote training

Provide asynchronous learning content

Asynchronous learning is where remote employees learn independently from their colleagues and trainer. One way to provide asynchronous learning content is online courses made available through an LMS. These can include pre-recorded videos and interactive quizzes. Your employees can schedule and complete these when it suits their schedule and at their own pace. After your employees finish their courses, they can use them as reference guides, or to look up the answer to a specific question. They won't need to wait until they can ask a particular colleague how to do something!

Other asynchronous solutions include online exams and quizzes. Employees can use exams as a learning tool to assess their knowledge level on their own. They are also suited for certification and compliance-related exams that don't need to be taken in-person. The benefits of asynchronous learning are even more apparent when you consider that remote teams often include employees who work flexible hours and in different timezones.

The benefits of asynchronous learning are even more apparent when you consider that remote teams often include employees who work flexible hours and in different timezones.

Balance your asynchronous learning content with live online meetings

One potential downfall of remote employee training is the lack of communication and connection with colleagues, managers, and the company. Live online meetings are crucial for maintaining these connections. They provide an opportunity for everyone to discuss the asynchronous course topics in-depth, and ask questions. This combination is called blended learning. You can learn more about the pros and cons of blended learning here.

Keep an eye on the progress of your employees

An LMS minimizes this task by saving all results and activities

Out of sight, out of mind. Not! You can't see how a remote employee is doing in-person, which means tracking their engagement and progress is even more critical. An LMS minimizes this task by saving all results and activities. It is possible to filter results by score, completion date, and certificate status. The exam results include a record of each individual’s response to each question, highlighting where they need to spend more time. All of these can be exported to Excel, where you can crunch the numbers further. For example, you can quickly see the employees who completed their compliance training online, export the data to Excel, and share that list with regulatory authorities.

When it comes to remote training, technology will be your best friend

Choose the appropriate tools

When it comes to remote training, technology will be your best friend. Luckily there are plenty of tools to choose from, but it can also make it challenging to pick. In general, avoid storing your training content in multiple places. Requiring your employees to read PDFs on your company's intranet, word documents in Google Drive, and watch videos on YouTube, is problematic. They might miss essential training or spend too much time searching for training materials. Not to mention how disorganized it will be to maintain learning content from the trainer's perspective. Therefore, we recommend using an online LMS to create, store, share, and track your training materials. Things to consider when selecting an LMS include:

• Hosting methods: LMS systems can be web-hosted or installed on your servers. Read about the types of LMS systems.
• Ease of use: Don't spend your valuable time struggling with large, complicated systems. Choose something that matches your technical skills, and feels comfortable.
• Content creation: Consider what you want your courses to include. Most LMS systems enable you to combine text, images, audio, video, and web pages. If you need to share content across systems, check whether it is SCORM compliant.
• Automation and integrations: Check if the LMS can connect with your favorite software. Automating your workflow and syncing your data will save you time and keep everything organized.
• Pricing: There are three main pricing models available. Inform yourself about the differences with this article on LMS pricing models.

For the online sessions, you can use conferencing tools like GoToMeeting and Zoom. Things to consider when picking a conferencing tool include:

• The number of participants: Check how many employees can join at the same time.
• Screen sharing: It can be beneficial to share your screen so employees can follow along, and you can add visual supplements to what you say.
• Recording: If any remote employees cannot join the live session, they can watch it asynchronously in their own time.
• Cost: There are many free tools available for live sessions that include small groups.
• Integrations: Check whether it is compatible with your LMS.

Use Easy LMS to fast track remote training

Easy LMS is a user-friendly LMS that enables you to create engaging and interactive Courses and Exams with text, video, images, audio, documents, and web pages. Your employees can take these in their own time. Easy LMS will bookmark their progress.

Easy LMS makes the delivery of online learning content simple

The Academy is the central place for your employees to access all their online learning content. Personalize employee training programs by creating groups that include learning paths and content relevant to them. Easy LMS makes the delivery simple. Just add their names and email addresses. Easy LMS will generate a set of login credentials and invite them by email automatically. Just like that, all your employees have access to their asynchronous Courses and Exams.

Finally, our robust reporting features allow you to overview your employees' activities and results. See when your employees started and completed their training, and how they did on the Exams.

Want to see it for yourself? Try it for free!

Useful resources

• Trainingmag.com
• Wiley Online Library

Frequently Asked Questions