Modern Training

Mobile is a Game Changer for Knowledge on Demand

Posted on: September 16, 2016By: Bob Mosher, Chief Learning Evangelist at APPLY Synergies

These days, everyone is on the move!

No longer is the office a static place where everyone goes to do their work. The notion of “office” has changed significantly as people have embraced their mobile devices. Work is getting done where it makes the most sense: next to a patient’s bed, sitting with the customer, at a meeting with the supplier, or even up a telephone pole! That means, to be successful at their job, workers need access to what they need at their moment of need—wherever they happen to be.

people-new-york-train-crowd

The tools we use at the office are triggering this shift. So many of us now rely on our smartphones and laptops. Tablets are also growing in use and popularity. But, no matter the device, employees want to access information much quicker to do their jobs. They’ve grown accustomed to Googling answers to questions in their personal lives and expect this knowledge on demand capability to carry over to the workplace. They’ve also grown impatient and want much shorter interactions—finding the content they need in just a few clicks.

Folks, this is a perfect fit for a learning discipline called performance support! Performance Support is:

“Immediate, intuitive, intentionally tailored to aid a person at his or her moment of need to enable effective performance at every changing moment.”

Workers need quick access to just enough help at the moment of application, and mobile devices seem like they were built just for that. Mobile devices are a game changer for performance support through knowledge on demand.

In fact, of the types of performance support we’ve seen in our business through knowledge on demand, 40% have been on delivering product information through mobile devices. For example, we know of a retailer who has more than 500 complicated products to sell. But its foray into mSupport started with giving employees info on a single product! We also know of another company that sells a wide variety of financial services which change constantly with customer demand. With mSupport, it is able to offer performance support at the moment of need with just enough information to help reps better serve their customers.

Let’s meet our learners where they live and work, in the workflow!!  The more the learning content AND the device it’s delivered on can be embedded intuitively into that workflow, the better.  Mobile devices have become more embedded than any learning modality to date.  Their access is boundless and native to the lives we live today.  mSupport through knowledge on demand can change the impact learning has in a way no other has ever been able to match.  It’s time for us to enter the game and the timing couldn’t be MORE perfect!!

Bob Mosher, Chief Learning Evangelist at APPLY Synergies

Bob Mosher is a senior partner, and the Chief Learning Evangelist at < APPLY Synergies, a strategic consulting firm that specializes in helping learning organizations design, develop and measure effective learning and performance support strategies to meet the five moments of learning need. Contact Bob on Twitter @bmosh.