Boost Engagement And Productivity
eLearning is a serious business. As per current stats, the global eLearning market is expected to be worth $325 billion by 2025. This represents an opportunity for existing as well as about-to-be eLearning businesses to get the most out of work and become what people may call "the next big business venture." But it’s all a fancy speculation until you have a great eLearning team—a group of talented eLearning professionals who function responsibly as a team and individually.
Here’s the deal. As a business leader or manager, you must identify the kind of people and skills you need in order to lead your way toward success. And, more importantly, you need to develop a work environment that is just right in every detail and exhibits a positive influence on your eLearning team’s development and performance. Also, be aware of micromanagement.
Keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at some easy, yet effective, tips and hacks to creating “the perfect team” for your upcoming eLearning projects.
I believe that if an eLearning leader or manager successfully applies these tricks across all the five stages of team development—forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning—effective teamwork and business success will follow.
Interested? I bet you are.
Let’s get started.
1. Avoid Ambiguity Regarding Roles And Responsibilities
If there is any kind of confusion regarding roles and responsibilities, you shouldn’t expect the team to work together effectively. You should be expecting situations where people unfairly delegate their work to others, thereby nurturing resentment within the team. Now, the best way to combat this is to define and document every role and responsibility and assign specific roles to individuals as part of their onboarding process.
2. Keep Your Team Clear On The Goals Of The Organization
Every team needs clearly defined, measurable goals to work with. Otherwise, it’s hard to keep everyone on the same page. Whether your goal is to adapt and grow as an eLearning enterprise or double the revenue for the year, it should be covered during team communications so that everyone knows the direction they’re moving toward.
3. Work On Your Workplace Communication Policy
The people you hire for your team don't have to become best friends to achieve the long-term goals of your organization. But, they do need to communicate effectively. Practicing good communication is important. And from a practical perspective, the best way to improve workplace communication is to develop an official communication policy that defines every channel of communication and every scenario in which your eLearning team needs to collaborate.
4. Use eLearning Project Management Tools
It’s easy to improve teamwork and #PowerOfWe, but only if you use the right tools. Fortunately, tools such as ProofHub, Flow, Coggle, Airtable, and Conceptboard are designed to ease day-to-day processes for educators and eLearning professionals. Now, the reasons to use an eLearning Project Management tool varies, but primarily it helps to:
- Break bigger projects and plans into a manageable size.
- Easily organize and manage everything.
- Collaborate and make it easier to work together.
- Bring all important documents and files in one place.
- Keep track of everyone’s role in the project.
- Keep track of the work and make success effortless.
5. Try Alternatives To Micromanagement—Trust, Respect, And Honesty
If you wish well for your eLearning team and want to see them thrive, quit treating them like children. Being a believer in micromanagement will bring no good to your team or your business. What it will do is make your team members less inclined toward doing what’s required. Even if your team is fully committed to your organization’s long-term goals, they will never be able to do their best with someone constantly breathing down their neck. Just specify the goals, set clear deadlines, delegate responsibilities, give people the right tools and give them the flexibility to perform to the best of their abilities.
6. Give Formal Recognition For Team And Individual Achievements
Did you know that lack of recognition is holding back work teams in many organizations? Over 43% of workers agreed to the fact that lack of recognition is their biggest source of unhappiness at work. Embracing a culture of recognition is truly an advantage. And, it’s not that complicated. All you’ve got to do is adopt peer-to-peer recognition and promote a whole new outlook that boosts employee engagement.
7. Ask Your Team For Feedback
Great ideas come from the most uncanny sources. That’s why you must ask for ideas and feedback from every role. Host sessions where all the members of the team come together to brainstorm ideas and provide their contribution to achieving the long-term goal of the business. Do this and your eLearning team will feel valued and work together more effectively.
Key Takeaway
There is no secret to building an engaged, productive eLearning team. Just think about what you would expect from your workplace culture or how you would expect to be treated if you were a member of your team.
Also, there is no need to just stick to a specific management or leadership style. Explore, experiment and see what fits best. Practice the above-mentioned steps (and others that might seem necessary) to get the most out of your team and each individual on that team, without being a micromanager. Go ahead and give it a try, you will be surprised by the outcome.
Is your eLearning team working effectively? Which of the above tricks would you like to try first? Also, if you’ve tips or tools that you would like to add to this post, feel free to share them in the comments below!
