Why take the time for e-learning? Because it is your bleeping job genius.

In prior posts, I discussed the need to implement variables in your e-learning that “pull” users versus the traditional “push” aspect. While I still agree with this philosophy, I also grind my teeth on a daily basis as I watch users ignore the tools available to them for reasons so absurd that it makes me want to walk into our Whisper Room sound booth and scream like a banshee.

I recently had a conversation with an internal customer who was asking me a series of questions that could have been answered in a recently posted WBT created by a team member. I cut the Q & A portion short and asked if he had taken said 15 minute course. The answer was this, “who has time for that?” My response (after I swallowed my frustration and a few choice expletives was this) “People who are serious about understanding the business and products.” A simple statement that got the answer I love to hear the most, “you’re right.”

The excuse “I don’t have enough time” when they are calling or IM’ng questions to an actual human being is level ten absurd. They have time to spend 20 minutes asking me questions that could have been answered with 15 minutes of training. I’m no math whiz but according to my calculations that level of laziness wasted the time of two people for a sum total of 40 minutes.

Time and money is invested in adult learning content because it saves time and gives the learner a self-paced environment. If the content does not meet those needs then I will be the first person to accept responsibility and use the feedback to better my material. However, if they are simply not using the material then the blame falls squarely on the user. I imagine these are the people who gave up on golf because they couldn’t drive the ball like Tiger Woods on their first 9 holes.

This particular scenario is also a ringing endorsement for companies to start implementing better social networking tools into their training strategy. If we cultivate the community and provide multi-directional feedback channels, then we can all communicate available resources and make them better through rapid response feedback. Until those tools are available our team will continue to market our training resources and try to eliminate the number of clicks it takes to get to them. In the meantime, a sound booth is a good place to scream – just make sure the microphones are off.