Enablement, Trends and Insights

What makes a great lesson?

Von Rachel Saltsgaver — Am 22. Januar 2020

Apple founder Steve Jobs once said, "Great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people." We agree—the best work happens when it's a team effort, and training is no exception. That's why we're committed to partnering with our customers to create industry-leading learning programs.

Here at Lessonly, we have plenty of practice building lessons and helping customers create their own. So, we'd like to share with you some of the insights we've learned along the way to make training engaging, interactive, and impactful for your employees.

Engage learners with simple content

Tip 1: The first question most lesson creators ask is, "What should I include in my lesson?" Start by zeroing in on one idea or job function at a time. Since you can't teach employees everything at once, focus on three sub-ideas or responsibilities, and build the lesson around that framework. Jumpstart this process with our employee training plan builder and tap into the expertise of your team members to identify important job tasks.

Tip 2: When building a lesson, it's crucial to capture and deliver work knowledge simply —this increases the effectiveness of the lesson. This is when the classic acronym K.I.S.S —keep it simple, stupid —is useful. Be sure the lesson includes only the most important information in a concise and to-the-point manner so employees can clearly understand it.

Tip 3: To keep lessons interesting, look for ways to break up text with engaging elements such as images and video. This is an easy way to add context to the lesson or explain something in more detail. For example, we love using screen capture to show employees how to follow a specific process, such as adding a lead in Salesforce. Just remember to keep video content relevant and brief so employees stay engaged.

Tip 4: The most effective lessons are designed to be short and easy to complete. The "microlearning" format breaks training down into bite-sized pieces that educate employees on a single subject —increasing learning engagement. If you need to share a lot of information related to one subject, consider breaking lessons down into more manageable chunks within a learning path so employees can easily digest the information.

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Test knowledge with quizzes and practice scenarios

Tip 5: Learning new skills and knowledge is important, but it's critical to make sure that employees understand what they're learning. Consider adding a few quiz questions throughout the lesson to ensure employees understand and retain the information before they move forward. Lessonly offers both short answer and multiple choice questions for the flexibility and customization that work best for your lesson.

Tip 6: The best teams and employees improve their skills through dedicated practice. That's why great lessons should enable employees to practice and perfect their skills. Video Response allows employees to roleplay common scenarios or rehearse their answers to hone their craft. With Video Response, managers can encourage team practice and offer constructive feedback so employees improve faster.

Improve your lesson with performance data measurement

Tip 7: A great lesson leads to improved individual and team performance. If your lesson doesn't deliver measurable results, consider updating so it provides clear and actionable data in two key areas:

Business outcomes —Each lesson should be linked to business outcomes such as demos set or average call time for resolution. By measuring these objectives, managers will be able to see if a lesson is providing the knowledge and skills that are needed to drive these outcomes.
Learning metrics —Lessons also provide valuable insights that determine the return of learning (ROL). Take a look at lesson quiz scores, feedback, and completion rate to see if employees are engaged in the lesson and understand the materials. This will help identify gaps in the lesson that needs to be addressed.

While building a lesson may sound intimidating —it's not! These seven tips are a great foundation to build a lesson that delivers results. When in doubt, remember that every lesson should help employees learn, practice, and perform. This model will radically improve your lesson, and place your team on the path to greater productivity.

Lessonly by Seismic isn't just online training software

Lessonly is a full-service solution for all of your training needs. Create content, deliver it to your team, and measure results —all in one place. Interested in learning more about what makes a great lesson? Jump into this free lesson and experience it for yourself.

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Test knowledge with quizzes and practice scenarios

Improve your lesson with performance data measurement

Business outcomes —Each lesson should be linked to business outcomes such as demos set or average call time for resolution. By measuring these objectives, managers will be able to see if a lesson is providing the knowledge and skills that are needed to drive these outcomes.

Learning metrics —Lessons also provide valuable insights that determine the return of learning (ROL). Take a look at lesson quiz scores, feedback, and completion rate to see if employees are engaged in the lesson and understand the materials. This will help identify gaps in the lesson that needs to be addressed.

Lessonly by Seismic isn't just online training software