When it comes to microlearning, think about targeted, timely, and actionable learning bites that can be delivered in a short time frame. Author of this recent article for Training Magazine, Shannon Tipton of Learning Rebels, was the keynote speaker for our August 2016 PD - "The 21st Century Toolbox: Restock It with Social Learning."

Whatever the delivery for online training, be it virtual instructor-led or self-paced (which may or may not offer interaction with a subject matter expert), learners need to be set up for success. See what Richard Spires of Learning Tree International says about Getting More Out of Online Training to Drive Real Behavioral Change.

Who are the heroes, and who are the leaders in your organization? 

Are they the same? 

Some may be the top-dog, kingpin, white-hat types that saunter into an organization, save the day, and then ride off infamously into the sunset. Others may be more of the behind-the-scenes, blend-into-the-wallpaper, stand-in-the-shadow of others sort. For an insightful perspective on the differences, read the article, Heroship and Leaving a Legacy Aren't Part of Leadership by Gary A. DePaul, Ph.D., CPT

The company wants you to keep costs down. You want to keep the e-learning course interesting. You really can create e-learning content on a budget—if you’re willing to be a little creative.

While the world's workplace is going through extraordinary change, the practice of management has been frozen in time for more than 30 years. Managers have been trained to fill out forms rather than have high-development conversations. 

Only 15% of the world's one billion full-time workers are engaged at work. It is significantly better in the U.S., at around 30% engaged, but this still means that roughly 70% of American workers aren't engaged. It would change the world if we did better. 

To summarize Gallup's analytics from 160 countries on the global workplace, their conclusion is that organizations should change from having command-and-control managers to high-performance coaches. Learn more from this article by Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup. For those who attended the May 19th, "Geezer. Punk. Whatever." session, there are some interesting insights into creating millennial engagement.

The National Federation of Independent Business found that as of first-quarter 2017, 45 percent of small businesses reported that they were unable to find qualified applicants to fill job openings. But is there a bonafide skills gap in the U.S., or it is an imaginary manifestation of unrealistic expectations?  If perception is reality, then either way, we need to determine the cause and act on a cure. These two articles provide insights into how those of us in talent development industry can make an impact.

The Most Serious Skill Gap Of All - by Liz Ryan, contributor to LinkedIn and Forbes.com

What Will It Take to Close the Skills Gap? Take an Educated Guess - by Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder

For the benefit of the many instructional designers with no formal visual design training, here's an informative aid to help you make your projects look great!

In this 2:47 minute video from CLO, you'll hear that when it comes to effectively managing talent, learning and HR executives have a keen role to play together. This relationship is about busting down silos in the interest of talent development and producing a high caliber of workforce performance. 

The guy or gal sitting next to you at work is often a great source of information. Recognizing the intent and providing structure will benefit everyone involved. Find out more about how to capture these kinds of learning opportunities in a more formal setting from this April 13, 2017 essay from CLO.

Recognizing the intent and providing structure will benefit everyone involved.

Why has e-Learning failed, and what do learning practitioners need to do differently to deliver business value? Click here to read how a reconceptualized perspective offers opportunities to capitalize on the business methodology leaders refer to as “Lean”.