Soft skills help employees to reduce the negative outcomes of their activities and to maintain psychological well-being. Teamwork boosts an IT company’s performance and makes it more competitive.
Developing soft skills can actually make employees happier and help them to cope with communication problems, maintain a work-life balance as well as develop their hidden talents such as team leadership. Some L&D programs have leadership learning modules that are focused on staff management, collaboration enhancement, project management, coaching, and mentoring.
Microlearning
Microlearning is a modern approach to education that provides knowledge in small chunks. Most employees do not have enough time for the L&D activities, that is why some trainings offer short modules with all the necessary information. Instead of participating in a 90-minute seminar, workers can deal with short pieces of material.
Small concepts are central in microlearning. The schedule is not very detailed, and everything is split into smaller units that are easier to comprehend. Microlearning is fast: one unit may be only 5 minutes long, and each module represents a practical question with a short answer.
Gamification
Games are an effective way of engaging people in learning activities. Playing is fun — and it is good for motivation. This approach uses reward-based learning, which makes it possible to measure your achievements throughout the whole course.
Gamification is about using game elements in a non-game environment. It is especially relevant for IT learning, which offers various coding games and competitions. For many of us, this kind of acquiring skills seems more natural and entertaining than traditional learning. Using games for L&D development has tremendous potential, but only if you use them in an appropriate way. Remember those game elements must not overshadow the core content of the course.
Relevant content
In the modern fast-moving world educational content can become outdated in a short period of time. This is the reason why all the materials should be thoroughly selected and renewed regularly.
Another crucial point is that there is so much information in the open sources that an L&D program should remain competitive. Workers should feel encouraged to learn your material. It is important to ask them which type of content they need or want to consume.
Support of diversity
The workplace should be inclusive for everybody. Every team member needs to feel safe and confident. Sexual harassment, racism, and bullying are not acceptable in any team. Some L&D programs have awareness modules that help workers learn about different cultures and encourage a better psychological environment.
Tracking the progress
For learners, it is highly motivating to track their progress. Every activity should count as a small step towards success. As a result, every time you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or go to a meeting, you feel responsible for your own development.
All courses should be clearly structured so that it is easy to track achievements. Sometimes employers use special tools like apps, xAPI, or learning record stores to manage digital learning. However, it is much more convenient and effective when the tracking facilities are built into the course.