Clients often ask first whether a course should be online or in person. It is a reasonable question, but it is easier to answer after two others: what do people need to practise, and where are they?
Start with the skill
Skills that involve other people, such as presenting, negotiating, giving feedback or dealing with customers, are learned best in a room, with practice and immediate feedback. Skills that improve with repetition, such as reading data, writing or planning, are often learned better in shorter sessions spread over several weeks. Knowledge-based subjects, such as how a product or a procedure works, can be learned individually, as long as there is some way of checking that the material has been understood.
Then consider the group
A small group in one office can do almost anything. A large group across several sites cannot easily attend a one-day workshop, and the travel costs quickly exceed the cost of the training. In that case a mixed format usually works best: self-paced material for the knowledge, and live sessions, online or in person, for the practice.
Common mistakes
- Running a full-day course over video call. Two hours is the practical limit for a live online session.
- Choosing in-person delivery for content that people could simply read.
- Choosing self-paced material and not checking whether anyone completed it.
If you are unsure, describe the group and the subject to us and we will recommend a format.