This article first appeared in the June edition of Learning and Training Innovations. It is reprinted here with their permission.

Fifteen-minute e-learning, delivered to learners via an intranet or the Internet at their workstations, has received much positive publicity lately, but little attention has been given to its drawbacks and limitations. When implemented correctly and used appropriately, 15-minute e-learning is a very powerful emerging training strategy. Unfortunately, some organizations have denied themselves the benefits of this exciting new tool by jumping on the bandwagon with little forethought or for the wrong reasons. It’s important to understand what 15-minute e-learning can and cannot do.

When It Works

Provided it is used appropriately, 15-minute e-learning can be very effective and powerful. Some information is best delivered in small chunks when the learner is ready to learn, just before the learner has to apply it and in the format in which the learner needs it. Within this context, 15-minute e-learning is most effective when a learner needs to be given a nugget of information, such as a particular change in product or pricing, or as a refresher or augmentation of something that was learned before. Provided those conditions are met, 15-minute e-learning hits the mark.

Perhaps the greatest power of 15-minute e-learning comes from a well-designed blend of knowledge management, performance support and CRM (customer relationship management). Knowledge management imparts the collective experience of an organization, which serves as helpful background when the appropriate piece of information is filtered and delivered to an employee to handle a specific business situation. Performance support provides just-in-time access to a database for information on such items as products, services, policies, procedures and their specifications. 15-minute e-learning can supplement knowledge management and performance support by reminding the employee how to use that information. 15-minute e-learning can also support CRM, a database employees access for detailed customer information, for example by training the employee on a new feature of the system. In these instances, 15-minute e-learning is used as a reminder, update or extension of something that has been learned before, relating to products, services, procedures or policies.

When It Doesn’t Work

In particular, 15-minute e-learning, or e-learning in general, is inappropriate and even detrimental to the learner under the following conditions:

• When learning complex skills. A complex set of skills, such as service, sales, coaching and management skills, is impossible to learn in a 15-minute session or even in a series of 15-minute sessions. That is because complex skills are best learned by doing, practicing, experimenting, failing and receiving feedback. Probably the best e-learning method for accomplishing these activities is not 15-minute e-learning but simulation-based e-learning.
  
  “15-minute e-learning is appropriate for providing sound bites, not developing skills,” says John Cleave, Ph.D., Principal of Experience Builders in Chicago, a company that specializes in the design and development of online role-playing simulations. “People do not learn by passively absorbing information, and 15 minutes is not enough time for substantive activity like reflection or practice,” Cleave added.
  
  Jane Johnson, Ph.D., President and CEO of By Design, Inc., an Arvana, Colorado-based company that provides instructional design for all types of virtual and traditional training agrees. She says, “Training content is inappropriate for 15-minute e-learning when there are too many steps, when the steps require reflection, or when complex skills and talents need to be developed.”
  
• When there are frequent interruptions. When the ringing of phones surrounds the employee and deadlines loom, focusing on learning is impossible. “Training in four 15-minute increments in many cases is less effective than one full hour of instruction,” says Cleave. “ When you throw 15-minute vignettes at people while they’re in the midst of doing their jobs, they simply don’t have time to pull off their job caps and put on their learning caps.”
  
• When 15 minutes is too long or too short. “Different people have different learning styles,” says Brad Johnson, Executive VP of Intrepid Learning Solutions, a Seattle, WA-based company that provides global corporations with outsourced training solutions. “A 15-minute e-learning module might be too long for a sales person with a short attention span, but too short for a detail-oriented engineer.”
  
  There are cases where five or ten minutes are more effective than 15. Jane Johnson explains, “You can whet learners’ appetite, for example, by sending a Web bite or email presenting a decision-making challenge, asking them to consider possible solutions and alerting them that they will learn all about it in the next live training session. The 5-10 minute e-learning then functions like a teaser. As a follow-up to training, sometimes 30-second messages are sufficient to keep the learner focused.”
  
• When e-learning isn’t the most effective method. Some learning objectives, such as developing a more effective problem-solving procedure, are best accomplished in live collaboration with other employees, sharing successes and frustrations.
  
• When e-learning lacks sound instructional design. “All learning modules, irrespective of length, need to incorporate the basics of good instructional design,” says Brad Johnson. “E-learning that is not functionally sound will not work. Further, a 15-minute e-learning module on its own most likely will not achieve learning or business objectives unless it is packaged as part of a greater curriculum. Four 15-minute e-learning modules, followed up by a two-hour instructor-led module, on the other hand, might be an effective learning experience.”
  
• When there are technology challenges. Waiting five minutes while the WAN or LAN delivers the information is both counterproductive and frustrating. Also, “In dial-up learning environments, learners may not be able to participate in courseware that requires a high bandwidth, to show video, for example,” says Brad Johnson. The fact is technology challenges are often underestimated or overlooked until an organization is in the midst of delivering the 15-minute training…and then, sometimes, it’s too late to overcome the bad impression left on users.
  
• When there are too many 15-minute sessions. If there’s no time to prepare, focus on learning, absorb the information and reflect on it between training sessions, the learner becomes overwhelmed and actually ends up spending more time and energy than is necessary. Learning such as this is certainly not efficient or effective.
  
  Furthermore, “According to Harvard researchers,” says Cleave, “mastery goals and performance goals are two mutually exclusive mindsets. In the former, someone wants to learn something and is open to advice and suggestions. In the latter, people want to demonstrate what they know and are resistant to advice and suggestion because they do not want to appear incompetent. By delivering training in 15-minute chunks to someone on the job, you’re asking them to discard job-related performance goals for mastery goals at the drop of a hat. That’s why, metaphorically speaking, the walk to the classroom is so valuable. Learners have time to change their state of mind to become receptive to information,” says Cleave.
  
• When only 15 minutes are available. It’s impossible to condense 30 minutes worth of training into 15 minutes.
  
• When learners need time to reflect on what they’ve learned. Adult learners need time to ask questions such as: “What does this mean to me? How can I use this in my job tomorrow?” Seeing and hearing are not enough. “Considerable behavioral changes, such as changing someone’s authoritarian management style into a more supportive style, require significant reflection,” says Jane Johnson. “It cannot be done in 15 minutes.”
  
• When the nugget of learning is not immediately applied. When the learner is training today on a new sales promotion that becomes effective in three months, most of the information will be forgotten by the time it is needed.
  
• When coaching is needed. “Coaching that gives feedback on the application of a skill is difficult to deliver in combination with 15-minute e-learning segments. It also does not work well when the learner has to apply a lesson, learn from the task and then return for additional learning,” says Jane Johnson.
  
• When it clashes with the organization’s learning culture. When employees are accustomed to traditional methods of classroom training, they need time to become comfortable with and supportive of e-learning, especially when it’s delivered in 15-minute chunks.
  
• When guilt and fear factor in. Employees who are highly motivated to sell, for example, may feel guilty not spending every minute making calls or may not want to lose opportunities to earn commissions. They may also fear that e-learning breaks could be perceived as “goofing off.”
  
• When training can be used as an excuse. When employees are taking 80 to 100 calls a day in a call center, 15-minute breaks may become all too popular…for all the wrong reasons.
  
• When the company needs to make use of 700 training titles provided with its learning management system. Organizations sometimes “fire-hose” everyone with 15-minute training just to make use of titles provided, without linking them to a specific training need or objective.
  
• When the primary purpose of e-learning is to cut costs. “In this economy, corporations are eager to cut training or find cheap ways of meeting training obligations without foresight or consideration of the content or the learner,” says Jane Johnson. “15-minute e-learning never works as a quick fix for a company’s training needs.”

Do It Right

Provided it is well designed, 15-minute e-learning can be a valuable activity, particularly when interwoven with customer and product information systems. In designing, developing and launching e-learning programs, carefully consider these issues:

• What task should the learner be able to accomplish as a result of the training?
  
• Is e-learning the right method for this training task?
  
• What are the learners’ specific needs, skills and abilities?
  
• Is the training geared toward skill level and job responsibility?
  
• Is the information to be communicated in 15 minutes targeted to a specific learning objective?
  
• If the information depends on something learned earlier, does its design properly build on or reinforce the earlier learning?
  
• Is the technology supportive rather than frustrating?
  
• Does the training reference and integrate other needed information such as knowledge management, performance support or CRM data without asking the learner to complete a puzzle?
  
• Are a series of 15-minute lessons bridged or linked so that the learner will not be overwhelmed?
  

Finally, for any organization concerned with ROI, it pays to track learning, application and performance measures as part of the e-learning delivery system. This helps ensure that learners are accomplishing their objectives and that training is improving performance.

Achieving Balance

As organizations continue to discover new ways to leverage e-learning, they will both suffer and learn from challenges such as the 16 points above. Eventually the right balance will be accomplished and well-designed e-learning programs will take their proper place among other training methods. Remember that just because a strategy is new doesn’t mean it’s better than older ones. Fifteen-minute e-learning is very powerful when designed and used correctly, but it’s not for everyone and does not meet every training objective.

About the Author:

Mark W. Brodsky, President and CEO of Ulysses Learning, is known for his straight talk and keen insights into e-learning and industry trends affecting organizational profitability and growth. As a senior executive and consultant with over 25 years of experience, Mr. Brodsky has managed complex national and global projects to develop service-quality, sales, management, and leadership skills for such diverse clients as American Express, Air Force Special Operations Command, Bank of America, DuPont, Environmental Protection Agency, GE Capital International, Tupperware Worldwide and Westinghouse.

Ulysses Learning is a global learning and performance improvement company that delivers measurable and sustainable results in service, sales and coaching. The firm is widely recognized as the leader in helping companies achieve their goals through its dynamic, simulation-based learning and related services. To reach Mr. Brodsky, please call (800) 662-4066, or send email to mbrodsky@ulysseslearning.com. For more information on Ulysses Learning, visit the company’s web site at www.ulysseslearning.com .

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