Learning design considerations for the hybrid working environment

In 2022, the challenge for most companies will be to define and enact their versions of hybrid working. There isn’t a clear blueprint that all executives will follow, and with companies like Google buying up expensive real estate the definition of hybrid working is still open to interpretation. However, one consequence of a change to where and how people work will be an inevitable evolution in how we create and use workplace learning. 

In Prudential’s March 2021 “Pulse of the American Worker” survey,  87 percent of respondents said they would prefer to work across spaces. The consensus is that the ratio of working in an office to working at home would be 3-to-2, or the opposite depending on how flexible your employer is. 

While there is obviously a desire to work partially from home, at least for office staff, there remains a perception that people need face-to-face interactions and office time to further their careers. Bearing in mind the need that people have to balance their lives better, commute less, meet people in an office and collaborate meaningfully on projects, the question we, as learning and development professionals, should be asking ourselves is: How can we adapt our L&D offerings to best suit the environments people will work in? In other words, what does hybrid learning really look like, and how is it best deployed in the modern workplace?

The main components of learning in a hybrid working environment

If the future of work is to split our time between office and home, then it stands to reason that we can’t do all of our training either at home or in the office — cue the return of blended learning. In recent times, blended learning design has often focused on the use of technology to support classroom training. However, there is a concept taking hold that there is more to blended learning than simply adding an e-learning module or a smattering of video content to classroom training.

The emerging idea is that the “blend” is represented by three important factors. The first is that certain types of learning are best matched up to locations. The obvious examples are that collaborative training is best done in the office, and self-directed learning is best done at home. The second factor is that learning is a journey spread out over time, and takes locations and types of learning into account. The third factor is that technology enables us to access learning in a smooth and efficient way in any location. Let’s look at each in more detail.

Considerations for creating blended learning across workspaces

To begin, let’s explore the idea of matching learning to locations. Think about the reasons why people want or need to go into an office when they can seemingly work well at home. One way to compile a list of reasons is to use activities as labels for what people do in offices: meet, collaborate, brainstorm, discuss, analyze, etc. All those activities can be done through virtual meeting rooms but are much more efficiently done face to face. The obvious conclusion is that offices are best used for people to get together and collaborate. Therefore, it makes sense to only have training in the office when group interactions are essential. Examples would include, but are not limited to:

• Searching for solutions to problems using creative or innovative techniques.
• Role-playing work-based scenarios such as discussing performance reviews.
• Practicing skills used in specific situations to get feedback from a manager.

We can see from those situations that group participation and the ability to look at the nuances of how people interact are important.

On the other hand, anything that can be done alone or needs to be created as preparation for group interactions is more effectively done at home using technology. Techniques that work well at home include:

• Self-directed study — anything done at “your pace.”
• Flipped classroom — situations where most learning is done alone before meeting with a group.
• Guided learning — virtual sessions with an instructor who takes learners through content.

We can see immediately there is a clear difference between the types of learning activities that can be done at home versus what is better done in the office. These distinctions help us to plan the initial steps of learning journeys where components need to be matched to locations.

Next, let’s look at the concept of what learning journeys are and how to create them. To begin with, let’s define a learning journey as either a long or short sequence of training and development interactions — even a learning experience of just a few days can constitute a journey. Secondly, let’s commit to the idea that all learning journeys have a definitive start and end point that include tactics for application in the workplace — this is different from the alternative concept that a learning journey is a lifelong process where people are encouraged to continuously learn. Thirdly, let’s note that the structure, pace and spacing of a journey depends on the type of learning being designed — is it mainly for knowledge transfer, skills development, habit adoption and so on?

With those basic principles aligned to the concept of placing learning in the right location, we can begin to construct learning journeys that optimize time and spaces to make sure that learning gets accessed and used effectively, and most importantly, transferred to real work.

The final factor in designing hybrid learning is the use and deployment of technology. For most people, this could appear to be an easy topic, especially when we recall that until recently, the leading trend in learning was that everything needed to “go mobile.” However, one lesson the pandemic taught us is that people aren’t mobile anymore. In fact, they are very much static — to the extent that such a thing as “Zoom fatigue” has emerged as a real concern of working from home.

What people don’t need is more screens to become fatigued by. Instead, within the L&D function, we must develop skills to better manage learning interactions in the digital space, and knowledge of the optimal time to deploy digital-based learning. Ideally, all learning done through the digital space should be accessed at home based mainly on the concept of the flipped classroom or knowledge transfer and serve as a lead-in or follow-up to learning done in physical spaces.

Of course, not all training requires a deep blend of home versus office, extended learning journeys and full deployment of technology, but increasingly, we are seeing that elements of all those aspects lead to the successful use of time and space and transfer of learning to work, so the ability know the what, where, when and how of learning has become more important than ever. 

First steps to making a meaningful change

You must first find out where your company intends to allow its workforce to work, and what split there will be between home and office. The best laid out blended learning plans can come to nothing if all staff are suddenly required to come back to the office or given permission to permanently work at home. There is some evidence that this will be a collaborative decision, so it’s worth getting into those discussions early to understand what the decisions will be and to put your case forward for hybrid learning.

The second is to start evaluating your current L&D programs. Look at the types of learning, where those learning elements can be best located and how to optimally position those elements into a journey. This analogue version of learning design will take time, but will be hugely influential when formulating budget and making requests for technology investments.

Good luck.