Often it's the technologies and the office
changes that are the highly visible elements of
changing to flexible working. But the crucial
component of change is about the people involved -
how will they adapt to new ways of working?
People
do not automatically adapt to new ways of working -
they need to learn to work in different ways.
They need guidance about how to deal with new
situations, such as working in distributed or
'virtual' teams, and how to adapt to new offices
where space is shared.
Organisations, teams and
individuals need new skills, tools and training to
thrive in a virtual workplace, with colleagues
working in different places and at different times.
Managing in the virtual workplace can
challenge the skills of the most experienced
manager. Managers have to learn how to manage
performance at-a-distance and to maintain highly
effective interaction, collaboration and teamwork.
For employees, working in the distributed workforce
poses new challenges about staying visible and
connected, maintaining accountability, and managing
time, workload and performance.
Flexible training
for the flexible workplace
Online learning provides a 21st century solution
for training flexible workers, to provide learning
beyond the classroom.
US company e-Work.com have developed a suite of
online courses to support managers and employees
through the transition to smarter ways of working.
Modules cover training for managers, for employees
and issues such as working in shared desking
environments and home offices.
Students are led through the courses by
video mentors, using a variety of active
learning techniques, including
scenario-based role playing assessments,
animated interactions (rollover, popup, drag
and drop) with complex branching and
feedback loops, quizzes and additional
resources.
Courses can be saved and resumed later, so
learners can work at their own pace, and access
modules as they need them.
The courses are
also customisable. Both content and
branding can be customised to fit with
individual organisations. They can be
hosted on SCORM 1.2 compliant learning management
systems, or hosted externally.
The courses have
emerged as the market leader in the USA, being
used by companies such as Microsoft and AT&T.
Now they are coming to Europe.
Over the
years, we've seen several online learning products
come and go. But none of them have the
professional-level quality and depth of knowledge of
the e-Work.com courses - and the approach is very
much what we recommend.
Flexibility.co.uk is
pleased to be associated with e-Work.com in
bringing this top quality online learning resource to
the flexible working marketplace here.
