In today's age of electronic interaction, new technologies can be mechanisms for better leadership and training - or they can create serious obstacles.

The Digital Age has given rise to numerous information technologies that have had both positive and negative effects on leadership. Because of this, there has been a fundamental change in the relationship between business leaders and their followers - both employees and clients.

The original dynamic of the leader-follower connection has been forever altered by the advent of communication technologies, according to John Juzbasich, CEO of Merit Career Development. As a result, leaders face different challenges when conducting training in the virtual workplace...mainly fluid communication.

The Challenge of Communication

In today's age of electronic interaction, new technologies are mechanisms for leadership and management. Social platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn can reduce the remoteness of followers and allow for more instantaneous communication, but they can lead to breakdowns in communications as well. Although oratory interaction can convey a clearer, message, between 60 and 80 percent of communications are non-verbal, Juzbasich explained.

When the voice is taken out of the equation, all that is left are words on a screen. At this point, messages can become misinterpreted, which is one of the biggest challenges in leading in the Digital Age. Because of this, leaders have to be more cognizant of how they speak and present themselves.

In order to avoid being misunderstood, Juzbasich suggests utilizing video technology to both communicate on a daily basis, and to create effective training. Video not only leverages digital technology in a popular way that people relate to, but it regains the visual and audio components of conversation.

Leading in the Digital Age

Juzbasich recently represented Merit at Penn State Great Valley on a panel that discussed e-leadership with other leading industry experts called "Leading in the Digital Age: Are You Connected For Success?" The event featured insight into cutting-edge research and best practices for leveraging rising technologies to be an effective leader in today’s business environment. Topics ranged from using avatars and emotion-reading technologies to advanced uses of social media. "We have come a long way over the past decade in understanding what works and what does not in a virtual teaching/learning environment. It is critical to redesign training to take advantage of today’s technologies and educational research on Best Practices," Juzbasich added.

Merit Career Development offers a wide array of learning methodologies that enhance professional education in today’s virtual workplace, including Virtual Instructor-Led Training, online self-paced courses, webinars and web-based assessment tools. To learn more about what Merit can do to enhance your leadership and employee training, please contact us.

Coordinating virtual instructor-led training courses can be challenging when participants are literally signing in from around the world. Timing and coordination are hurdles, but one of the most common barriers to learning is simple communication.

According to Jim Spaulding, Ed.D., technical instructor at Merit Career Development, managers can make training come alive through calculated decisions. With international employees, trainers can facilitate connections and communication through personal experiences, stories and insight.

Bringing Classmates Together

The immediate benefit of virtual training is obvious: global reach. But that geographic range necessitates fluid communication for effective learning. Conversation is much more than just discussing ideas among peers. By talking with one another, participants create meaning out of the information being presented and can glean valuable conclusions from the data.

Additionally, Spaulding recommends that instructors encourage sharing pertinent personal stories and insights throughout the lesson. Integrating participants’ perspectives as much as possible can help form connections between students, which can lead to deeper and more practical discussions. Generally speaking, when learning is couched in stories, participants learn better. Even digressing into interesting off-topic conversations can tie the class together and allow participants to be more engaged.

Making real connections in online international training environments can make the difference between wasted resources or effective learning that translates back to the workplace and creates viable business solutions.

Review a course list or contact Merit today for more information.