Passageways Blog

Using the Passageways Portal and the Learning Management System to Deliver a Blended Learning Solution

by Ken Burnett as a prelude to upcoming free webinar (Jan 13th, 2010)

I am glad many of you who attended the first Learning Management System webinar in December found the information valuable.  As we continue to take a look at Learning Management Systems (LMS), the background and overview will be valuable for you.  For anyone who missed it, you can view the slides and the recording of the first webinar on the Passageways blog. 

I hope you enjoyed our conversation as much as I did.  If you haven't been able to tell yet, I am passionate about Learning Management Systems as a vehicle the organization can use to help it grow and develop.

In this second blog, I thought we would go through a case study to show the impact the LMS can have on your organization.  I would like to spend a couple of minutes on products and services training.  I bet many of those folks in the training world spend more than a little time on this topic.  According to a recent banking survey, many customers wish we would spend more time explaining to them about our products and services. 

The process we use at Bank of American Fork is effective, efficient and although not like an Emmy, a Tony, or an Academy Award has won awards. I tried to explain that I won an award to my father (who is in construction) for the LMS, and it made the famous Abbott and Costello "Who's on First" conversation look like the Gettysburg address.  But, I digress.

In order to deliver our blended learning approach for training product and services, we use Passageway's Products and Services Island and the LMS.  Our bank has about 300 employees, so we don't hire in enough volume to have a class for products and services training for new products, updates, or changes.  We use a combination of reference, quizzes, and classroom skill training to ensure that learning has taken place.

We have developed a Products and Services Guide using a template that follows basics principles of reference: 

1)         The information answers questions customers would ask, in the format they would ask them.  Employees traditionally have a hard time with reference, because they have to change the information to have the answer match the customer's request.  Formatting the information into questions customers would ask increases the chance the employee will use the reference effectively.

2)         The information reads left to right with a question the customer would ask, and follows with the response that includes information from the new product. One of the issues with the traditional heading chapter/title response is that the information is not formatted in the way customers and employees speak to each other.  Examples are: how does it work? how does it benefit customers? why should they come to us for this product?         

3)         Be specific.  We used focus groups to ensure the level of accuracy in the information provided. If you have time, call a few employees and ask them questions that they will need the products and services guide to answer.  Using these verification processes will ensure that you have a usable product.

When new products or services are introduced at the Bank we follow a specific process of first introducing the reference page.  The next step in the process is to use the LMS to check the employees understanding of the new product.  At Bank of American Fork, we design a quiz using the software Lectora to verify that all associates understand the key points about the new product.  Employees then access the quizzes on the LMS Teach Me page.  To help associates discuss the new product or service we include presentation statements to use while discussing the new product or service with customers. 

The quizzes are designed as learning events, so the questions aren't incredibly complex. We don't record keep their score, only their attendance.  The advantage of this approach is that by using the reporting function on the LMS, I can track who has completed the quiz, and therefore gained the knowledge of the product information.  The quizzes take about 10 minutes and are now an accepted part of the Bank's culture.  The completion of the quizzes is required, so every employee has at least a basic understanding of the products and services offered at the Bank.

The final part of our blended learning approach is the classes we offer to teach our employees the skills to present our products to our customers.  Because the employees have learned the basics of the product or service from the guide and their knowledge has been verified by the quizzes, they are much more confident at speaking with customers.  Learning can focus on teaching employees to use needs-based interaction skills to match customer need to product.  Employees can register to attend the Presenting Products and Services training sessions using the LMS.  We also use the reporting function of the LMS to determine who has attended the course.

The result of this blended products and services training approach is positive business results (increased profitability and more positive customer service scores).  On the organizational side, the Bank's management knowing that the training function has a repeatable, measurable process for training products and services is a positive for any training organization.  Without the flexibility of Passageway's LMS system, none of this would be possible. 

I hope I have intrigued you to see more at the new live Passageways Webinar.  I will walk you through this and other process that use the LMS to help your organization run more effectively.  I look forward to talking to you then.

Again, sign up for the and hope to see you!

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/181522923