Learning is mentally taxing. So, why would you assume that your employees want to spend additional time learning something, especially when you’ve labeled it "mandatory"? Here are some synonyms that are dancing through the minds of your employees as soon as they receive your email about the new “mandatory” training course: COMPULSORY; Unavoidable; ENFORCED; Obligatory; and a horde of other disfigured words dancing in the distance, chanting: “THERE IS. No. Escape.” Given your position, you may understand the significance of the course and its relation to bigger, strategic organizational goals. Your employees don’t. And your task is to pique their interest, engage them, and continuously compel them to keep on learning. This is only possible if you learn from the one trait that all ads, marketing content, and compelling stories have in common: they value their viewers’ time, their knowledge and capacity to absorb the content. Here are some simple tricks to get learners to buy into mandatory training:

The most challenging aspect of imparting effective online training is targeting the many learners taking the same program. Understanding the different types of learners, summed up in following categories, is beneficial to any designer looking to create personalized eLearning courses.

There are principles of good learning design and delivery every training professional should be aware of. These are not mere abstractions but rather serve as a practical guide in planning effective online training programs. In fact, Geri E. McArdle, in his book Training Design and Delivery, encourages training professionals to become familiar with these and apply them later. Basically, if they understand these principles and weave them into their training, they'll create more effective online learning experiences.