Microlearning: The Future Of Professional Development | Forbes

Over the past few years, much has been written about “information overload in the workplace” (too much information and data coming at workers) and the detrimental impact it has on employees and organizations. Whether it is sifting through hundreds of emails daily, reviewing various reports, attending meetings, or having to complete training courses, information overload negatively impacts employee wellness, performance and productivity, the employee experience, and brand reputation. However, information overload is not just about the volume of information, but also the quality of that information–meaning relevance. Too much information compounded by “irrelevance” exacerbates this problem. While this article provides a few ideas on addressing this problem in the context of workplace learning through the concept of “microlearning”(short bursts of content for learners to study at their convenience), I would also suggest that L&D practitioners ask and answer two questions: 1) where can we eliminate learning content and activities that do not add value? 2) for learning activities that do add value, how can we drastically simplify them? And although the example used is for an L&D function, an HR organization should apply similar questions to each HR function, process, program, and system; doing so will not only reduce information overload but can enable important organizational outcomes such as business performance and employee experience to name a few.