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Nudging is about making it easier for people to do the right thing – both from their own point of view and from our point of view as designers of training programs, experiences and products.
In this article I go over six concrete ways to apply nudging in your next training program – three for the participants and three for their managers. We will be focusing particularly on small things that they can do in their daily routine and that might eventually transition into the new behaviors that both you and they are trying to establish.
Each nudge differs in its implementation, but all the methods I will suggest fundamentally share the following features:
Our participants are adults who are fully capable of taking responsibility for their own learning. The problem is simply that there’s so much else competing for their attention. If we can get everyone thinking about the training content on a daily basis, things usually have a way of working themselves out on their own.
Training programs – particularly those taking place physically – demand the participants’ full attention, typically for at least half a day. In that setting, we can design advanced exercises that are allowed to take some time. However, devoting that kind of time and attention in our daily lives is typically impossible. With people facing so many competing demands, we must adjust the learning process accordingly, and this is where nudging really shines.
Many participants’ idea of learning in the workplace is either sitting through a tedious e-learning presentation or gathering for a session in the conference room. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Through nudging we can show the participants that learning can come in very small steps every day, and that the threshold for success can be much lower. Research tells us that one small step forward leads to another, each one just a little bit bigger than the last. The key is just getting the ball rolling.
As you’ll notice, the suggested nudges for both participants and managers are short and sweet. This is by design, because they’re meant to be read on the go, for example between meetings or whenever you have a spare minute. This also means you don’t need any advanced format to get your point across.
What’s important is choosing a channel that the co-workers and managers already use, so that they don’t have to go anywhere. Is e-mail the most natural channel in your organization? Send an e-mail. Is everyone on Microsoft Teams? Send Teams messages. Keep it as simple as possible.
With that said, let’s dive into the nudge suggestions!
We’ll start with three behaviors to trigger in the participants, increasing the likelihood that they’ll use their new insights to improve their performance.
By sending a message to participants the day before a training module, we can get their gears turning and make sure they’re warmed up once the module actually starts.
Here is a text you can use as a template and then send via whatever channel suits your organization best.
Dear [NAME],
Tomorrow it’s finally time for the next step of our training. Here’s a short checklist to look through before then:
Make it easier to fully focus on the training by…
Make tomorrow more rewarding by figuring out an answer to the following question…
See you tomorrow!
Once some time has passed, much of a training program’s content will likely have been forgotten. An easy way of encouraging everyone to re-discover the material with fresh eyes is to send out a question where the answer can be reached through a link. Once recipients follow the link, they’ll not only find the answer to the question but also more information that might need to be refreshed as well.
As the participants have now been back to their daily routine for a while, they’ll also be able to bring new perspectives that can help them identify whatever material they now know to be relevant in the workplace.
Dear [NAME],
Our training program concluded a few weeks ago and it’s entirely natural that the memory of it is now starting to fade. To help you remember some key areas of the program, here are three questions for you to answer. Try your best to figure out the answer to each question and then follow the link at the end of the e-mail to see the answers.
Note: If you don’t remember, that’s ok! Everyone forgets. Just make sure to follow the link and check the answers to refresh your memory.
Check the answers here →
Best regards,
One common reason why we fail to reach our goals is that we simply forget them. Sure, having a well thought-out, clearly defined, realistic goal certainly helps, but if we don’t think about our goal on a daily basis, it doesn’t matter how well-written or measured it is.
One simple tool to get participants thinking about their goals is to simply show them the goals that they have set. Remind them that this was what they themselves wrote during training, and ask them to reflect on how that definition feels now, a while later.
Dear [NAME],
A few weeks ago, on the last day of training, this is how you described your goal:
[goal description]
Think about the following questions as you read this now that you have some distance to it.
To give yourself the best chance of making progress going forward, create a calendar event for one month from today and paste your new goal and these three questions into it. That way you’ll automatically be reminded to keep working towards your goal.
Good luck!
Lär dig enkla men kraftfulla sätt att applicera nudging i dina lärprojekt, så att beteendeförändringen faktiskt blir av.
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It’s just as important to nudge managers, so here are three suggestions for how to do just that.
As learning designers, we have a responsibility to convey the strategic purposes of our training programs – why has the organization opted for this program specifically?
What’s more difficult is making the program relevant to each individual co-worker’s specific context. This is where the manager, who usually encounters the co-worker on a daily basis, is uniquely equipped to establish the strategic purpose in a way that anchors it to the workplace and the individual’s role in it.
This is what a nudge to a manager might look like:
Dear [MANAGER NAME],
About a week from now, your co-worker will be participating in our training program. As part of the preparations, we’ll be explaining the strategic purpose of the program, i.e. why it’s important to our organization. You can read more about how we explain the strategic purpose to the participants here.
But in order to foster motivation in our participating co-workers, simply answering the question “Why is this training important to the organization?” isn’t enough. What our co-workers need to know, perhaps more than anything, is “Why is this training important to me in my role specifically?”.
As their manager, you’re uniquely equipped to help your co-workers answer that question. You know their daily routine, individual goals and personality.
This is why we need your help.
You could have a huge impact on your co-worker’s motivation if you have a short talk with them in the coming week and address the following points:
A big thanks in advance for your help – you’re invaluable!
Wishing someone good luck might seem very trivial, and on the surface it undeniably is a very small act.
And yet those little words can have a huge positive impact.
In the example below, we explain why:
Dear [MANAGER NAME],
The day after tomorrow, your co-worker will be participating in our training program. Before that we have a small but important favor to ask of you: Please wish your co-worker good luck.
The reason why such a small gesture from you is so important: By wishing your co-worker good luck, you’re signaling that the training is sanctioned by the organization. You’re showing your co-worker that they need not feel guilty about taking a break from their daily tasks, and this increases their motivation to participate.
Thank you for your support!
In this situation, it’s crucial not to come off as though we’re admonishing the managers: Most managers are certainly curious what insights their co-workers have gained, but might forget to ask amidst the pressure of a hectic schedule.
In other words, it’s not about convincing the manager to ask the question, but rather about reminding them how valuable the question could be.
Dear [MANAGER NAME]
Your co-worker is coming back to work from our training program today, so we have a small favor to ask of you: Please ask a question to show that you’re curious how it went.
Showing that you’re curious about how your co-worker’s training went is good for several reasons:
You could ask the following question:
“What’s the most important insight you’ve gained from yesterday’s training, and what can I do to make sure you get the most out of it on a daily basis?”
Thank you so much for your support!
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