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First, if you’re going to teach soft skills using e-Learning, you have to accept that it’s possible. Some may argue that soft skills are too complex... that e-Learning can’t turn beginners into expert leaders or communicators. Frankly, for the most part, I agree. But, the fact is, almost no training can turn beginners into experts. Expert performance comes from a lot of practice and feedback, in real world environments, under real-world conditions. No training, regardless of how good it is, or its modality, produces expert-level performance by itself. Exception: Fluency training can produce better-than-expert performance in beginners, but virtually no one exploits it's amazing benefits. So, for our purposes here, we'll ignore this exception to the rule that training does not produce expert performance. We'll tell you all about fluency training in a future paper or video. Email me, or sign up on our website to be notified, so you don't miss out.) Second, non-linear, branching simulations are not the holy grail of soft skills e-Learning. And that's a good thing, because they’re a pain to build. Trust me on this. You really don't want to design or build a complex, non-linear, branching simulation if you don't have to.
USING SIMULATIONS In soft skills training
First, let's consider what we mean by simulations. By definition, their aim is to simulate something, to approximate reality in some way. Exactly what they simulate, and how, varies a lot. For example, some focus on simulating a real environment, with 3-dimensional artwork made to look like an office. Participants in this type of simulation may "move" their point of view around the screen to simulate moving, walking, or looking at different things. Others focus on simulating the more mental aspects of a task—for example, making decisions—and present situations mainly in text. Here are some examples: Humentum; AME-Learning. Whatever the specifis, soft -skills simulations usually present some sort of job-related scenario, and prompt learners to respond to the situation in some way. Learners’ responses branch them onto various instructional paths.
In this domain, "computer simulations" or "business simulations" means e-Learning with non-linear branching as a primary feature, regardless of specific formats or appearance. Of course, the aim of this kind of non-linear branching is to approximate real life. And in some ways, it succeeds. Like in real life, events don’t necessarily happen linearly; learners can go down the wrong path, and there are consequences. Learners can make a choice on computer based simulation to grow soft skills , Yes, that’s how the real world works. But, no, it’s not a great technique in training, where immediate, salient consequences work best. Simulations aim to approximate the real world because that’s where learners will end up. But, if they were ready for the real world, they wouldn’t need training, would they?
Besides, in the end, most simulations aren’t all that realistic anyway. They're necessarily constrained because we just can’t design and build the entire universe of possible paths.
Dear Mr. Nuridin, Thanks for your invitation and for this great question. Here are some of what I get through my search;
First let's define Soft Skills
Soft Skills are the abilities required at workplace that hold importance for professional success: Soft skills are needed to work productively, communicate, and cooperate. Customer service, sales, leadership, time management, team management, interviewing, and mentoring are some examples of soft skills required in a corporate.
What Difficulties Do Organizations Face In Soft Skills Training?
Millennial workers need to be more proficient in soft skills more than ever. However, a number of organizations feel that the proper knowledge of soft skills remains absent in the majority of the employees, which hinders their success. Training is difficult, as learning is open ended, cannot be measured or rewarded, and skills are needed to be developed rather than learned.
Also, at times people have abhorrence towards soft skills training. Especially the ones who have been working for a long time are resistant towards changing the ways things are done. Soft skills training needs time, energy, and attention as it is not science. It is a set of skills that develops with constant practice.
Following are 3 Strategies For Effective Soft Skills Training
Designing e-Learning courses for soft skills development can be a tedious task. Some strategies that could work for a helpful and blended learning for soft skills are:
1. Make training measurable.
Not being measurable makes it difficult to draft a proper soft skills training process. It might be difficult to measure the effectiveness of any training regarding soft skills, but it is very important to demonstrate results with metrics. Making your training measurable not only improves the design of learning, but also provides results that can actually make a difference.
Hence, whenever you are designing a plan or course for learning soft skills, put a clear and measurable goal. For that you would first need to identify key performance indicators that need perfection.
Ensure that the training focuses on reaching the desired goals by focusing on the proper skills. Key performance indicators include:
Increase in sales of a specific product line.
Reduction in dissatisfied customers who received technical support.
Reduction in time spent in meetings.
Increase in satisfaction of new employees in first three months.
Reduction in safety incidents.
Increase in number of times that managers provide positive feedback.
Reduction in staff turnover rates.
Keeping a track of these indicators enables you to see which soft skills are being used at the job and whether the training programs are beneficial or not.
2. Integrate e-Learning into the work environment.
Online learning is mostly designed in isolation, in a closed room that lets you have complete concentration. On the contrary, when it comes to soft skills, the competencies required in soft skills relate to improving communication with others largely. Hence, e-Learning solutions for soft skills should be well integrated with the corporate's needs, an individual’s career growth, and the needs of the team.
e-Learning processes should never be at the back hand. In fact it should be a blended strategy that means more interpolation is needed. Also include feedback after every module; it helps in designing better training processes in the future.
e-Learning courses are the most effective, cost saving and easy ways to learn a skill. Using e-Learning tools effectively is what businesses need for an effective learning program.
3. Follow the single concept learning approach.
Single concept learning or the thin slicing founded by Stephen Meyer states that due to short attention spans, each e-Learning involvement should include a single topic at a time. This holds true for any stream in which e-Learning is involved. For example, an e-Learning module on career guidance can cover a vast number of topics but for effective learning should stick to one.
Learning soft skills can be a task and with a course of time you can master the skills. Some of the notable skills include:
Open a conversation in a way that prompts open-mindedness.
Articulate goals.
Gain respect for your own views.
Diagnose another person’s needs and problems by listening effectively and asking good questions.
Demonstrate respect for other person’s views.
Raise the conversation up the intellectual and emotional ladder in a way that the other person is able to follow you.
For language training we can use effectively simulated programs or conversations.
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