E-Learning and Leaders

3 Questions

1. Do you have a development plan for your top team?

2. What type of learning activity do your top team undertake?

3. Would you be confident in sharing your e-learning with your CEO/Directors for their learning?

Your Audience in 2007

A survey of 1,000 managers conducted by the Chartered Management Institute found that technological and cultural "barriers" have prevented large scale uptake of online learning at senior level in UK companies.

Penny de Valk, chief executive at the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), said:

“E-learning is just one of a range of development tools available to managers, and although not a direct substitute for face-to-face contact with a tutor or trainer, it can be a powerful cost and time-effective means of supplementing and enhancing a learning experience, as part of a blended learning approach. The challenge for e-learning providers is to make the online experience as engaging and relevant as a more traditional learning environment,” she added.

Your Audience in 2011The results of the Reinventing Leadership Development study signal a shift from a traditional preference for classroom-based training for soft skills such as leadership to a greater use of e-learning technologies. The survey's participants, individuals from more than 180 organisations tasked with implementing workplace leadership development programmes, did not identify "the classroom" when asked to list managers' top three methods of learning delivery.

• While nearly 60 per cent of participants said paper-based learning materials were the first choice for senior managers, all other tiers chose e-learning methods.

• Mobile devices would be the preferred method of learning delivery for 70 per cent of middle managers, participants said, while nearly half chose "immersive learning environments" and 41 per cent chose video.

• Participants said off-the-shelf e-learning courses would be the first choice for 60 per cent of first-line supervisors, while 46 per cent preferred a virtual classroom, and 40 per cent indicated a preference for in-house social media.

• Among future managers, participants said 39 per cent would select social networks as their preferred method of learning delivery, 38 per cent would prefer m-learning content, and 32 per cent an "immersive learning environment".

Popular Delivery Methods

• Podcasts• Videos• Mobile Devices• Video conferencing• Virtual classrooms

• Social Media• On line resources• E-books• E-learning• Diagnostic tools

Leadership Development• Ashridge, Cranfield, Roffey Park, Henley• MBA programmes e.g. Manchester, Warwick• INSEAD, Harvard, LBS, Wharton, Stanford• IoD, ACEVO, Institute for Government, ILM • Professional institutes and networks• Community roles e.g. Business in the Arts