There is no corporate organization in the world that would deny the importance of communication in business. With advancing technology we are finding new ways to communicate every year. Thus, corporate employees must not only improve their traditional means of communicating with their bosses, colleagues as well as customers, i.e. face-to-face communication, phone calls and emails, but also through social media and other technologies prevalent in the business world today. eLearning too, is a part of this digital transformation corporate organizations are going through, and is the best learning methodology to develop better communication skills in employees. In this article, we’ll discuss how eLearning can be used to improve all the above mentioned types of business communication in corporate organizations.

Simulations – The Best Way To Improve Communication

Some people would say that there is no other way to improve communication than to actually communicate using different methods listed above and get increasingly better at them. And such people would be right, in a way. Because although it is true that practising communication is the only way to improve communication, it doesn’t have to be in the real world. Simulations in eLearning are like virtual worlds created by designers where learners can practise their skills without suffering the consequences that would be devastating for them in the real world. Let us now look at ways different kinds of simulations can be used to train employees to communicate better.

1. Simulations To Improve Face-To-Face Communication

Designing such a simulation would require designers to create scenarios that actually occur in organizations. eLearning designers should build characters in the simulation that learners can communicate with by choosing appropriate responses that would result in failures or successes, in order to teach them the correct form of communication. Characters should be designed around the types of individuals employees communicate with on a daily basis, like managers, stakeholders, colleagues and customers.

2. Simulations To Improve Communication On-Call

These simulations are a bit more advanced than the ones mentioned previously, and would require learners to actually speak the appropriate phrases into a microphone which will be then checked by the LMS to ensure that it is correct. Such technology is already being used in certain learning apps like Duolingo.

3. Simulations To Improve eMail Communication

This is not so different from the first type of simulations. eLearning designers can design simulation environments in such a way that the learner can interact with a computer shown on-screen to send and receive mails, answering emails received with appropriate responses. Interactive environments in simulations engage employees while helping them learn by interacting with technology as they would in real life.

Social Learning – Facilitating Actual Communication In The Organization

Simulations are all about training employees to practise communication in a virtual space. But, employees actually do need to practise communicate in real life, and another way eLearning can improve communication in an organization is through social learning. Including social learning in your learning and development (L&D) program ensures learners learn with others and collaborate to solve problems. This fosters communication while increasing collaboration and teamwork. Let us look at how social learning can be used in eLearning to improve communication in an organization.

1. Teamwork-based eLearning

It is possible to design eLearning scenarios that require learners to work with other learners in order to complete tasks in the eLearning courses. Learners access and take these courses together (much like multi-player games), while communicating through chat and moving forward together.

2. Gamification

Gamified courses are a part of social learning as they contain points, levels, badges, achievements, rewards and leaderboards. Learners compete with each other to get the most points, reach the highest level, gain the most badges or achievements or get their name higher up on the leaderboards. This fosters a healthy competitive spirit in employees. Employees brag about their achievements in these courses, which is a type of communication which motivates others to do better.

It is up to the corporate organizations to find new and better ways to improve communication in the workplace. Creating a culture of open communication in the organization will help learners express themselves better while also understanding what others express better. eLearning can only do its part, and it is the people in charge of the establishment who have to push better communication.