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ATD Blog

The Importance of Operational Communications in Training

Thursday, August 10, 2023
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As the world becomes increasingly digitalized, automated communications have emerged as a pivotal element in transforming the efficiency and effectiveness of training teams. At the heart of this idea lies the philosophy that communications should be personalized, high quality, timely, relevant, automated, and transparent.

Automated communication systems are crucial because they allow training teams to maintain a consistent cadence of interaction with learners. The frequency and quality of communication significantly influence students’ perceptions of course quality. While not all communication can be automated, templates can help ensure consistent messaging.

Mass Communications.
These can play a critical role in sending bulk email blasts, automating sending processes and analysis, and ensuring consistency in messaging to all recipients. They also increase visibility into the status of all communications, such as whether a message was opened or bounced. These systems can integrate with platforms like MailChimp, too, for a more extensive mass communication functionality. In essence, mass communications not only aid in scalability and efficiency but also drive alignment, visibility, and quality in communications, enabling the sending of more effective, marketing-focused emails.

Automated Communications.
Automated messages also have a significant impact on student engagement. By scheduling emails to send at specific times or under specific circumstances, training teams can ensure consistent, timely messaging. Visibility into communication status is ensured, and synergy can be achieved by leveraging third-party platforms like Zoom for email invitations or consolidating all communications through administrative platforms. The quality of the student experience is enhanced with consistent and timely messaging.

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Ad Hoc Communications.
On the other hand, sometimes you need fast, nimble messaging. Although this form of communication is usually not scalable, it eliminates the need for mail merge processes and allows all relevant students to be contacted at once, either by email or SMS. Using consistent message templates ensures alignment and quality.

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Inbound Communications.
Lastly, inbound communications also benefit from automation. This provides a consolidated view of all incoming messages, eliminating confusion about message ownership. All team members can be aware of responses and status updates, offering a clear line of sight on communication progress. Such systems can be linked to webforms via MIME, ensuring no messages get lost due to mismanagement.

By offering scalability, efficiency, alignment, visibility, synergy, and quality, automated communications facilitate a smoother and more effective training process.

About the Author

Wendy Sly is a training technology sales consultant who works with leading enterprise training teams across North America to solve complex training operations problems. She currently consults with clients for Administrate, a training operations platform provider.