Yes, you read that title correctly. In some cases, it’s better if you do not start training online.

Developing skills is not restricted to classrooms anymore. Increasingly, more organizations switch to training online, motivated by increased impact and cost reduction. The first, however, does not always seem to be true.

When one of these four statements is true in your organization, it might be best not to start training online (yet).

1. The skills are not relevant on a strategic level.

If the top of the organization does not think that developing the new skills is important, it will be more difficult to improve them in the rest of the organization. When HR is the only department pushing online training, it won’t do a lot. Online training should be possible in the workplace between activities. It will be rendered useless when the managers don’t think it’s important and don’t facilitate training in the workplace.

2. There are no verifiable training goals.

The ability to gain insight into the skill levels of your employees is a unique aspect of online training. To achieve it, there has to be self-assessment, which requires objective norms like “employees should be able to give each other feedback using the 4E method.” Those who are at the required level already can then skip training, and the rest will prove that they have improved using a test after training. If you don’t know what your online training will achieve, why would you start using it?

3. Training is voluntary.

Making online training compulsory may sound childish. However, e-learning often comes with meager participation. On the day of an in-person course, everyone is present. The flexibility and relative newness of online training are both an advantage and a disadvantage. It’s easy to let it slide, and it might be scary to record yourself. When online training is voluntary, a large number of learners will drop out. Afterward, however, participants will be happy that they have completed the course.

4. Learners are unmotivated.

Of course, unmotivated learners are not desirable in any type of training. But the strength of individual exercises in online training means that motivated learners can improve more quickly than unmotivated ones. In addition, enthusiastic pioneers will stimulate the rest, and there is a huge added value in peer feedback. Unmotivated learners will give up online training at the first issue, like uncooperative Wi-Fi. Finally, some skills, like communication skills, are a part of someone’s identity, so an unmotivated learner will not be open to applying the desired techniques.

Fortunately, there are many more reasons to start training online, like these no-brainers and these for multinationals! Is your organization ready for e-training? Take the quiz!