Who Wanted Online Learning?

Have you ever thought about the poor usage of online learning and the emergence of new platforms daily? Who actually buys or needs these platforms in your organisation?

Who ordered an online training system? When you raise this question the boardroom somewhat looks like the picture above. 

• Finance: We didn't! That's a cost, not an investment but we were forced to sign the purchase order. 

• Managers: We ordered it! Why waste time personally training employees when you can just click 'Enroll All' and call it professional development? We also use this report during our annual appraisal to show how much we focus on our team's development. 

• Human Resources: We ordered online training to automate the 'Employee Development' section of our HR report. Efficiency, right?

• IT: We never wanted it! We already have enough to do advising people to restart their computers. BUT, if you have a module on that we don't mind sending everyone a ticket for its completion. 

• Marketing: We didn't order it but, online training is the perfect way to spin 'professional development' into the next big campaign hashtag#TrendyLearning

• Sales: Online training? We're more interested in closing deals than completing modules. Can we sell the training instead? We have no time for this. 

• Customer Service: We're just here for the 'How to Deal with Difficult Customers' module. Can we skip the rest?

• L&D: We ordered online training to boost completion rates and make our department look busier than a one-armed juggler.

• CEO: I forced Finance to sign for the LMS purchase because online training is the key to success. I read it in a leadership book once. Plus, it's a great way to dodge real-time questions from employees. I asked L&D to create a module of FAQs. 

Don't get me wrong, I am not against LMS, I am against its use. They are so badly utilised that I am not convinced they are worth the investment. So if they aren't worth the investment because nobody is using it, who is ordering it? 

The CEO! LOL 

It's a joke, people, it's a joke! But seriously, who is ordering it?