Coaching: The missing ingredient in blended learning strategy

Effective blended learning strategies must not simply map delivery strategies to content domain and learner distribution. To have significant impact on corporate performance, it is vital that the strategic design address both offline and online approaches tailored specifically to factors including the complexity of performance, individual learning styles, and frequency of practicing newly acquired skills and knowledge. While coaching is not in and of itself the only component to be included in a comprehensive blended learning strategy, it is clearly a significant and powerful tool. It is a responsibility of the learning professionals in a blended learning strategy to lead the coaching of learners to ensure performance improvement. Often, though, this instead falls to the learner's manager, who is likely already overworked. This results in the coaching step falling apart, yet accountability for improvement falls on the individual. Skilled learning professionals, dedicated to learning and performance improvement, rather than driven by the demands of business unit operations are ideally suited to bridge the gap between learning and practice through ongoing coaching integrated in an enterprise blended learning strategy.