Micro-training delivers a single skill or task in a short, focused session, typically under 15 minutes. It works best when an employee needs to learn one specific workflow rather than an entire system. A 45-minute onboarding session covering every feature of a CRM is not micro-training.

A 3-minute interactive tutorial showing exactly how to log a sales call in that CRM is. iorad is built for micro-training: each tutorial covers one workflow, walks through every step, and can be completed in the time it would take someone to ask a colleague for help. This article explains when micro-training outperforms longer formats and how to build a micro-training library with iorad.

If you are prepared for when you’ve run out of time to present a training or when your training time has been cut, that’s a good thing! That preparation does not have to double your preparation time, either. Wanna know the secret? iorad.

You see, with each tutorial you’ve created, we’ve already provided you with the means to provide…

✫ both synchronous and asynchronous training.

✫ either self-guided or coached how-tos.

✫ choices for how learners want to interact with the training.

✫ visual and/or audio options to support training.

Plus, by the nature of the training being available asynchronously, it is also a long-term resource for your learners. It’s micro-training on steroids [not that we’re condoning juicing up.] But hey, if you have a solution that saves everyone time, the micro how-to training you provide will be everyone’s go-to training!

When micro-training outperforms a training session

Scheduled training sessions cover a lot of ground in a short time, which means most of it is forgotten before the employee needs to apply it. Micro-training flips this. Instead of covering everything at once, it delivers the specific skill at the moment the employee needs it.

Three scenarios where micro-training consistently outperforms longer formats: software feature updates, where employees need to learn one changed workflow, not relearn the whole product; cross-functional training, where a team needs one specific task from another department's tool; and post-onboarding reinforcement, where a new hire has been through orientation but needs a refresher on a specific process 30 days in.

Building a micro-training library step by step

A micro-training library starts with a list of the 10 to 20 workflows your team performs most often or asks about most frequently. Each workflow becomes one iorad tutorial. Record the process inside the actual software, let iorad generate the step-by-step structure, add text notes to any step that needs context, and publish to your LMS or intranet.

The entire library can be built in a single sprint if subject matter experts are available to record. Once live, each tutorial is reusable across onboarding cohorts, team expansions, and software updates, which means the time investment decreases with every reuse.