Small Bites, Big Impact: How Google Boosted Training Impact by 40%

Have you ever signed up for a course feeling motivated to learn a new skill and halfway into the course you got distracted, uninterested, or just gave up? 

Let's face it, the world as we know it is filled with infinite distractions, and our attention spans are getting shorter by the minute. 

Between a never-ending stream of emails, meetings, and those hilarious TikTok videos, staying focused on those marathon training sessions takes a lot of work. 

Well, the training folks at Google found a way to boost learning despite that.

Their secret? Microlearning.  

Instead of overwhelming learners with lengthy training sessions, Google broke training programs into short, focused nuggets called "whisper courses." The results were amazing.  

In applying these bite-sized learning chunks, Google saw nearly a 40% increase in knowledge retention and course completion across their workforce.

So what makes these bite-sized modules so great? 

There's a psychological reasoning on why microlearning works so well. It's called the Forgetting Curve, a concept churned out in 1885 by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus.

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Going by the Forgetting Curve, people forget 70% of what they learned within 24 hours if nothing is done to reinforce it. 

Remember cramming for that exam in school? And you went completely blank the next day? All gone, forgotten!

Microlearning helps learners beat forgetfulness by fitting perfectly into the workday of employees, where they can take a 5-10 minute ‘whisper course’ during a coffee break, between meetings, or even during their commute.

However, microlearning is more than just convenient. It's actually how our brains best take in and process new information. By keeping lessons super short, learners can stay concentrated without feeling overloaded.

Google's microlearning strategy wasn’t about restating bullet points. Each whisper course was designed to keep learners engaged right away, through relatable examples, visuals, and even game-like elements that enabled learners to get the essence of a topic in an instant. 

Google's whisper courses show the impact of microlearning on organizations' L&D Programs. Breaking the constraints of traditional, overloaded courses, bite-sized microlearning allows employees to absorb knowledge in smart, sustainable ways. 

With Google's whisper courses leading the way, microlearning is proving that less can indeed be more when it comes to effective training. By understanding how the brain consumes and retains information, organizations can better align training and learner abilities to empower employees and deliver business results.

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