Bite-Size Learning, Big Success
Is this trend the secret to building know-how in a faster, better way?
It’s a harsh reality of being a business leader, but it’s true:
If you’re standing still, you’re falling behind.
Staying competitive means staying ahead of the curve. Habits of learning and developing can’t be a luxury for you and your organization. They need to be ingrained in your DNA.
Of course, that all sounds good in theory…
But in reality, it’s not easy to carve out time for development, either for yourself or your team. With all the day-to-day demands they face, most leaders find it hard to justify the time to gain new insights and know-how.
If that sounds familiar, then you’re going to love the concept of microlearning.
Wait, what exactly is microlearning?
Microlearning is an innovative approach to learning that delivers information in small, focused units.
These bite-sized modules—usually in the form of short videos or content snippets—are designed for quick consumption, so they’re ideal for the busy schedules of leaders.
Microlearning is actually the driving philosophy behind my new leadership development app, How Leaders Lead. (I’ll talk more about this later!)
It’s a growing trend we all need to be aware of, especially as you think about the best way to train employees so they can develop and grow.
But for today’s article, I want to focus on the benefits of microlearning for leadership development specifically, because I believe this concept can be a game-changer for you when you understand it.
So let’s jump in!
Benefit #1: Microlearning makes learning more efficient
Microlearning is a powerful concept for leaders who want to maximize their time. Why? Because microlearning takes minutes, not hours or days. It’s bite-sized content that helps you learn more in less time.
Let’s be honest: you probably don’t have a stretch of hours (much less days) that you can devote to learning a new skill.
But you do have small pockets of time in your day—during coffee breaks, before meetings—when you can easily squeeze in time to learn.
With microlearning, you can acquire new skills and knowledge without significant chunks of time. That way, learning becomes a natural part of your work routine.
The efficiency of microlearning isn’t just about saving time. It’s about maximizing the amount of learning you can do in the pockets of time you do have.
Benefit #2: Microlearning helps you remember and apply what you learn
The human brain is wired to retain information more effectively when that information is delivered in manageable chunks.
Microlearning capitalizes on this by breaking down complex concepts into smaller portions that are easier to process and remember.
In fact, research published in Scientific Bulletin indicates that short, focused learning sessions lead to a 20% increase in knowledge retention.
Plus, microlearning helps you apply what you learn. We’ve all sat through an all-day training seminar, only to leave feeling so overwhelmed by all the information that we feel paralyzed on how to actually put it into practice.
With shorter, more targeted topics, you only have to focus on applying a single idea.
This creates a virtuous cycle. You actually apply what you learn, thereby reinforcing that knowledge with real-world practice.
Remember, you’re not learning just to amass information. You want it to make a difference in your work and life. With microlearning, what you learn actually impacts how you lead.
Benefit #3: Microlearning helps you improve
There’s another, more subtle benefit to microlearning, and many leaders overlook it.
Microlearning helps you tap into the power of continuous improvement.
When training is short and easily accessible, your learning becomes more consistent. You can get a little bit better every day. And that improvement compounds as you incorporate learning into your daily routine.
Consider this:
If you wanted to build muscle, you wouldn’t try to do 2,000 weightlifting reps once each month.
No, you’d show up at the gym on a consistent schedule. You’d do smaller sets with manageable weights, day in and day out. That way, your body could get stronger with every visit.
That’s the idea behind continuous improvement. Instead of overwhelming yourself with extensive, time-consuming training, you can make small improvements over time that build on each other.
This benefit is backed by research, too. A whitepaper from MindGym found that short bursts of learning can lead to a 17% improvement in job performance.
That’s the power of continuous improvement, and if you ask me, it’s one of the best benefits of microlearning.
Want to see microlearning in action?
To wrap things up, microlearning offers unparalleled efficiency, better application and retention, and a way to unlock the power of continuous improvement.
It’s not just a trend—it's a strategic imperative.
It’s the secret to finally making time to develop yourself as a leader.
It’s how you can get employees more excited and engaged in their development, too.
If you want to see microlearning in action and try it for yourself, download the How Leaders Lead app.
It features hundreds of short clips from the world’s top leaders, including Tom Brady, Condoleezza Rice, and Fortune 500 CEOs. In just a couple of minutes, you’ll get a simple insight you can focus on and apply.
There’s no shortage of leadership books and courses out there. But those more traditional learning methods aren’t always realistic for a busy leader to incorporate into their day. Even the existing leadership development apps out there focus more on long-form content, which people just never get around to.
The How Leaders Lead app is different.
It’ll make your leadership development more efficient, because you can sneak it into even the smallest pockets of time.
It’ll make it more effective, because you can focus on a simple idea instead of feeling overwhelmed by too much information or not knowing where to start.
And it’ll help you take advantage of continuous learning, by giving you a simple routine to follow each and every day.