Rapid Learning creates a paradigm shift for sales and leadership training called "Micro-First"™

The Rapid Learning Institute (RLI) announces a new programmatic approach to designing Sales and Leadership training initiatives using bite-size videos: It's called Micro-First.

Micro-First turns the traditional instructor-led training (ILT) model on its head. The core of a legacy ILT training initiative is single event typically lasting one to three days. Follow-up tools – binders, tapes, videos – tend to be provided as an after-thought.

In Micro-First training initiatives, the "event" is a single-concept, five-minute video, and the core of the initiative is a series of follow-up activities that revisit the learning at spaced intervals. "Those activities include discussions, role plays and performance feedback in either one-on-one or group coaching sessions," says Stephen J. Meyer, CEO of the Rapid Learning Institute. "Most soft-skills ILT initiatives make learning an event, rather than a process. The follow-up, because it's an afterthought, usually never happens. With Micro-First it does because the "event" is minimized and the follow-up is the core of the training initiative."

Micro-First is emerging as an attractive alternative to legacy ILT, which as a percentage of all training has fallen from 77% in 2001 to under 50% today. To help companies design Micro-First training initiatives, RLI has created a team of Client Success Managers (CSMs). The CSM works with companies to identify skill gaps using the RLI Behavior Change Assessment Tool (RLI-BCAT), then maps RLI content to those skill gaps. The CSM will then teach clients how to deploy the Micro-First Cycle, a two- to four-week training process that's triggered by a short video and includes multiple short refresher activities that make the learning stick.

"Most of the companies we talk to have done lots of ILT over the years and aren't satisfied with the return on investment," says Meyer. "Micro-First alternative was invented by our own customers. We saw them deploying micro-training videos in a remarkably innovative way that made learning a process rather than an event. It's all based on the idea that if you focus on learning one thing, you're much more likely to deploy it on the job and improve performance. We codified what our customers were doing and gave it a name – Micro-First."

About the Rapid Learning Institute
RLI's approach is driven by three core principles, called the "Three Pillars": 1) Research-Based Learning. Training is most powerful when it's grounded in verifiable research. That's because when learners see training as credible, they're more likely to translate the learning into on-the-job behavior; 2) Single-Concept Learning. People learn best when training is focused on a narrow concept where learning goals are clearly defined. When training is delivered in small packets, the brain can easily absorb, remember and apply what it learns. 3) Rapid Learning. Workplace training comes in short bursts – just five to seven minutes at a time. Today's multi-tasking workforce has neither the time nor the attention span for traditional lengthy training formats. For more information visit rapidlearninginstitute.com