Live in 90 Days: A Virtual Discussion on Just-in-Time Learning for Effective L&D

Last week, Litmos hosted a webinar titled “Leveraging Just in Time Training for L&D Success.” The conversation with Litmos customer, Brian Scheibach. As Chapter Growth Manager of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit on a mission to end childhood bedlessness, Scheibach shared how his organization’s small Learning and Development (L&D) team leveraged just-in-time learning and Litmos’ LMS to launch a nonprofit training program.

The session was hosted by Dr. Jill Stefaniak, Chief Learning Officer at Litmos, and Jonathan Hill, Litmos’ Director of Learning, who also outlined the common challenges of implementing just-in-time learning, how to use it effectively, and the differences between just-in-time learning and microlearning. This article summarizes the core insights surfaced from the hour-long discussion. To watch the entire webinar, view the recording here.

Why just-in-time learning is critical for effective L&D

The panel discussed the importance of just-in-time learning in providing efficient and meaningful content to learners exactly when they need it. The focus was on understanding the challenges faced by nonprofit L&D teams – as well as others tasked with building learning programs – when creating and delivering content that meets learners’ immediate needs.

Scheibach explained how his organization uses just-in-time training to support volunteer efforts: “We get them for a very short amount of time. We knew we had to back that training up with some extra training that they can do just in time when they’re sitting back in their house, back in their communities, and are learning the processes that we follow with Sleep in Heavenly Peace.”

Dr. Jill Stefaniak emphasized the importance of anticipating learner needs and designing learning content accordingly:

“Oftentimes it’s meeting our learners with content when they need it. It’s not so much that learners have gone through training and six months later they’re going to be applying what they’re learning. It’s that they’re going to be accessing training pretty much when they’re in that moment of completing those tasks.”

Key quotes

“We try to create just quick, just-in-time learning – things that they can go in and get the information they need so they can follow the processes we’ve put in place.”
– Brian Scheibach, on using just-in-time training for nonprofit L&D

“Just in time implies that there’s some intelligence in your business that is recognizing that something needs to be delivered, somebody at that moment.”
– Jon Hill, on building just-in-time training strategically

“You gotta go make a mess. And we made a practice course and we were testing this and whatever… it was quite a bit of, you know, getting my feet wet and learning the system.”
– Brian Scheibach, on being a new Litmos user

The difference between just-in-time learning and microlearning

The panelists discussed the common confusion between just-in-time learning and microlearning, clarifying that while both aim to deliver concise and targeted learning experiences, they serve distinct functions.

Jon Hill explained, “Microlearning is when we’re looking at content and we’re trying to compartmentalize it into digestible chunks for our learners.” He clarified that while microlearning can support just-in-time training efforts, it isn’t always the case.

The importance of strategic planning in just-in-time learning

The panel highlighted the importance of strategic planning in the development and implementation of just-in-time learning. This includes understanding the specific needs of the learners and the constraints of the organization, as well as anticipating potential learning requirements.

Brian Scheibach shared his experience of creating a strategic plan for just-in-time learning: “We hold a meeting before we build a course where we try to gather all [learning requirements]. And I like to think about building it backwards. What are the ultimate learning targets that they want to make sure are driven home soundly with their content.”

Insights surfaced

Just-in-time learning provides efficient and meaningful content to learners exactly when they need it, meeting them with content when they face a challenging task at work.
Microlearning involves compartmentalizing content into digestible chunks for learners, but it’s not synonymous with just-in-time learning.
Strategic planning is crucial for just-in-time learning, including understanding learner needs, organizational constraints, and anticipating learning requirements.
Litmos’ LMS offers tools for quick content creation, modification, and efficient information delivery through learning paths and libraries.
Features like boosts and expiry dates in Litmos’ LMS can be used to nudge learners toward just-in-time resources.

The presentation concluded with a live Q&A session. As the member of a lean L&D team for a volunteer-run organization, Brian Scheibach admitted that creating nonprofit training with the LMS took some trial and error. His final suggestion to attendees? Don’t be afraid to make a mess!

“You’ve gotta go make a mess. We made a practice course, and we were testing… and when I went back in and redid the [Litmos Dojo] black belt courses, I was trying to see how Litmos was designing those. I was like ‘Oh, that’s one of those components…I like how that looks. Let me go try it over here.’ So, there it was quite a bit of getting my feet wet and learning the system. But again, I love that I just had to say publish and I didn’t have to pull it from another thing, upload the SCORM, or do all that other stuff. And that saved a ton of time.”

Are you ready to get your feet wet, too? See how the team at Sleep in Heavenly Peace successfully launched their training program in 90 days and gain actionable insights on building your own just-in-time learning resources: watch the full webinar here.