Cracking the code for compliance training

We've worked on a string of online compliance program and code of conduct courses over the past few months.

The experience, for me, has underscored the strong influence language use can have on the success of an e-learning project. There are usually two constituent groups involved in the creation of these projects, those responsible for the compliance program or code of conduct (often the legal department) and those responsible for the training component.

Perhaps more than in most other SME/instructional designer relationships, there's a real potential these two groups will perceive a need to use language in quite different ways.

The legal department needs to ensure that the language is as accurate as possible – from its perspective. All the T's need to get crossed and all the I's dotted. And a lot of subordinate clauses get added. There is a lot of risk involved for the legal department, whose role it often is to ensure that all risks are as mitigated as possible.

The training department needs to keep the audience in mind. Organizations of a decent size inevitably have employees with a wide range of literacy levels. Burdening a learner with "legalese" almost never leads to full understanding. Instead of a tug-of-war, this really ought to be a case of everyone pulling together. (In most cases, even the legal department representatives already understand this. It's just not always at the forefront of their minds when reviewing paragraphs or screens.)

How can you get these two sometimes divergent groups pulling together? Reinforce the importance of language in achieving the training goal of successfully supporting understanding.

A study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology in 2000 by Richard E. Mayer and RoxanaMoreno showed that informal, conversational language (using first and second person pronouns, for example) results in better learning in an online environment than a formal use of language.

Making sure everyone knows the audience is a valuable approach as well. Understanding workplace literacy levels in the U.S. and around the world can play an important (sometimes sobering) role in helping everyone remain focused on the learner's needs. Make sure you relate those stats to your own organization.

Once everyone is on board, it's the instructional designer's job to lead by example. Audio, used effectively, can help support learners who are challenged by reading. If reading is a must (like when the budget can't support audio), make sure you understand how low literacy affects a learner's approach to reading, especially in an online environment. Use plain language and employ suitable writing strategies.

And always try to advocate for these approaches by explaining their importance to everyone involved in the project, especially at the start of a review period.