Classroom, online live, blended learning, one-to-one coaching or in-house training — the choice of learning format often determines the success of a training more than the choice of course. This post explains which format works when, and when it doesn’t.
Classroom training
Works well when the topic is new to you, when you need to work hands-on, or when you know from experience that you get distracted too easily at home. The strongest effect is rarely the teaching itself — it’s the conversations during breaks. Sitting next to someone in a course who solves the same task differently at another company often teaches you more than the script does.
Works poorly when you have a two-hour commute and the course runs for a week. The fatigue effect then eats up a good part of the benefit.
Online live training
Not a recorded video, but the same course with the same trainer, just over a video conference with your own practice environment.
Works well for topics that take place on screen anyway — administration, programming, cloud, Office. For participants from French-speaking Switzerland, Ticino or the mountain cantons, it is often the only realistic way to attend a course without staying away from home for a week.
Works poorly if you sit at the same workplace as usual. The course then competes with your inbox, and the inbox wins. The most effective measure is simple: take a different room, block your calendar, close your e-mail program.
A cost argument that is often overlooked: the course price for online live training is somewhat lower, but the real difference is travel time, expenses and overnight stays.
Blended learning
Self-study combined with supervised in-person or online units.
Works well for certification preparation with a lot of material that you have to work through on your own anyway, and for participants who cannot take five days off in a row.
Works poorly without self-discipline. Blended learning shifts part of the responsibility to you. Anyone who does not reserve fixed times in the calendar for the self-study part arrives unprepared for the in-person unit — and never catches up. Rule of thumb: plan the self-study part like an appointment, not like an intention.
One-to-one coaching
One trainer, one participant, the content fully tailored to your question.
Works well when you bring a concrete problem — an existing Excel file, a planned migration, an environment you have inherited and don’t understand. A day of coaching on your own task regularly delivers more here than three days of a standard course.
Works poorly for broad foundational topics. For “Excel from scratch”, it is simply the most expensive option with no extra benefit. And you miss out on exchanging ideas with other participants.
In-house training
The course takes place only for your team, at your site or at ours, with your data and your examples.
Works well from about five to six participants. At that point it is mathematically cheaper than individual bookings, and the benefit is higher because everyone subsequently uses the same way of working. For rollout projects — new software, new processes, a switch to Microsoft 365 — it is almost always the right choice.
Works poorly if prior knowledge within the team varies widely. Then some get bored and others can’t keep up. Solution: a short level check beforehand, then two groups.
An honest decision guide
- New topic, no prior knowledge: classroom or online live, in a group.
- Concrete problem you already have: one-to-one coaching.
- Whole team should work the same way: in-house training.
- Certification with a lot of material, little time at a stretch: blended learning — but only with reserved study times.
- Long commute, screen-based topic: online live.
What matters equally in every format
Three things determine, regardless of the learning format, whether a training pays off:
The timing. A course shortly before the project has an effect. A course a year in advance has fizzled out before it’s needed.
Applying it afterwards. Anyone who doesn’t put what they’ve learned into practice within two to three weeks loses most of it. Set yourself a concrete task for the week after the course.
The expectation within the team. If your manager asks after the course what you’re now doing differently, something changes. If nobody asks, usually nothing does.
Our courses
Most of our courses can be booked in several learning formats — you can see the options directly on the course page. If you’re not sure what suits your situation: call us, it can usually be clarified in a few minutes.
