Learning is a process which never ends. Hurdles like language, schedule, distance, tools, medium, etc. should not be an excuse to not learn. What matters at the end of the day is whether we are acquiring the essential skills and moving forward or not. When it comes to professional standing, no one is going to ask how you learned, but everyone will be curious about what did you learn to achieve your goals and objectives.
After speaking to many students, following are the barriers that I have identified which stop them from choosing online BA training as an alternative for classroom training.
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- 1.Internet Connectivity Issues
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- 2.Instructor Led Training Vs eLearning Confusion
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- 3.Content of the Training & Quality of Provider
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- 4.Post Training Access to the Trainer & resources
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- 5.Lack of Collaboration with Peer Participants
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- 6.Value for the Money Invested
Let me address these issues based on my experience of conducting several online BA training for our Indian and global participants.
Internet Connectivity Issues:
Yes, this was one of the main concerns. It was the deal breaker till couple of years back. But in recent times, I have personally conducted many online BA training for people in all parts of India and abroad. Mine and my student’s experience has been quite satisfactory. There are few hiccups here and there, but we never faced any major issues because of which the training had to be cancelled!
Instructor Led online BA Training Vs eLearning Confusion:
Many people think that online BA training means self paced eLearning where there is no trainer and the participant has to learn on their own. eLearning should not be confused with instructor led online Business Analysis training. Instructor led BA Training will have the trainer conducting small training sessions involving all the participants just like classroom training. eLearning training are convenient but boring. Before you register, make sure that it is an Instructor Led online BA Training.
Content of the Training & Quality
of the Provider: People sometimes mistakenly believe that content of online BA training is shorter than classroom training. In reality, due to the managed communication medium, online training would cover more areas in the same duration as compared to classroom training. This can be cross-checked using the training outlines published by the provider. Always ask for the training outline, number of sessions, list of exercises that will be done, tools which will be taught, etc. for both online and classroom training. A provider who conducts quality BA training will readily share with you these details.
Post Training Access to trainer & resources:
A lot of people have told me that they attended online BA training from some provider who did not share the contact details of their Trainer. Once the BA training got over, access to the trainer was cut-off completely and all the important queries remained unanswered. Do not fall into the trap of such training providers. They only want to conduct as many training as possible, with no concern for the well being of the students. A good quality BA training provider will not only share the trainer contact details, but also provide post training support for certification queries, BA interviews, BA resume polishing, etc. The training provider should also provide you sample exercises, templates and the recording of the online BA training. This helps the students easily recall about the concepts, exercises and discussions even 6 months later.
Lack of Collaboration with Peer Participants:
Classroom training can be fun since you can collaborate with your peers for activities and exercises. This collaboration is critical not only for networking, but also for verifying / validating your thinking process. While the exact face-to-face collaboration is not possible in online BA training, but the training provider must use online collaboration tools to give that advantage to the participants. You should be able to freely communicate frequently and also collaborate on various exercises just like classroom training. Such collaborative learning “sticks” with you for longer than usual.
Value for the Money Invested:
Cost conscious buyers are little bit concerned about the value that they will get for investing money in online BA training. Honestly, online BA training provides great value too. Firstly, online BA training should be cheaper than the classroom training. Secondly, online BA training sessions are conducted in short durations on multiple days. Thus a student can take his time to understand the content, practice the exercises, apply the learning in his project and raise queries with the trainer. This is not possible in full day classroom training since they are on back to back days and get over quickly. Thirdly, you can attend a good BA training from quality training provider from anywhere – home, office, airport, wherever you are.
Ensuring above guidelines will help you choose the best online BA training provider. Learning has no boundaries. Online BA training is a win-win situation for you. It is the future of learning and a better alternative. Go for it.Value