Training · 4 min read
Online or face to face? Choose the format that fits the learning.
Both formats can create a great learning experience. The right choice depends on your people, the skill and how you want learning to fit around the working week.
Choosing between online and face-to-face training is less about which format is better and more about which one suits the learning you want to happen. Each brings its own strengths, and the best programmes often use both deliberately.
Face to face creates focused time together
Bringing a team into the same room creates space away from the daily rhythm. It suits intensive practice, team-building, role-play that benefits from energy in the room and moments when people need to connect across functions or locations.
Live online builds learning over time
A series of shorter live online sessions gives people the chance to try something at work and bring their experience back to the group. It suits skills that develop through repetition, dispersed teams and diaries that cannot accommodate full days away.
Interaction matters in both
Whichever format you choose, people should be doing more than listening. Small groups, breakouts, practice and feedback keep a session engaging, whether participants are around a table or on camera.
Think about the people involved
Consider travel, working patterns, accessibility needs and how comfortable participants are speaking up in each setting. Ask the team what helps them learn and share their thinking.
Combine formats with purpose
A face-to-face launch followed by online follow-up sessions, or an online series that ends with a day together, can bring the strengths of both. Decide what each part is for and design it around that purpose.