Organizational Development

Professional Development During COVID-19

Those of us who are teleworking may already be developing Employee Telework Priorities and Plans. If you’re not – now’s a great time to start. Priority 4 includes professional development. So, what’s the plan?

While the City of Madison does not yet have an eLearning platform, we are working on migrating essential City of Madison learning content from in-person to electronic/online learning in the coming weeks and months.

Resources

Here are a few (free or low-cost) online learning resources we recommend*:

Please note that these resources are not maintained or supported by the City of Madison. Any technical support should be sent directly to the provider – check the “Help” or “?” buttons, usually in the top left or right corners of the screen.

*Use of these resources is entirely at the discretion of the Department or Division. For options that require a credit card, the employee is responsible for canceling the subscription prior to trial end date. The City of Madison will not reimburse individual employees for charges.

As with any work-related purchase or training, make sure you have supervisor approval and support.

Individual Development Plan

Cost: FREE Provided by OD

Sign in required? No

Best for: Employees who are looking for a structured process for creating and communicating an action plan to achieve personal and professional goals.

SkillShare

Cost: FREE 2-month Trial

Sign in required? Yes, credit card required (not charged until after Trial expires)

Best for: a more boutique option than others, open-source content that is not curated so the quality varies

LinkedIn Learning

Cost: FREE 30-day Trial

Sign in required? Yes, requires a LinkedIn account, credit card required (not charged until Trial expires)

Best for: on-demand access to a diverse catalog of courses, less academic content

Udemy

Cost: FREE, with paid options for Courses and Certifications

Sign-in required? Yes

Best for: a great choice for people looking for a very large catalog of free per diem courses, less academic content

Microsoft

Cost: FREE

Sign in Required? No

Best for: brief, modular video tutorials for all levels of learning, limited to Microsoft products only

Tips for Finding Great Remote Learning for your Team

Where to find high-quality content:

  • Industry websites and associations
  • Federal or state equivalents of your agency
  • Universities, vocational and technical school websites
  • Your current software providers (check out the resources page for tutorials, trainings, or knowledgebase articles)

Regardless of the source, here’s what to look for in free or low-cost training content:

  • Is it from a reputable source? Does that person or organization have authority in your industry?
  • Does it have built-in interactivity? Does the content keep employees engaged in the training?
  • Do materials cover all the pertinent regulations and do they align with your organization’s goals?
  • Is the information up to date? Are relevant illustrations to the subject and industry included?
  • Do quizzes adequately gage employees’ knowledge of the subject?

Conduct an Agency Training Inventory

As you find and develop new content for remote learning and development, be sure to keep it in an easily accessible, organized spot. If you don’t have a specific folder in your F://drive (or similar location), consider using that SharePoint folder to consolidate all of your content 
Update SharePoint Agency Training Content Folder
How to Identify and Catalog Existing Training

Organizational Development