This article is written by Delightree’s Founder and CEO, Tushar Mishra, exploring how franchise training is evolving beyond traditional LMS platforms. He shares why AI-powered microlearning is the key to faster, more effective training that keeps pace with today’s frontline teams.
The world of employee training has undergone a major transformation over the past decade. Not long ago, many brands still leaned on day-long sessions or convoluted e-learning modules that felt more like punishment than progress. Then the realities of remote work and changing employee expectations took center stage. Organizations suddenly realized they needed agile learning development tools that could adapt quickly, update easily, and keep frontline workers genuinely engaged. That’s where microlearning, along with just-in-time training and rapid authoring capabilities, came in to shake things up.
Traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS) are often clunky and expensive to maintain. They require specialized coding, making it a headache to revise even a single module. Slow releases and limited flexibility left staff undertrained, or worse, frustrated by outdated lessons. When COVID upended the old ways of working, it became clear that staff needed guidance they could access at any moment and from any location. Employees who were suddenly remote, or constantly on-the-go, were hungry for training that delivered concise information they could use immediately.
We built Delightree’s Training platform to address precisely that challenge. The hallmark is microlearning—tiny lessons or short videos that focus on delivering “just enough” information to help someone solve a problem. Rather than force employees to sit through a draining 60-minute module, we break down topics into easily digestible, job-relevant segments. Because microlearning doesn’t overwhelm the learner’s cognitive capacity, it helps them quickly absorb and retain knowledge, particularly when delivered at the exact moment they need it. This is where just-in-time training shines: staffers simply type in a question or keyword, and our AI-driven system instantly serves up the micro-lesson that walks them through the solution.
Over the past several years, a growing body of research has shown that short, focused training boosts engagement and recall. A 2024 article in the International Journal of Advanced Research in Science, Communication and Technology cites that up to 85% of employees find microlearning more appealing than traditional, lengthy modules. While younger workers are the ones who practically demand short-form video and quick hits of data, the truth is that no one wants to slog through an outdated training interface. Studies confirm that completion rates skyrocket when lessons are short, visually engaging, and delivered in a modern format that mirrors the user’s typical mobile experience.
Delightree leans on agile learning development to keep pace with this new reality. We don’t believe in writing a massive training manual once a year and calling it a day. Instead, we advocate for frequent, incremental updates that respond to your brand’s latest campaigns or offerings. Quick, iterative changes reflect how your franchise actually operates, whether it’s a daily product shift, a new safety protocol, or a limited-time offer. And because we integrate rapid authoring tools right into the platform, you can publish or revise training content immediately, without waiting for a third-party vendor.
One of the greatest values of microlearning is on-demand (or “just-in-time”) training. Employees no longer feel pressured to memorize every step during an initial orientation or rely on thick binders to retrieve policy details. Instead, they can pull up a short video or quick how-to snippet at the exact moment they need it, whether they’re behind the register, prepping inventory in the back room, or interacting with a new customer request on the front lines. Research referenced in a Cureus article underscores the power of microlearning’s spaced reintroduction approach, showing how repeated, bite-sized content can significantly reduce forgetting.
Delightree’s AI-driven search engine takes this a step further. Instead of scouring a cluttered “training portal,” employees simply type a question or phrase into the search bar, and our system pinpoints the right mini-lesson in seconds. This immediate reinforcement dramatically improves retention and performance. It also saves you and your HQ team countless hours of fielding repetitive questions. By aligning training content with the moment of need, we help employees gain confidence faster, cut down on errors, and keep operations running smoothly.
Elaborate e-learning courses once felt novel. Many included fancy simulations, puzzle-like quizzes, and animated characters meant to “gamify” the experience. In practice, however, these elaborate approaches often frustrate frontline staff. Instead of feeling helped, they feel delayed. According to a 2024 microlearning study, several participants described highly gamified or drawn-out modules as ‘childish’ or ‘patronizing.’ They felt that forced animations and complicated interactions bogged them down, especially when all they really wanted was concise, straightforward guidance. By contrast, shorter, more direct training sequences were praised for respecting employees’ time and simplifying the learning process.
Delightree avoids such complexity by embracing rapid authoring in a user-friendly environment. Rather than sinking resources into building large SCORM files that require specialized knowledge to edit, you can drag, drop, or record a new micro-lesson in minutes. That’s the power of agile learning development in action. If your brand guidelines change or you introduce a new product, you don’t want to spend weeks or months updating modules. You need rapid authoring capabilities that let you publish those changes at the speed of your franchise operations.
Since the early 2000s, SCORM and similar file standards have promised to standardize e-learning. They did—but in a way that made courses feel locked and overly formal. Any small tweak forced a major revision cycle, with new packaging and sometimes outside consultants. In a fast-paced franchise environment where updates might happen weekly or monthly, that old approach no longer works.
Delightree’s approach is intentionally flexible. Creating micro modules, pushing out new lessons, or editing existing ones are tasks you can accomplish in moments. We see this as the bedrock of agile learning development. By keeping training modules short, staff-friendly, and easy to revise, we let you respond to real-world shifts without worrying about complex distribution or format incompatibility. This is especially important for multi-unit operators who need to ensure that hundreds of locations stay consistent—and do so within days, not months.
Franchise success rests heavily on consistent execution across every location. When you give your staff a training platform that values simplicity, speed, and flexibility, you drastically raise the odds that they will use it, remember it, and return for more. Research repeatedly shows that high employee engagement correlates with better customer service, improved retention, and fewer compliance headaches. In short, a well-trained and confident workforce translates to healthier profit margins and stronger brand loyalty.
By relying on microlearning, just-in-time training, and a platform that supports rapid authoring, you’re not just “modernizing” your LMS; you’re future-proofing your entire training strategy. This combination allows you to keep pace with the ever-changing demands of the franchise industry—whether it’s a new product line, revised safety protocols, or a sudden shift in consumer behavior—while ensuring your employees always have the latest information right at their fingertips.
At Delightree, we believe that short, AI-powered lessons, flexible course updates, and an intuitive mobile experience are the best tools for shaping a frontline workforce that feels capable and informed. Rather than conform to outdated training models that frustrate employees, we encourage you to explore microlearning as a more natural fit for how people actually consume information in 2025 and beyond. This isn’t about trendy buzzwords. It’s about applying just-in-time training and agile learning development in ways that genuinely improve day-to-day performance.
If you’re ready to adopt a training system built for franchising’s fast pace—one that respects employees’ time, enhances knowledge retention, and keeps them coming back for answers—our team at Delightree is here to help. Let’s create an environment where training is not a chore but a strategic advantage, powering your franchise’s operations with speed, consistency, and confidence.
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