Rethinking Training: How 90-Minute Courses Deliver Big Impact

Traditional training has always carried a certain image: rows of employees trapped in a classroom, a trainer clicking through endless slides, and participants fighting the urge to nod off after lunch. Many training programs have stretched across entire days, sometimes even weeks.

But here’s the problem that we at The Learning Zone have found with traditional training: long-form workshops and outdated methods often fall short. They overwhelm learners with too much information at once, leading to low retention, minimal application of practical skills, and, let’s be honest, disengaged employees.

In today’s rapidly changing world, organisations need a learning process that keeps pace. That’s why industry leaders are rethinking training with a fresh model: 90-minute short courses. These sessions blend the best of leadership training, technical training, and soft skills development into bite-sized blocks that deliver measurable results without draining time or energy.

Let’s unpack why this model is so effective and how organisations can use it to stay competitive.

A trainer presents a model on a whiteboard while participants take notes. It looks like learning, but traditional methods like this often fail. They rely on information delivery rather than interaction, leaving learners passive and limiting real-world application.

The Flaws in Traditional Training Methods

Many organisations still rely on traditional models of corporate training. These approaches often involve full-day workshops or even multi-day events, with employees removed from their day-to-day work for long stretches.

On the surface, it seems like a wise, comprehensive move. In reality, it creates several issues:

• Cognitive overload: The human brain is not designed to absorb information continuously for six to eight hours. Research shows that within just 20 minutes, half of the newly taught knowledge may already be forgotten. That makes it nearly impossible for leadership development or soft skills training delivered in these formats to stick.

• Time pressures: Pulling employees away from their real-world roles for long blocks disrupts process management and creates a backlog of tasks. Many organisations now struggle to justify the opportunity cost.

• Outdated methods: Long classroom sessions lean heavily on teacher-led instruction rather than interactive learning. That leads to disengagement, and employees walk away without the essential skills needed for their specific challenges.

In short, many training programs try to cover too much, too quickly, and learners retain too little. The learning experience falls short, and organisations don’t see the return on investment.

The Neuroscience Case for 90 Minutes

So, why 90 minutes? Funnily enough, science has the answer.

The human body works in ultradian rhythms, which are cycles of energy and focus that peak roughly every 90 minutes. When training aligns with these cycles, the brain is more alert, engaged, and primed to encode knowledge into long-term memory.

Studies on attention span and learning show that shorter, focused sessions reduce fatigue, improve retention, and increase engagement. Bite-sized training modules, for example, have been shown to improve retention by up to 60% and completion rates as high as 82%. While these findings come from digital formats, the same principles apply to live sessions and interactive short courses.

Breaking training into 90-minute bursts also taps into the spacing effect, or the idea that learning spread over time is more effective than cramming. When employees engage with short courses repeatedly, with practical exercises and feedback in between, they reinforce their learning and gain confidence applying skills.

Research shows shorter 90-minute courses, with interactive formats are far more effective. They keep attention high, encourage active participation, and give people space to practise and apply new ideas in real time.

Practical Benefits for Organisations

Switching from traditional methods to 90-minute courses benefits the learners, but it also delivers measurable results for organisations. Here’s how:

1. Flexible Scheduling

A 90-minute course can be slotted into a morning, an afternoon, or even over lunch without derailing an employee’s day. It reduces the disruption to day-to-day work while still meeting the specific needs of the target audience.

2. Higher Engagement

Shorter sessions encourage active participation. Learners stay alert, respond to hypothetical scenarios, and practise decision-making in real time. Interactive learning strategies, such as group coaching, role-playing, and simulations, make training an engaging experience rather than a passive one.

3. Stronger Retention

When employees learn at their own pace across multiple short courses, they’re more likely to retain knowledge. Unlike outdated methods that overload employees, short courses allow for repetition, reinforcement, and reflection.

4. Cost-Effectiveness

Time is money, as they say! Short courses reduce the time employees spend away from their roles, keeping productivity high. They also cut down on the cost of delivering training programs, while producing measurable results in skills adoption, risk mitigation, and employee performance.

5. Immediate Application

Because 90-minute courses focus on essential skills and specific challenges, employees can immediately apply what they’ve learned. Whether it’s strategic thinking, project management, emotional intelligence, or time management, learners walk away with tools they can use in the real world straight away.

Making the Most of Short Courses

The real power of 90-minute courses lies in more than just their format. Organisations can maximise impact by using a few proven strategies based around design and delivery:

Integrate Pre-Work and Follow-Up

A short course doesn’t mean shallow learning. Pre-work (such as short readings, online modules, or quick assessments) ensures learners arrive prepared. Follow-up coaching, feedback, and practical exercises reinforce the learning process and keep development continuous.

Stack Sessions for Depth

Some skills (like advanced leadership training, data analysis, or complex technical training) require more than a single session. By stacking multiple 90-minute courses into a program, organisations can deliver deeper development over time, without overwhelming participants.

Focus on Continuous Learning

One major flaw of traditional training is treating learning as a one-off event. In contrast, short courses fit naturally into a culture of continuous learning. Employees build management skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving ability over time, staying relevant in a rapidly changing world.

Customise to the Target Audience

Not all employees face the same challenges. Effective training programs tailor short courses to specific needs: leadership development for managers, customer service training for frontline teams, or communication skills for customer-facing staff. By aligning training with real-world applications, organisations ensure knowledge sticks.

Focussed 90 minute sessions provide opportunity for participants to explore real world problems, which provides immediate benefits for individuals and organisations. The social aspects of learning also have great appeal.

90-Minute Training Programs Suit The Modern Workplace

Today’s workforce values things like flexibility, relevance, and engagement. In this way, long training programs that rely on traditional models often fall short.

Ninety-minute courses offer an approach that matches the needs of our modern workforce. They combine practical skills with interactive learning and allow employees to stay competitive without sacrificing their day-to-day work.

For many organisations, this approach addresses a specific set of challenges:

• How to provide leadership development without removing managers from their teams for days.

• How to deliver building resilience or navigating change training in ways that are relevant and practical.

• How to upskill employees in problem solving, project management, or effective communication while keeping productivity high.

In every case, shorter, sharper training delivers more value than traditional training methods.

Shorter Training, But Bigger Impact

With the right design, these 90-minute sessions can cover essential skills, support leadership development, and provide practical tools employees can apply immediately. More importantly, they create an engaging experience that helps learners gain confidence, build management skills, and deliver measurable results for organisations.

Organisations can’t afford to rely on training models that fall short. Ninety-minute courses are a strategy to stay competitive and drive success in a world that's full of constant change. If you're interested in implementing this strategy into your team's training, you can reach out to us at The Learning Zone.