Mar 10, 2022
Catherine Nicholson is the Director of The Virtual Training Team
She last appeared on the show
in
episode 274, almost a year ago. Now she is back to let us
know how the work with their clients has evolved, and how they have
changed how they work as a team.
The
novelty of having to move online because of the pandemic has faded.
Trainers, as well as other knowledge workers, are now looking at
how to make the most out of the online space, once everyone has
embraced the mindset that things can be done through
technology.
Trainers can move onto the next
level by taking “learning loops'' as a first design point, by
looking for a routine that learners are used to so that they feel
familiar in the environment. Before this familiarity turns into
predictability and people “stop trying”, it might be necessary to
“shake things up a bit” – but how? We need to enhance the learning
experience, but maintain purpose.
One
of their approaches is to “be a kid in the sweetie shop”, the
sweetie shop being the huge amount of tools, stories, research,
technologies out there that they can use. (Although always coming
back to the purpose of the training.)
Once
they explore one of these “gigs”, they focus on what is going to be
essential to deliver the experience they’re looking for. But they
don’t let everything go, in case it’s useful as supporting
materials.
Another approach, driven by clients whose main
challenge is the need for participants to consume and understand
long chunks of materials. Here the problem leads to the process,
rather than the output. For example, the material can be turned
into an audio that summarises the key points, to be listened to
before they go to the full material. Catherine covers a few more
approaches that can prime people before they interact with the
content. (In some ways, we’re going back to “blended learning”, in
the widest sense of the world.)
13.30mins
Learning pathways can be
designed for learners: required and desired pathways, to help us
curate the content and design the learning experience. This is a
great way of fuelling the autonomy aspect of intrinsic
motivation.
Internal trainers have another challenge which
is delivering sessions where there’s a lot of content to be
covered, through material designed by others in the organisations,
sometimes even by another department, like communications.
Catherine mentions a few ways to tackle this, like creating more
slides. (More slides, you say? Yes!)
Or
if you can’t change the deck, you can use “hide and reveal”, or
even using the pointer to direct people’s attention through the
information.
Look out for Catherine’s upcoming video on
“Hide and Reveal”!
(Their videos can be found here.)
21.30
Let’s leave the tech to one side and focus on
the quality of the conversations that participants have in the
session. When you first start to train, it’s easy to be scared by
the “tumbleweed moments”, but these aren’t always bad, sometimes
they mean that people are thinking, and sometimes they’re
necessary. (Plus, they feel longer in the online
space!)
There’s a lot to think through when you’re
delivering online, screen, chat box, reactions, slides, camera
pointing at you… While still being in “delivery mode”. Having your
questions planned in advance is key.
Which will provoke deeper
thinking in participants? Which can lead to more fruitful
conversations? Thinking through these in advance will make delivery
easier.
27.15
There’s a parallel here with the challenges
managers have when they’re leading meetings.Plus, we’re now having
conversations we didn’t have before, more personal, more sensitive.
Psychological safety is key.
It’s
also important to know who is present at the meeting, in what way,
and what they’re supposed to be doing. For example, graduates might
be attending to observe, can make this explicit during the meeting,
and if they have their camera off, explain why.
As a
trainer (or manager), you can also keep a “contribution log” –
being respectful that people want to contribute at different
levels. Catherine covers some of the reasons people contribute
less, and the fact that our introversion/extroversion preferences
become more radical if we are uncomfortable.
We can manage our presence in
our meetings, and part of this is discussing/communicating how we
use our cameras. For example, video is useful, but doesn’t always
have to be on. There are times when it’s important for it to be on,
and there are advantages, but it’s not an absolute. It’s important
to understand our own preferences and not always design for
them.
Balance – that’s the word.
37.00
The conversation turns to how
Catherine’s team is experimenting with new ways of working. They’ve
come across the challenge of balancing schedule autonomy, with the
need to be available to each other when needed.
One
challenge some team members have is seeing a message and, even if
it doesn’t need immediate replies, the message presence lingers, so
they’re using the Schedule message function in
MSTeams.
“Flexible work” is great, but it needs
structure. Catherine and her colleagues are experimenting with core
hours, with flexibility within them. Through experimentation, we
get clarity, and have to have conversations about working
together.
You can find out more about Catherine
here: The Virtual Training Team