Virtual success – effectively moving traditionally face-to-face learning online

Covid 19 and the current lock down climate we are living in, has called for everyone to adapt and make changes to the way we work.

We have been working closely with a government department to help retain an element of business as usual regarding the CPD of their staff, whilst fully respecting the need to maintain social distancing for non-essential contact – and the results have been remarkably pleasing.

In just two weeks, we were able to convert a traditionally classroom based, intensive training programme, into a virtual online learning platform, with dedicated trainer facilitators to support the learning and easy to access resources.

The key concerns facing the client were to:

·         Maintain the momentum of continual professional development of a key business unit

·         Make good use of the current staff down time as a result of social distancing measures and working from home

·         Respect employees’ challenges regarding child care responsibilities and home schooling

·         Be mindful of the amount and intensity of screen time required to deliver a 5 day training programme

·         Provide a stimulating and relevant learning opportunity to engage, develop and bond the team.

We therefore focussed our training development on a high level of interactive activities, a good balance of instructor led learning and smaller breakout group work, coupled with the opportunity for LIVE Practice, which has always been a key trademark of RoleplayUK training programmes.

Our challenge was to make the simulated experiences feel real in the virtual world, which was successfully achieved by calling on the skills of our team of professional actors.

Learners quickly engaged with the simulated scenarios, interacting well with the actors via the online platform. Using smaller breakout team rooms to discuss and collaborate their ideas, they then prepared very professional presentations of their findings, to share with the whole group – very similar to exercises which would normally work face-to-face.

The 5 day programme flew by, successfully achieving all the objectives of the traditional face-to-face programme.

 “It’s really great to work with you and your team, you all have a lot of excellent skills and really good experience.”    Course delegate

A huge learning curve and a great VIRTUAL SUCCESS!