Resist the Impulse to
Return to "Normal"
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I’ve been enjoying the amazing Halloween photographs posted by party people on Facebook, Instagram and yes, even LinkedIn. Some of you really know how to throw a holiday bash. My feeds have been filled with goofy and glittery party decorations, scary costumes, artistic food presentations, and colorful lights. Party on! You got me thinking about the other trend I’m observing: the move to hybrid learning. I know you’re wondering how I connected those two thoughts, but hear me out. |
When we invite guests to our home, we make sure that they feel welcome. We explain the rules (costumes or no costumes); we may put special attention on people’s dietary needs (gluten-free or gluten-filled); we clean up and prepare our home to receive guests. A similar focus arises when we prepare people for a virtual training experience. We think about the people who will be attending, and strive to ensure they feel our attention, inclusion, direction, and support.
When the world pivoted to virtual in the spring of 2020, we suddenly experienced the importance of creating engaging, attention-keeping online learning environments. Remote workers and trainees who may have formerly felt excluded from face-to-face meetings suddenly felt included as our meetings moved to platforms like Zoom (we went from 10 million to 300 million virtual meetings a day practically overnight). And yet, many organizations longed to return to “normal,” working in office environments and attending training live and in person. In the last few months, some organizations announced their anticipation of a hybrid workplace and hybrid learning environments.
As we’ve been speaking with clients about their hybrid plans, I’ve been concerned. Sadly, too many of them are planning to invite a room full of people to experience live training together while their remote colleagues sign into a virtual meeting platform to watch the proceedings, answer an occasional poll, or unmute their phone line to throw a thought into a discussion. This is not real inclusion. And it’s a sad repetition of the mistakes that we were making before the pandemic.
As you plan hybrid training events, make sure that every person feels included and actively engaged. The best way to do that is to have everyone sign into a web conferencing platform like Zoom or Webex. The virtual meeting or training platform is what unites your participants and creates a level playing field. If you find yourself planning two sets of activities, one for participants in a physical location with a trainer or facilitator, and one for people signed in virtually, that should be a red flag that you are creating a learning experience in which part of your audience is likely to feel excluded and disengaged.
Resist the impulse to go back to this ineffective hybrid environment. Instead, incorporate new techniques to collaborate and engage that can be shared equally by all virtual participants, remote or co-located.
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Cynthia Clay
President/CEO
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Invest in Talent Development
for 2022
This time of year, my attention turns to wrapping up the old year and planning for the new one. If your sights have turned to skills development for your organization’s talent in the coming year, we’d love to be your development partner. We currently offer a 15% discount on all programs and services. *
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Building Successful Hybrid Workplaces - New White Paper |
Download our complimentary white paper Building Successful Hybrid Workplaces. This white paper summarizes the findings of a survey NetSpeed Learning conducted in August 2021 to learn more about the hybrid workplace strategies being considered by organizations, along with the leadership skills that were most important to the success of hybrid workplace leaders.
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Explore something new with one of our engaging and interactive webinars or public courses. |
Begin 2022 With Virtual Facilitator Trainer Certification (VFTC)
Now is the time, more than ever before, to go virtual!
This popular course has received rave reviews from participants as it provides a deep-dive into best practices for virtual facilitation and design.
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Leveraging the Benefits of the Hybrid Workplace
The challenges and opportunities of working in the hybrid workplace during a global pandemic will likely carry us well into 2022. However, many organizations are starting to realize that there are benefits to the hybrid workplace, which they might leverage as they move forward.
Join Cynthia Clay as she explores the challenges and opportunities of working and training in a hybrid environment.
Wednesday, Nov 17th
1:00 pm ET/10:00 am PT
Complimentary
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Virtual Producer Course
Every virtual facilitator needs a capable virtual training producer. A strong producer frees the facilitator to focus on the learners' experience, not the technology. If you want to develop the skills of your own virtual classroom producers, check out our Virtual Producer Course.
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Virtual Production Services
NetSpeed Learning offers trained producers ready to support your facilitators and trainers in delivering training events online. Our Virtual Producers can help with the setup and technical management of online events, and even coach speakers to present powerfully in the digital space. Virtual Producers ensure that events run as smoothly as possible with limited disruption due to technical issues.
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