This includes:
Empathising. How are new starters feeling? What do they need to know in advance to manage expectations?
Involving. Reach out and make sure everyone feels included and heard in the virtual environment. It’s important to allow time and space for interaction, and to create psychological safety. Setting the right tone helps achieve this, as well as having different ways to help participants build their confidence, such as using small group interactions in break out rooms.
Connecting. Give inductees ways to connect with each other beyond the virtual classroom – such as chat groups etc.
Being relatable. Use stories and scenarios to bring concepts to life and to ground them in real human experiences.
Bringing people together at the same time is an effort and an investment. That time is incredibly valuable. So it’s best used for interaction rather than information-giving.
Building a learning blend around the virtual classroom is a well-established approach. Well-designed learning activities can be the main way to provide new information and test knowledge before and after the virtual classroom. Then the classroom time is for bringing people together and allows for questions, discussion and exploration of concepts.
Training facilitators were forced to make a rapid transition to virtual during the pandemic, often quickly repurposing their course materials. And many had to learn how to use platforms fast, and get comfortable with online delivery.
But now the focus is on helping them bring out their existing expertise in a new way - virtual-first. This involves supporting facilitators to feel empowered to deliver excellent training in virtual classrooms.
Some principles include:
• Reassessing length and detail. It’s important for virtual classroom sessions to be designed for optimal learning online, which often means shorter sessions than in-person. Trainers need to be given confidence that this is reflected in adjusted expectations for how much detail is covered in the virtual classroom. Keep things sharp, snappy and memorable!
• Experiment. Using tools such as Miro, Padlet, Mural for activities can help facilitators with better interactions. And if they feel empowered to experiment, it gives confidence to try out things that might not work first time.
In our new whitepaper, we share ten ways to make your virtual induction programme a stand-out success. Most of these tips and tactics are transferrable across all types of virtual classroom delivery, so are handy whatever programme you’re planning. Download your free copy: 10 ways to enhance remote induction.