These lastmonths, my kids, my parents and many of my most “traditional” friends have hadmore virtual meetings, web sessions or classes than ever before in their lives…with multiple purposes: from being close and connected, to maintaining gossipat a healthy level or just keeping the ball rolling with their studies.
Same hashappened with our clients: while a good portion of them were into virtualclasses with us several years before confinement, many others “converted tovirtual” practically overnight. It’s not rare to feel surprised for this suddentransformation… but it has not been an impediment to welcome it: change may befast after all.
I can sayit was easier on our side as training providers, because we were notdiscovering the modality (at least I’m speaking about Cegos: we had expertiseand solutions and more than a decade of experience, but it would have beenpainful to start testing and learning in a period like this). The challenge forus has been to go safely through the exponential curve, multiplying ourcapacity to address the growing volumes. I’ll talk about the keys to succeedwith that in my next post.
What we’llbriefly summarise today are the reasons why this modality was and is here tostay, and continue growing, even now that many regions are going through asafe deconfinement phase and it’s clear that face-to-face will be again a stronglever for interaction in L&D programmes.
- Fully remote
Notravel at all: not even between offices or inside the city. Do you dare tomeasure the time and money that is lost on unnecessary traveling or commuting?We once thought virtual classes were good for remote or dispersed audiences…well, let’s redefine “dispersed”.
- Easier logistics
Getrid of the hassle of struggling through less added-value work such as venuebooking, meals, coffee breaks, printing and shipping … and all the costsinvolved.
- Adapted to modern learner needs
Evenif most of us are not digital natives, we did survive, and as a proof of our adaptation,smartphones had already become part of our body, our schedule and ourentertainment. Most professionals today want to learn in chunks, so they valueshorter sessions, very focused content and quicker to book and get.
- Replicability and Sustainability
Mostof us as learners (and companies) could not afford 2-3 full days of training everytwo months, but we do need to learn and develop new skills many times in a year.This modality goes well with higher frequencies and is an ideal modular part ona learning journey. And in this case, doing it more often will not increaseyour carbon footprint: instead, it will drop to unprecedented levels!
- Flexibility
Sincethese courses are more focused, it’s easier to match training needs withoffering. Also, given the duration, they are easier to schedule. And as a majorcompetitive advantage vs. other modalities, they can serve the purpose of programmekick offs, follow up sessions, return on experience sessions, etc.
Therefore, all the above added to the reduced total cost of ownership (and of opportunity) are enough motivators for most organisations to keep placing the bet on this modality. It’s so evident today that even if we still value the possibility of being close to one another (with or without social distancing), technology has made us jump a quantum leap in 2 decades, and the amount of virtual sessions you’ll have in your learning journeys will only increase from now on. I don’t think this will mean less face-to-face in the near future, but definitely more opportunities to learn.
What do you think?
