A year of Zooms

I’ve recently finished delivering my last training session on Zoom for the year. I’m enormously grateful for technology that’s enabled so many of us to adapt our work this year – it’s been a gamechanger.

There are many advantages to online training and facilitation, primarily in terms of time-saving and opportunities it has opened up. I’ve been able to deliver a session in the morning for a range of organisations scattered across the country, another set in the afternoon and watch a presentation from America in the evening.

I’ve still been able to do the school runs, it’s been cheaper for clients and easier for them to fit it into their busy diaries – a bitesize 1-2 hours of your day without anyone having to factor in hours of travel either side.

It's also enabled me to participate in a range of learning and sharing opportunities I wouldn’t necessarily have been able to otherwise – due to time, location and cost.

And over time I think we’ve all finetuned our Zoom etiquette and become pros at the various features you can use. Although have you even taken part in a Zoom session if no one has said “You’re on mute”?

On the other hand, it’s harder to ‘read the room’ online, especially when a lot of training participants prefer to have their cameras off. It’s harder to judge when participants might need a break, and the conversation doesn’t always flow as naturally as when a group meets in person. The more informal chats as people arrive and in breaks have to be manufactured a bit more.

One of the advantages of training is getting to leave the office, desk and to-do list for a change of scenery and chance for reflection and headspace. Jumping straight onto an online training session before jumping straight back into work doesn’t give you the same opportunity. And it’s more time in front of a screen which can be exhausting and a very passive experience.

Online sessions can’t just be a reproduction of an in-person session. We have to adapt and ensure content, delivery, pacing and tools work well online and for the participants.

I’m hoping that over time we’ll see a blended model become standard – I think there’s a big role for online training and facilitation to play, not just as an enforced substitute for in-person training. And at the same time, I’m really looking forward to the opportunity for in-person sessions again.

How have you found online training – a blessing or a chore?