Although the technical aspect of the virtualization of the trainings is easy, adjusting the content is not always straightforward. For example, the PMI trainings required a lot of effort and time to go fully virtual. These trainings consist out of eight sessions of 4,5 hours each which are normally given in person. These PMI trainings are characterised by their interactivity, but it’s difficult to make the training interactive if everyone follows them individually, from their homes. A lot of work was put into keeping these long sessions enjoyable, but still informative and educational. Exercises that were normally given in real life were adapted to the digital environment as well as possible.
The switch to fully virtual Lunch & Learns, on the contrary, was much easier as it was already possible to follow these sessions via Microsoft Teams before the corona crisis.
“To make sure these trainings could continue as usual, we needed to be creative and think out of the box. We needed to reflect on how we can transfer information in another way, via a platform that may not have been intended for that initially,” concludes Niels.
This virtual way of hosting trainings is certainly something we need to keep doing in the future. It reduces a lot of stress and it is a good way to avoid time being wasted. People don't have to commute anymore to attend or even teach the sessions. For example, at home there are no traffic jams. In addition, you are always more relaxed in your own home as you are in familiar surroundings.