Virtual, aka Remote, working is here to stay. The one thing we know for sure is that the world we lived in preCovid is forever gone. This means a continued evolution to find new and better ways to do a number of things. One of those is meeting the needs of a virtualized workforce.

A common challenge I come across while talking to customers, clients and peers is the challenge of virtual training. With travel restrictions and social distancing still in play, or at least still impacting businesses, virtual training is the most sought-after solution today for remote learning. More and more companies are looking for permanent virtual solutions and situations to meet the workforce demands of WAH. Whether this is the first time you are moving to virtual training, or you are looking for rapid conversion of your classroom training to the remote learning mode, designing and delivering high-impact virtual training for remote learners is a tall order.

Effective virtual training methods and techniques combine the best practices above with creative ideas that engage a variety of learners. To help you manage this transition to remote learning, I share five methods to get participants involved and excited with your virtual class.

1. Variety is good: offer different modes of instruction

Mix it up to keep participants engaged and excited. Material can be delivered or supported in many different ways, including:

• Video
• Q&A breaks
• Slides
• Microlearning
• Musical interludes
• Breakout rooms
• Short essays
• Polls
• Short quizzes

2. Allow Creativity In Solving: Use branching scenarios

Remember the old “choose your own adventure” books? That’s what Branching scenarios are the in the world virtual training ideas. This offers participants a problem to solve or a task to perform with a variety of options.
Dealing with a customer service issue or trying to diagnose a technical issue as a group are great uses of this type of learning.

3. Get Into The Matrix: Embrace Augmented Realty

Augmented reality is a unique tool that offers “hands-on” training. This tool is great for safety training, onboarding, checking on product or sales knowledge, and many other applications. It’s the modern version of sandbox training.

In the virtual environment, take into consideration how you can use AR to support what participants learn in the class. Give them AR-driven assignments so they can test-drive the skills they learned.

4. A Day In The Life: Have Participants Become The Trainers

In this “each one, teach one” technique, participants become experts in one aspect of the course material and share it with everyone.
This benefits from up-front expectations and a clear system to keep organized. Otherwise, encourage creativity!

5. The Sarah McLachlan Technique: Build A Mystery

Start with a case scenario and give participants some of the basic facts. Have them work together in small breakout groups to use what they know to figure out how the story ends. You’re building a mystery.
Reconvene to compare notes before revealing what actually happened. Use this as a way to encourage both small and large group discussions.

By following the aforementioned steps your virtual training deliverables will be effective, engaging, and informative. “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” -Ferris Bueller