February’s installment of the InSync 20th Anniversary Team Insight series pulls the curtain back on virtual classroom stagehands: The Producer. Read the other blogs in the series to learn about modern learning instructional design, facilitation, and implementation from the best in the business! 

You may have heard the news that the InSync Training team will spend all of 2020 celebrating an important organizational milestone: 20 years of driving digital engagement in the virtual classroom.

Innovation and thought leadership from founder Jennifer Hofmann laid the foundation for the success of the business, but she argues our longevity reflects a team effort. Over the last two decades, our team has grown to over 80 practitioners, modeling learning best practices from their home offices all across the globe. 

And as we look forward to continuing to design, deliver, and manage impactful training programs long into the future, we asked the InSync team to look back. What have they learned about learning during their careers? What do they wish organizations and learners knew about blended virtual training? What story sticks out to them as particularly memorable? 

You’ve probably heard by now that, for the first time in history, our organizations include five generations of employees. For those of us in learning & development, that means our training programs must address the skills gaps, professional development needs, and future goals of divergently different groups of people.

Before designing engaging learning environments, or facilitating content in an emotionally captivating way, or creating intellectually stimulating exercises and activities, understanding the fundamental characteristics of these five generations can set learning up for success.

Like every year before it, 2019 proved game-changing, awe-inspiring, and insightful.

With only a few weeks left until a new decade, our team felt nostalgic.

What did we learn in the last 365 days? Quite a bit, and we’re sure you did too.

Here in the U.S., many on the global InSync Training team prepare to log-off for a day of feasting and reflection. And while celebrating Thanksgiving usually includes a turkey dinner and connecting with those who mean the most to us, we wanted to stop and remember the things we love about our work. 

Wishing you and yours a great day of gratitude!

As our organizations expand, we will rarely create a training program that will only have one delivery run in one location.

The very nature of multinational corporations demand global learning initiatives. Even businesses classified as “small” now include dispersed team members (ours does – InSync’s 70 practitioners live and work on almost every continent).

Problematically, many stakeholders believe that rolling out global training just means “deliver existing content to every cohort.”

The InSync Training team has designed, delivered, produced, and managed live online training events for over 20 years. It’s hard to believe that organizations have had the virtual classroom as a learning environment option for over two decades.

Change underlies this now-commonplace technology. Virtual classrooms from the past look very little like the reality of today, which indicates a radically different future.

So what can we learn from the evolution of the virtual classroom?

The modern classroom brings with it many tricks.

Technology failures, webinars-that-could’ve-been-a-job-aid, and lecture-heavy sessions with few opportunities to practice new skills can plague blends.

But, in spite of all the possible horrors, blended training can still treat learners to meaningful professional development.

Recently, we explored the theory behind how facilitators can quantify and qualify learner engagement in the virtual classroom. A theoretical foundation provides a jumping off point for practical application.

Our team relies on a number of tried-and-true facilitation methods to connect with live online learners more deeply and more meaningfully. For virtual facilitators, effectively “reading their audience” ensures learning actually happens.

These three techniques allow you, the facilitator, to move beyond basic presentation skills and towards more effective instruction that encourages learners to synthesize ideas and apply what they’ve learned in the protective classroom environment.

Good modern learning facilitators possess virtual classroom literacy, are technically savvy, and practice good time management skills.

All three of these characteristics contribute to a solid foundational skillset.

But taking your competencies from good to great involves an advanced approach to learner engagement, platform management, and content delivery.