Right now, as our response to Covid-19, you can book an on-line workshop for your team and we will deliver the very best face-to-face experience that we can in an online environment.
Many of you will have experienced Cygnus Extra courses live, physical, face-to-face – however you say it – and that’s always been the way we have chosen to do it. We have always believed that the relationships that people build that way are worth travelling for, worth getting out of PJs for, worth getting up early for. The sharing and networking that people do in the room is really important to learning. And the sense of human connection is powerful.
HOWEVER, in this time when so many people are restricted to working from home – particularly people who are used to being based in an office – we can help. Over the years we have developed skills that help people connect, relate and share. And all those things are important for learning. Yes, it’s different online, but it’s not that different! I deliver training around how to write well in an online setting and I’ve always said that – it’s different, but it’s not THAT different!!
At the beginning this week, many of us are already more experienced in using online tools to meet, chat and share than we were last week. Overnight it has become the new normal.
So we are making our courses in Digital Writing Skills, Business Writing Skills, Email Marketing, and Business Storytelling in an online setting.
The interactive training style we use will work well for small groups to get together online, listen to some presentation, react with each other, complete some activities, discuss in smaller groups, try techniques out and feedback at the end of the day.
We will be flexible about how we deliver a day long course as people are all working with multiple responsibilities such as caring for children.
Way back when online learning was brand new (early 2000s I think!!) we did a bit of work involving Learning Space (does anyone remember that?). As part of that project I read a book called Designing and Teaching an Online Course by Heidi Schweizer. She said that to learn, people need 4 things – belonging, freedom, power and fun. That has stuck with me and influenced how I train as well as my approach to creating online content. I believe that if we can bring some of those human elements to the fore at the moment then we can help people through the current challenges.
For many teams there is a challenge at the moment to stay in touch, to relate, connect and feel comfortable. There are challenges to help people focus and stay motivated in a different work environment. An online workshop can enable teams to continue to be effective, even in the face of the enormous challenges we are currently facing.
