I remember years ago, meeting with my instructional design and development colleagues and discussing the future, in which our trainees could sit in their homes or offices and be full participants in face-to-face training experiences. We talked about how the trainer would be able to see all of the participants in small windows on their screen while they could see the trainer and the other participants. “Wouldn’t it be great,” we thought, “if we could do that while showing a PowerPoint or video in another window or an another screen?”
But that was years away. We could hardly get our conference calls to work correctly, even with those modern, Polycom “starfish” phones sitting in the middle of the tables.
Well folks, I’m here to report that the future is now, and it couldn’t come at a better time—with post-9/11 travel restrictions, an increased focus on “teleworkers,” and companies hungry to trim travel costs. The technology is here, and I’ve been using it to deliver training for the past six months.
No longer is it necessary to use clunky Webex or GoToMeeting presentations supported by conference calls. And I’m also not talking about Skype, with its grainy, pixilated picture (known as “packet loss” in the industry).
I’ve been working with Polycom to train its own employees, using a wide range of technological options from multi-flatscreen monitors to my laptop computer, delivering HD video and audio to participants around the world. I won’t bore you with the technical details (it’s not like I understand them), but through partnerships with Microsoft, HP, and many other companies, Polycom has been able to deliver high-quality audio and video that is ideally suited to training applications. They compete directly with Cisco/Tandberg, whose equipment, I am told, is also quite good, but does not use the open standards architecture that Polycom uses. There are other competitors on the market as well, and I’m not here to push Polycom (although I can vouch for their products), but one advantage they do have is called Lost Packet Recovery (LPR) which significantly reduces the packet loss problem I referenced earlier. LPR removes the final hurtle to using video conferencing for effective training delivery.
How it Works:
It works best if you are in a meeting room with two monitors and good speakers. You may have other participants (or trainers) in the room with you, or you could be standing in the room alone, talking to participants (and other trainers) in locations around the globe. They may be in meeting rooms together, or participating from their homes or offices. Most of the time, I set it up so that the person talking is in a larger window (yes, the technology will do that). If you have two screens, you see the participants in separate windows on one screen and yourself on the other. If you want, you can “push content,” showing your desktop or content from another source on the second screen.
In addition, the camera moves, so you can set “presets” in advance. I usually preset myself in a sitting position, myself standing from a slight distance (so I can move around and stay in the picture), myself standing with a close-up (for when I really want to make a point), and other presets (from up to 10 available) of the flipchart and/or whiteboard and of the other people in the room (if applicable). Once they are set, you just have to press the number on the remote control for the camera to go where you want it. Polycom even has a product called Eagle Eye Director that can track the camera instantly to whoever is speaking.
From there, you can conduct a training session just as though the people were in the room with you. If you want to do a breakout exercise, you can just send people to different rooms (known as bridges), have them perform the exercise, then come back to the main room. If you want to monitor their progress during these exercises, you can go to the different rooms, just as you would if they were in a breakout room down the hall.
In the past, when using Webex and audio, I always thought it was difficult to do interpersonal skills-based training (sales, management, etc.), but now, if you know what you are doing, it is as effective and seamless as having everyone in the room with you. I’m sure the technology will continue to improve, but I have used it quite a bit, and I will tell you that it is ready to use now.
The Benefits:
Where do I start when discussing the benefits of video conference training? Here are a few:
- There’s no longer a need to address the logistics (and costs) of getting everyone to the same location to conduct the training. They can meet in regional locations or even participate from their homes or remote offices.
- People get to go home every night—no more sleeping in hotels with the costs (and possibly bedbugs) associated with doing so.
- If you have disabled employees or trainers, they can participate equally, without facing the physical hurdles often associated with travel and training.
- With the touch of a button, you can record the entire training experience, so future new employees can review it.
- If executives want to welcome the participants or monitor the proceedings, they can do so with little disruption to their time and schedule.
- If there is an expert in one location, and you want everyone to learn from that expert, it is easily accomplished.
The Drawbacks:
As with every training methodology, there are a few drawbacks, including:
- There is a minor lag, so that once you’ve asked a question, you need to wait a few seconds for the participants to hear it, for them to unmute, and for everyone to hear the responses. It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it is easy to address.
- You miss the camaraderie of talking to people off line or sharing lunch, dinner, or drinks together. However, you can easily build icebreakers or other activities into the course to compensate for the loss in actual face-to-face time.
- Exercises involving labs or hands-on experiences are hard to implement. You need contingency plans if such exercises are required.
- Time zones become an issue, especially if you are training people in diverse locations and you are trying to build in time for breaks or lunches. This can often be solved by including more frequent, shorter breaks, but you need to deal with each situation depending on where your participants and trainers are located.
Overall, training via video conference works best if you design it and plan it out in advance, and generally stick to the schedule. If you can do so, and you have access to (or the budget to purchase) high quality video conferencing technology, I highly recommended it as a medium for a wide range of training applications.
For more information, feel free to contact me at Connective@aol.com.
