When the pandemic hit in early 2020, the discovery of the joys of working from home was seen as a game-changer for employment. However, not everything has worked out as some predicted.
While the clarion call to ‘return to the office’ was far from universal across the corporate sector and received much resistance when it did occur, many companies have embraced some remote working, or, in other cases, a hybrid model.
Just as the picture for day-to-day working has been mixed, so has the approach to training and conferences.
Everyone became familiar with Teams and Zoom, but the idea that this could be a convenient and cheap way of delivering training instead of in-person events has fallen out of favour.
Now, smart companies prefer to book training rooms instead, with even remote working staff coming in for the occasion.
What Are The Weaknesses Of Remote Training?
There areseveral shortcomings involved in remote training that constitute good reasons not to take this approach:
· The training is impersonal
· Skills requiring hands-on training cannot be taught
· Technical and connection issues can disrupt training and mean some receive better training than others
· Screen fatigue can kick in as people lose concentration
Such factors should all be taken into account when planning training and wondering whether to do it in-person or remotely. While remote training can be cheaper and overcome geographical barriers, these limitations counterbalance those benefits.
For example, being able to log in from anywhere may not be such a great advantage if that location has a poor internet connection, while issues like a lack of necessary hands-on training make any money saved on training a false economy.
Training is nothing if not an investment in your workforce. Trying to do it on the cheap can backfire.
It may be argued that the flip side of these issues constitutes a set of very good reasons for staff to be taught in person.
Practical skills can be imparted, concentration can be maintained and a poor internet connection won’t mean one member is cut off while others are still able to receive the training.
Is The ‘Water Cooler Moment’ A Real Thing?
However, there is even more to it than that. The idea of the ‘water cooler’ moment has been widely discussed and debated.
When pandemic restrictions were being eased, the chancellor (and future prime minister) Rishi Sunak was among those to cite the benefits of such chance meetings and networking opportunities on his own career development.
Mr Sunak was far from alone in testifying to this and research would indicate these arguments are right.
A study by MIT in the US has suggested that the water cooler can be a great way to increase productivity, as such meetings increase connections between people and positively impact their work output.
The conclusion drawn was that humans are social animals and connections to our ‘tribe’ – in this case, a workplace tribe – were instrumental in getting people to perform better.
Performance in training is not something that can be easily measured at the time, but it can be in exams at the end of a training course and, most importantly, in subsequent workplace performance.
You may find that by conducting your workplace training in person, the staff present can gain benefits from their own ‘water cooler’ moments and become more focused, productive and engaged members of staff, bringing benefits both for themselves and your company.
