Infusing the magic of experience into virtual learning
How to translate the alchemy of energy, time and place into a virtual learning programme
When it comes to building capability and engagement, few activities have as big an impact as getting people together to learn, work through a problem, or develop a solution. Something magical happens when people are together. The alchemy of energy, time and space helps to build connections and nurture belonging.
Take, for example, an organisation’s flagship residential leadership programme. The learning is critical, but it’s only one part of the mix. By getting people together and creating a well-rounded experience, groups build strong connections, a palpable sense of belonging and have an emotionally enriching experience that binds them to each and to the organisation.
It’s powerful stuff. But can a virtual learning programme ever hope to achieve the same? That is the challenge we’re helping a number of organisations explore – how do you create a rich human experience when people are globally distributed and connected through a screen?
We start with four simple principles.
1. Map the journey
You engage (or fail to engage) way before you imagine. So think of the experience you want to create as a journey. Before the main event, you need to create anticipation, set expectations, and connect people to each other and to the trainers and hosts. Show your learners what value they can expect from engaging with the virtual learning (and each other).
Get people in the mindset to learn, share, ask questions and co-create by creating mini tasks that enable dialogue and collaboration in the days and weeks leading up to the main programme. For example, create a challenge to find people with the same favourite meal or colour; or create an online quiz where you have to match people’s photos to their unusual hobbies or habits; or put people into pairs or small groups to discuss their best experience of the topic being explored.
And support the conversation afterwards. Powerful, transformational learning is about connection and collaboration as much, if not more, than it is about content. So focus on it and nurture it across every stage.
2. Design with empathy
Realising the magic of a collaborative learning experience requires a lot more than lifting and shifting content from one medium to another. There are many reasons why this is the case, but perhaps the most significant is the medium itself. When we’re engaging with the world through a small box on a screen, we need to focus much more, because the range of signals we have to work out what is going on is much narrower.
So design with empathy. Don’t overload the agenda. Give people control over how, when (even what) they learn. Build in synchronistic as well as asynchronistic learning opportunities and let your audience be the masters of their virtual experience with tailored downloads, focused breakout sessions and on-demand content.
And if you want them to be in a collaborative mindset, set them up to collaborate by giving them opportunities to co-create the learning experience. They’ll get more out of it because they’ve put something in. For example, task groups with finding out something about your customers (or other people relevant to the learning) and then sharing that content with the rest of the group through engaging story-led content.
3. Make it meaningful
When thinking about the connection you want to create, remember the connection to the organisation as well as to each other. That connection is more likely to emerge when the learning is meaningful. We’re talking purpose. Your organisational purpose should underpin every meaningful learning experience. It should provide the fuel that creates a shared sense of belonging.
How this shows up will differ depending on your organisation, its purpose and the programme. But show up it should. Not only will purpose create a richer and more memorable learning experience, it will also help to keep your purpose alive and ensure it remains a key focus of the collaborations and innovations that are kick started through the learning programme.
A good way to do this is to get people to undertake tasks – challenge-based learning – that involves them talking to and designing solutions for the people that matter the most to your organisation – your customers and end users.
4. Create anchors
When we’re at a physical work or meeting space, there are lots of visual prompts that help anchor and connect us to the topic being discussed or the learning being explored. When we’re working virtually, those clues are missing. That’s why at FathomXP we wrap all of our programmes in a big dollop of creative experience design. It’s not creative for the sake of looking nice, it’s creativity that operates at a much deeper level and with a much more fundamental objective - to inspire, join the dots and help people find meaning in their learning experience that creates a lasting impact.
Virtual experiences require a new mindset – reinvention, not repurposing. To get there, take a 360° perspective of what’s now possible – reimagining everything from what knowledge to share, to the format for doing it, the length of attention you can hope to secure and the emotional imprint you want to facilitate. By reinventing how we think about virtual and what a virtual experience is, we can discover entirely new possibilities and experiences we had never imagined.
