Remote this, remote that – the way that we work has been completely transformed.

We went from face-to-face networking to Zoom / Teams meetings in the space of a few weeks.

Whether you like it or not, this new way of working is here to stay.

Our business had embraced remote access for customer support and some training courses years ago, however, during lockdown we went from delivering training sessions all over the country to carrying out all of our sessions virtually.

Therefore, we asked our Professional Services Manager and specialist trainer, Paul, to share a few remote training tips to help you lead valuable online training sessions.

Joining The Meeting

Although it may seem obvious, Paul expresses the need for clear instructions: “Distribute clear meeting/joining instructions for the session. Not everyone is a technical wizard, so offer a little guidance to avoid wasting time on the formalities.”

We implemented this tip ourselves, Paul explains: “I found myself starting most meetings with “Hi (trainee name) you are muted! I have also certainly seen a lot of interesting items in backgrounds when on video calls.”

“We use Microsoft Teams and so we include instructions specific for this software, highlighting the links to click and how to ensure you’re video and audio are working.”

Furthermore, Paul elaborates: “Making any prerequisites nice and clear will benefit the user and it’ll allow for a smoother session for yourself too.”

Preparation Is Key

Paul prioritises organisation: “be organised and have your training content ready so you can cover exactly what you set out to achieve in the session.”

“With remote sessions, it’s easy to lose your audience and to go off on tangents.”

Get Straight to The Point

Ok so you’ve sent the appropriate joining information and you have prepared for your session – What’s next?

According to Paul, delivery is just as important: “Make explanations short and snappy and go bite-size with information for the trainees.”

It’s easy for participants to get distracted when training is in person, so you need to work even harder to keep them engaged when sessions are virtual.

“Use an engaging tone and keep the training flowing at a steady pace; make sure you’re not speeding through the session by regularly summarising and allowing the user to ask questions.”

Hopefully, these remote training tips will give you an insight into how to deliver effective and beneficial remote sessions.

Now, let’s dig a little deeper.

We’re sharing our experiences so that you don’t have to go through the same issues we did:

Q: From an IT perspective, what kind of obstacles did we have to overcome in order to completely fulfill our services remotely?

“We use the Microsoft Teams platform which from a security point of view is acceptable for the majority of our current and prospective clients.”

However, if we need to interact with a client’s computer and take remote control, however, we use a paid-for Enterprise application called Team Viewer.

“This application can quite often be blocked by firewalls and other restrictions and quite rightly so, which is why at VoicePower we always have a technical meeting with the client’s IT department prior to any remote connection whether that is support or remote training.”

Paul shares a bonus tip by saying “I would always recommend a pre-technical/consultation meeting with the client’s IT department to discuss preferred remote connection but to also discuss the security features of the remote tools you have in place.”

Q: At the start of lockdown, we had the Zoom boom, and now everyone is leaning towards Microsoft Teams – Which meeting tool would you recommend and why?

“We conduct all our remote training sessions using Microsoft Teams. From my point of view, this has been the easiest to integrate with our calendars and provide clear date/time invites and joining instructions.”

“There are other meeting platforms out there such as Zoom which we have used previously but as we have an Office 365 account it made perfect sense to adopt Microsoft Teams as our preferred choice.”

That’s all from us! If you have any remote training tips that you’d like to share, make sure you let us know by tagging us on social media!

Happy training!