Covid certainly has been a force for change in the way we work, communicate, and learn. And 2024, from a L&D perspective, certainly looks to be taking on a similar look and feel to 2020, with many companies extending their virtual programs throughout the year.

And why not? Certainly, from our perspective, feedback from both delegates and sponsors has been overwhelmingly strong, if not stronger than in-person events of old! Add to that the massive cost savings, it no wonder why clients are looking to extend their virtual training programs throughout 2024 and beyond.

2024 very much looks to be a year of fine tuning 2020’s virtual events and pushing the boundaries further, confident in the fact that virtual training is effective, offers real flexibility and ensures most of the L&D budget is spent on learning as opposed to costs associated with travel, subsistence and lunches!

So how can you enhance and optimise your virtual programs in 2024?  Here are a few tips.

Make sure your virtual training events are just as engaging as your in-person events used to be

Covid has fast-tracked training from in-person to digital formats over the space of a year. Realistically, it was always coming, but no one expected things to move on this quick.

The big shift has taken place, but 2024 offers the opportunity to revisit some of the programs that took place in 2020 and to implement some enhancements to make sure they are as engaging and interactive as they can be.

Just like ‘Chalk & Talk’ type lectures would not be an acceptable learning format for in-person events, the virtual equivalent, a 2 hour tutor-led presentation delivered on WebEx is not an effective learning solution either. For virtual training to be effective, events must be engaging and interactive.

Now more than ever, learning events must be designed with the learner at the heart and include a range of learning activities that will keep their attention and draw them into the learning.

Blending tutor-led inputs with short digital activities and experiential business simulations help to bring variety to the learning experience and make the learning more effective.

Take advantage of the explosion of new digital content that has been created across the industry. These offer a great opportunity to enhance your program, rather than start from scratch.

And that’s exactly what we have done with so many of our clients - enhancing their events with our unique digital activities and experiential online simulations.

Right now, we are offering clients and prospective clients alike the chance to demo any of our virtual, online or digital learning solutions for free in order to experience first-hand whether it would fit with your learning objectives and audience. Get in touch today for more details.

Utilise engagement tools built into so many platforms

Explore the features built into all virtual platforms and take advantage of these tools to help engage with your audience.

All platforms come with a range of engagement tools from polls and chat features to ways to share content and media.

Some platforms such as Zoom, even have video filters, which for example, can be a bit of fun with the right audience as an icebreaker.

Focus on your core responsibilities, not the technology!

Before the pandemic we were a training company. Our clients were L&D or HR specialists. Now it seems the boundaries have blurred for all of us and our remits has evolved to include virtual event management too! In fairness, for us this was ok as we’ve been running virtual events for over 10 years.

But for some of our clients, managing the tech and hosting was a big headache and distraction from their day-to-day responsibilities.

In 2020 many training companies extended their tech capabilities and expertise to support clients with their virtual events, almost talking on the role of technology and hosting partner.

If technology or hosting is a pain point for you, we would be happy to help. We can manage part or all of the virtual process for you - leaving you to focus on your key priorities.

We can manage the virtual logistics and deal with technology related technical issues, right through to hosting and prepping your key speakers. You tell us where you need support, and we’ll take all the hassle and stress away!

What are you plans for 2024?

If you are planning your training events for 2024 and would like some ideas or inspiration please do get in touch. We have a wide range of digital and virtual learning solutions from short activities and exercises that can be blended with a virtual workshop through to large scale online business simulations that can be used for early careers, on-boarding or development centres.

Get in touch today - we’d be happy to demo any of our solutions.