As we enter our next lockdown, the use of technology once again comes into peoples minds. Like many training companies, we have had to adapt over the past eight months. We have had to change and learn like everyone; although we initially went into the world of remote delivery as sceptics. We are now delivering many courses remotely, and you can see these here.

Over the months though we have got better and better and with practise and making mistakes and learning, there is no doubt we can deliver remote sessions very effectively. On reflection here are some things we have learnt:

Get to know the software - Whether using zoom or teams, get to know what it can and can't do. They both have advantages and disadvantages depending on what you are doing. The more you know, the better you will be, and there are some great online tutorials out there. Youtube is an excellent resource for developing your knowledge of the software.

When training, use the features - In particular, Zoom has some great training features such as break out rooms, these are highly effective when doing activities or when you want to do group work. We have used these features with a significant positive effect on many of our courses.

Send out an etiquette - The last thing you want is people coming onto the session with their microphone on in a busy office or Homes Under The Hammer going on in the background, sending out an etiquette before the course can help and mitigate the chances of problems. We send out a PDF before the course and if you would like a copy, drop me an email.

Watch your numbers - Remember training needs lower numbers in a classroom to work well. We have found that remote delivery requires fewer numbers, no doubt that with remote delivery, people need more time to absorb. In a traditional classroom session, you can get a vast amount of information across in one day; we have found remote delivery requires longer for information to be taken onboard.

Sometimes remote is better! - Never thought I would say this, but we have discovered some things are better delivered remotely. We have found some areas, 1-2-1 coaching, for example, is better delivered remotely.

No doubt that the last few months have changed so many things and remote delivery is one that has changed our world, we as training professionals, have no choice but to use it. I know we are getting better and I also know we can improve things further. We will keep on reflecting, and we will report our findings.

Ralph Moody is the founder of Target Training and specialises in trainer and management development.  You can read more about him here.