It takes a significant amount of money and time to continually train employees. When a business has several employees dispersed across different locations, these costs are doubled.
However, face-to-face training sessions are now being duplicated by businesses with the help of laptops, tablets, or smartphones as online or virtual employee training is gaining popularity. These virtual training sessions can be attended from the convenience of homes and offices thanks to web conferencing.
As more businesses use web conferencing software to train their staff, it has become commonplace in modern business. Employers may access team members via virtual classroom platforms regardless of where they are, which increases the efficacy and breadth of training.
We are sharing some web conferencing best practices you should stick to if you want your remote employee training to be successful.
1. Get ready for your web conference
Here are a few things to keep in mind before you start your training session at a web conference.
- If you’re hosting a web conference, make sure everyone has access to the URL for the invitation and the agenda in advance.
- Before the meeting, test any videos or presentations you plan to use to provide information.
- Stay away from ambient sounds and make sure you are in a quiet place. This includes muting your phone and disabling PC notification sounds.
- Trainers and speakers should position themselves so that everyone can see them. They might require lighting from a ring light or another light source so that everyone can see them well.
- Make sure you seem professional by donning appropriate attire.
- Make sure the background isn’t distracting by having your back on a wall, a bookshelf, or another object. Learn how to use a virtual background if you don’t have a good one. This is a straightforward but incredibly powerful strategy for projecting a professional appearance.
2. Make sure your technology functions properly
As a trainer, you wouldn’t want to be late for a training session due to a malfunctioning web conferencing system. Therefore, before the conference begins, you must perform a few test runs. This will guarantee that everything goes off without a hitch at the actual event.
- Make sure your WiFi network has a reliable internet connection.
- Make sure your computer and all programs are up to date to ensure that your web conferencing software functions properly.
- Set up your webcam to ensure that attendees can see you.
- Use a headset to cut down on background noise and other distractions.
3. Reduce your displays to reduce distractions
You may share your screen or PowerPoint slides using the majority of web conferencing applications. Use bullet points, large font sizes, and images to accentuate your material rather than divert the viewers if you’re providing lecture slides. Participants will focus on reading your slides instead of listening to you if they are text-heavy.
4. Make sure your materials are ready in advance
Even though you can avoid printing handouts for remote training, you still need to get ready in advance if you plan to provide content during the training sessions. This entails having them pulled up and prepared for a screen-share to avoid wasting time looking for documents. Ahead of the meeting, you might also want to email these resources. Instead of only viewing it on your screen share, some folks like to have their own copies to relate directly to.
5. Having a conversation during the web conference
- Always be on time. It would be better if you joined the conference a few minutes before the time.
- Take a moment to run an audio check before your meeting starts to be sure everybody can hear each other.
- Speak in a natural voice and with clarity.
- To avoid distractions or background noise, keep your microphone muted when not actively participating in a discussion.
- Throughout the meeting, pay attention to how your microphone is set because you don’t want to begin speaking while it is still muted.
6. Be mindful of all the features
Trainers may find it easy to get caught up in a training session and overlook checking the chat or the waiting area, but keep in mind that these are useful tools that can assist you in interacting with your audience. Due to being muted, some users might communicate exclusively through chat. If you’re a trainer, take a few moments now and then to check the chat and respond to any comments made there. Remember the various tools you have available, such as polls or the raise-hand option, and let learners know if you plan to use them or not.
Conclusion
Remote employee training is becoming more common as firms adopt and use new technologies.
Using web conferencing as the primary element of a training course has many benefits, including time and money savings; increased employee attention; improved teamwork; and the creation of an information repository.
Due to the pandemic, the transition to remote training methods like web conferencing has happened quickly. The benefits will nevertheless hold true even in the post-COVID scenario.
