Serendipity and Learning

 Like Cinema, Sports and possibly Restaurants,  the Learning industry thrived in getting people together under one roof. I say, was with intent.  A few years ago, 2 day and 3 day training were the norm. Over the years, it had shortened to a day or half a day. Or a somewhere in between - 6 hours. This was pre-Covid. What will learning look like in a post Covid world?  For one, all of us, virtual workshop naysayers have moved to virtual.  ( Read here ) 1. The duration of training is a maximum of 4 hours. Though I did attend a fantastic 4 day workshop ( details here ). But of late, much of the work I have done is for under 4 hours, often 2 hours. So, 8 hour workshops are dead forever.  2. More importantly, while we have started using tools like Mentimeter - the interface of these tools is still clunky - so expecting that to improve.  3. I also feel simulation led learning will be a game changer in these times. Because simulations accelerate the learning p...

 A 4 day workshop in these days? Are you crazy? Sitting in front of a screen for 4 days?  Yes. And the fantastic team from Reflexive Lenses pulled it off. And I learnt a lot.  1. The sessions were tightly managed. Started on the dot, finished on the dot. (This is something I have come to love about virtual trainings. Almost every workshop has started and ended on time.) 2. There were many experts. Since this was a deep dive expertise was needed - and the team had an expert assigned to every virtual room. This was very useful - gave us the comfort of small group interaction, allowed us to dive deep and also allowed for expert interaction. This was very well thought I felt.  3. The break out room is a scream. The way it counts down and drags you into the main sessions is incredible. Usually as a facilitator when you get the team to work on activities, it is a struggle to get them to complete and come back to the main discussion. This was superb. 4. Almost all activitie...