Remote working, social distancing, Zoom meetings – phrases that have become part of everyday life. As we adapt to different ways of working, new tools and techniques are set to become an accepted part of the working day.

Traditionally training has been done face-to-face, supported by other methods such as eLearning, distance learning etc. Live Online is a relatively recent development that more traditional law firms may not have felt the need to embrace before now.

With so many lawyers working from home the rise in demand for Live Online has risen dramatically and training managers, L&D departments and HR are discovering its advantages and how easy it is to implement.

What is Live Online?

Live Online training is as close to face-to-face training as possible – with added benefits. The session runs in real time, participants can join the training session from wherever they choose and interact with the trainer as they would in a face-to-face session.

No special equipment is needed – just a laptop with access to a camera and microphone. Many of us will have been involved in similar get togethers recently using Zoom, Facebook Live etc.

Why use Live Online?

At the time of writing Live Online offers the best solution to ensure training sessions that would have been previously face-to-face can still take place.

PSC training, paralegal courses, NQ sessions, Trainee Induction training coaching sessions, TLP courses etc are all great examples of sessions that have been run successfully for law firms over recent weeks. Firms have been able to carry on with scheduled training, and some have booked extra Live Online training sessions to run to make the most of any quieter than usual work schedules.

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‘You are our saviour! Without your Live Online system we wouldn’t have been able to complete the training and trainees wouldn’t have been able to qualify.’

Law firm graduate development department

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Benefits of Live Online

Fully interactive

• The trainer can see all the participants (and the participant can also see others along with the trainer.) Trainers teach to the whole ‘room’ and can ask questions of the group and also of individuals.

• Participants can interact with the group and also contact trainers directly in a number of ways – either by asking the question directly or by ‘Chat’. The latter option allows participants to contact the trainer confidentially.

• Trainers can run polls/tests during the course to check on learning.

• Using ‘Chat’ to help everyone take part in the session.

• Breakout rooms enable participants to discuss topics in smaller groups and then come back to the plenary to share learnings.

• Trainers can play videos, share Powerpoints, sketch out whiteboards etc as they would in any face-to-face sessions.

• Whiteboards are easily saved and distributed after the session as a useful follow up.

Participant engagement

• The Live Online environment can be more democratic than the usual classroom – the trainer isn’t at the front of the room, and the text/chat facility allows quieter participants to have their ‘voice’ heard.

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‘The break out rooms worked very well: they improved participation and engagement’

Live Online participant

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• Participants often feel empowered to show and tell – for example a whiteboard they have created, sharing their screen to show a technological issue they are encountering etc

Honest feedback

• Ease of access to trainers on a one-to-one basis is a clear benefit of Live Online over face-to-face teaching where participants can feel inhibited in asking questions in front of the whole room.
• Participants are not influenced by their peers as much as when sitting next to each other in a room, and may well give more accurate feedback to the trainer during the session.

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‘…the breakout sessions worked really well (and) think that this would potentially work better virtually than in a classroom as you are always aware that you can be overheard in a classroom so don’t necessarily say as much as you otherwise would in the smaller groups, so it gives you an opportunity to say something that might be wrong.’

Live Online participant

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• Trainers can get a wider range of opinions than when teaching in a room – where it’s harder to get groups working discreetly without overhearing other groups and their direction.

Time-saving

• A huge benefit of Live Online is that participants don’t have to travel to the venue. They can take part from their home, their desk or the office.

• Courses run over more than one day are popular too, and there is also a cost saving benefit here as firms do not have to pay for hotel rooms for delegates.

What next?

Having used Live Online as a last-minute fix, many firms will be grateful for the fact that training sessions could still run. As with all training mediums it’s not a one size fits all answer but at the right time, with the right course and with an experienced training provider, Live Online can enhance training at all levels and for many types of sessions.

Live Online is here to stay as part of the training mix.

For more information about Fresh’s training mix please contact: Rachel Berry on 01454 550066

NB this blog was written in April 2020 while social distancing is in place.