How to Design a 2-Day Safety Leadership Workshop for Virtual Delivery

Overnight the IT department had to trust employees with computers and be treated them as responsible adults. The CEOs had to relinquish control and TRUST that everyone would still perform …. responsible adult comes to mind again. 

Let's move on and why I (Karin) shared the above scenario.

On the 29th of February, a colleague tagged me on LinkedIn to join a group of global facilitators and create a virtual event. We would share concepts, ideas, facilitation skills, collaboration tools (these are the early days for the plethora of collaboration tools that now exist), and much more. The idea was simple enough - let's create an experiential virtual event. It was a resounding success. A lot had to do with timing and the fantastic 28 people who pulled it together in just three weeks.

At the heart of this story is a digital facilitation platform called Howspace, which transformed how we now deliver the 2-day global safety leadership workshop. There is a saying that it takes 10,000 hours to master something (Malcolm Gladwell, author of the popular book Outliers, wrote that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in anything). Well, I did that in 3 weeks (or rather, it felt that way), and I have learned much more since then. So they call me a Howspace superuser. I fell in love with it, and it has become core to our business and how we operate today.

A brave new world emerges.

April 2020 - Conversation with my client

As you can imagine, in April 2020,  the programme stopped dead in its tracks. However, while creating the Virtual Event (called Virtual Collaborations), I realised there might well be a way to continue delivering the Safety Leadership programme around the globe, despite a pandemic. 

So, I spent a weekend creating a digital version of the programme, focusing on recreating the experiential activities. When ready, I called my client and suggested I may have a way to continue the good work we started and, therefore, keep moving forward. Safety Culture and Leadership programmes are essential for safety-critical organisations (think Oil Rigs, Fast Rail, Airlines, Nuclear plants, etc.). And it is crucial to my client personally.

We met 'via zoom', and I demonstrated what was possible; my client loved it.

But, at this time, the client says, 'this (pandemic) will all come to an end soon, so let's see what happens as it might be hard to get the concept accepted by the other senior leaders.  

I waited and continued my journey of creating and learning more about digital facilitation and all its possibilities. Today, I am a Howspace Certified Digital Transformation Agent.

August 2020 - ok, this Covid thing is not going anywhere.

My client calls me and says the magic words, "let's do this". What needs to happen? How can we design the programme for continued global rollout? Etc.

Happy days. I went about designing and teaching this new way of delivery. We recreated the Safety Culture Maturity Ladder using polls and images (people used to stand somewhere on the ladder (floor mats) physically. So by using polls and chat widgets, we recreated the experience and improved how to harvest (capture) the conversations by asking the individual to select the 'rung' of the ladder and why they positioned themselves there. So the conversation moves into a whole group dialogue. And the more introverted are now contributing to the discussion in the written word for all to see. 

And we use AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning to summarise the discussions. 

Remember all those flip charts we tried to capture everyone's thoughts; well, now the participants contribute to the harvest using their language and input summarised in real-time. 

Digital facilitation is the facilitators' dream and is incredibly more efficient. For example, an exercise that used to take 2 hours to complete is now just 40 minutes with better output and discussion. 

One of the enormous benefits of Zoom (and yes, there are other tools) is that we get to see everyone simultaneously and because we are all in the same shape, it becomes more inclusive and a safe space for connection. Granted, it does take a different set of facilitation skills.

The programme is still a two-day workshop at this stage - yes, we have people online for up to 7 hours per day, including good breaks. However, the programme has evolved to include pre-work, post-work and coaching. More on that later.

September 2020 - Cohort 5 - first digitally facilitated programme

Wow, Wow, Wow, what a huge success. Cohort 5 participant feedback says it all. (Unedited beside spelling and confidentiality)

• It is better than being in a room.
• I am hearing other people's thoughts and ideas.
• Enthusiastic, engaging, and well-constructed course. Interesting to listen to the views of others at different levels of the organisation. Break Out rooms are very useful.
• I liked the online format - surprisingly, particularly the ability to mix internationally.
• The honest and open conversations with my colleagues from around the globe
• Energise software (howspace) is impressive and encourages further training.

I was so nervous, as you can imagine. A lot is riding on the success of this first digital programme as the possible way forward to deliver around the globe. The only vital considerations are time zone and connectivity from various locations at any one time.

What did we learn in this first 'digital' cohort?

Bringing people together from different but close time zones meant we could include people from other regions and departments to improve sharing similar concerns. Fostering the sense of "we are not alone" creates a global community of safety ambassadors rather than just regional.

Other challenges like childcare, disabilities, and caring for others are all considered, allowing for greater programme participation.

Bringing people together from different regions and offices provides the ability to broaden the knowledge pool. In addition, insights are derived from various organisational cultural norms, contributing to the organisational culture.

Overall, we found the programme to be more inclusive and considerate of all personality types, from extroverted to introverted.

All the above is often very difficult to achieve when running workshops in physical locations - the time and cost of travel and accommodation for all participants are prohibitive for most organisations.

Virtual learning is good for business and is morally justifiable. Benefiting people, profit and the planet through reduced travel (carbon emissions) decreased costs and time-saving. These elements are good arguments for more virtual learning rather than less as organisations and the way of working move towards flexible and remote working.

July 2022 - Where are we now, and what changed.

We will soon roll out Cohort 16 as the programme continues its success. Has it evolved? Yes, it has.

What started as a two-day workshop with a 90-minute Prelude (programme introduction via Zoom) two days before the 2-day live (via zoom) workshop has evolved into a 4-month immersive programme. Based on the 'before, during and after' concept of shared learning.