Case Study - Digital Futurism Training
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The Concept Challenging senior managers at Kent County Council to think differently Case Study - Digital Futurism Training Preparation – Building the Workshop Understanding the client is key when you’re going to spend 90 minutes with them. Tom spent time with the client in advance of the event to understand their objectives and the nature of the audience: their level of development and their receptivity to new ideas. Based on the feedback, Tom developed a cut down version of his ‘Future-Proof’ training that covered tools for foresight, building athletic organisations, and building future-ready skills for yourself and your team.platform. The Client – Kent County Council The Brief Kent County Council supports one of the largest populations of all the English counties, providing education (schools and youth services), social services, highways, fire and rescue services, libraries, waste disposal, consumer services and town and country planning. The council faces challenges of both an ageing population and a large youth population, with both cohorts being larger than average compared to other UK counties. Kent County Council invited Tom to kick off its ‘Challenger’ event, an annual session for senior managers designed to make them think differently and develop their skills. Given the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic, the session was switched from face-to-face to a live stream at short notice. Tom had to adapt his 90 minute workshop session for the digital format, delivered via screen share and webcam using the GoToTraining platform.
Transcript of Case Study - Digital Futurism Training
The Concept
Challenging senior managers at Kent County Council to think differently
Case Study - Digital Futurism Training
Preparation – Building the WorkshopUnderstanding the client is key when you’re going to spend 90 minutes with them. Tom spent time with the client in advance of the event to understand their objectives and the nature of the audience: their level of development and their receptivity to new ideas. Based on the feedback, Tom developed a cut down version of his ‘Future-Proof’ training that covered tools for foresight, building athletic organisations, and building future-ready skills for yourself and your team.platform.
The Client – Kent County Council
The Brief
Kent County Council supports one of the largest populations of all the English counties, providing education (schools and youth services), social services, highways, fire and rescue services, libraries, waste disposal, consumer services and town and country planning. The council faces challenges of both an ageing population and a large youth population, with both cohorts being larger than average compared to other UK counties.
Kent County Council invited Tom to kick off its ‘Challenger’ event, an annual session for senior managers designed to make them think differently and develop their skills. Given the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic, the session was switched from face-to-face to a live stream at short notice. Tom had to adapt his 90 minute workshop session for the digital format, delivered via screen share and webcam using the GoToTraining platform.
Adapting to Change
Keynote Results
The event was planned for 12th March 2020, but as the date approached it became clear that the spread of COVID-19 would require a change of plan. Just two days before the event, the decision was taken to switch to an online forum. Tom had delivered contently remotely before, both live streaming TV and radio interviews from home, and live webinars, so he knew the technology worked. The big question was about the content: could you keep an audience engaged for 90 minutes when they were all working from home or alone at their desks? How would the chat channel work as a feedback loop when you can’t see the audience? Tom decided that his planned presentation could be made to work with minimal adaptation and pressed ahead.
Tom’s session was divided into three interlinked 20-minute talks, separated by exercises to drive feedback and interactivity. Participants fed back and answered questions via the live chat channel built into GoToTraining. To the organiser’s great surprise, more people decided to attend the digital session than had been booked for the live event. And what is more, they were highly engaged, maintaining group conversations throughout the talk and participating enthusiastically on the chat stream.
Perhaps the greatest testament to how well the session worked is how long people stayed engaged: 72 people or small groups dialled in, and all stayed until the end.
