When thinking of moving an activity that is traditionally done in a physical setting to a virtual format – such as new-hire onboarding or training, there is sometimes a perception that the activity will be significantly less effective, or can not easily be replicated when brought online. And this is for good reason – a critical best practice we have observed in keeping an audience engaged, is to get them to participate. When everyone is sitting in the same physical location, it can be relatively straight forward to break the audience into groups, facilitate discussions, ask questions, and run activities.
However, if using the right technology (which is key – since not all solutions are equal in this area), delivering an immersive, participatory experience can not only be replicated, but enhanced beyond the possibilities of what can be done in a physical environment – and done in a much more consistent and scaleable fashion.
Adobe’s Digital New Hire Orientation program is a great example of this. You may have read a previous post by Alistair Lee around Adobe’s digital new-hire orientation and how the Adobe People Resources team recently moved to a completely digital orientation for new-hires using the Adobe Connect web conferencing platform, which highlights some of the ways that the team is enabling new methods of participation and engagement in a virtual setting.
We recently dug deeper into this, really looking at the benefits and end results of this transition, and published them in a new case study here: http://adobe.ly/1mbvBqo.
Of course, the findings do not just apply to onboarding, but to a variety of activities that you may be trying to move from a physical to a virtual setting, or virtual programs (elearning, webinars, or web meetings) that you may be trying to enhance with deeper levels of interactivity. Have a look at the results!