Creative Digital Training

You have heard that “necessity is the mother of invention.” We clearly saw this in workplaces, families, and churches in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital training and communication has become necessary. We experienced this in online worship services, Zoom Sunday School classes and work meetings, Facebook Live training events, FaceTime visits with grandchildren, and much more.

While we postponed many meetings, some cannot wait. Some groups of leaders will choose to gather face-to-face safely. But fears, health concerns, and convenience will continue to result in meetings scheduled digitally.

In the church, these digital meetings will include worship, Sunday School, small groups, planning meetings, and more. One area where digital meetings have great potential to shine are in providing worker training. There are three big reasons for this: convenience, higher participation, and availability of experts.

Digital Training Opportunities

Many leaders have expressed discouragement about declining participation (20-60% of their workers) in past face-to-face training events. They felt much money and effort was wasted, particularly because the ones who needed the training the most did not show up.

Digital training does not have to have similar results. Consider these ways in which training digitally can improve participation:

1. pre-recorded to view asynchronously (at any time that is convenient for me)
2. from the convenience of my own home (though there is a small percentage who lack equipment and/or internet access)
3. delivered live but recorded and sent to all those who missed the live event
4. shorter, more focused training delivered more frequently and regularly (think about the amount of training provided during 40 weeks of 10-minute digital training)
5. fresh faces and voices delivering stories and expertise, creating increased interest
6. offer prizes for participation (send in answers to training questions, reply on social media, contribute in a live event, etc.)
7. no childcare is required
8. send out teasers in advance of the training with tidbits about the training or topic.

Choose a topic. Focus it. Find a creative place to record it. Ensure that lighting and sound are good. Promote. Deliver. Seek input. Evaluate content effectiveness and participation. Raise the level of leadership through your digital training. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash