Exercising operational agility in virtual training sessions

ABSTRACT

As businesses adapt during the recovery phase of COVID-19, there has been a major reset in the way work activities are prepared, conducted, and delivered. In this challenging environment, it may not be prudent or possible to have face-to-face workshops involving key personnel. This certainly applies to the conduct of hazard management training, where personnel would typically learn, apply, and reinforce the required learning competencies in a collegiate environment. It has become evident that facilitators have had to alter the way they organize and deliver content in a virtual environment to ensure that there is no adverse change in quality. The challenge is to maintain engagement and foster a nurturing environment to promote learning and communication among the learners as well as between the learners and facilitator(s). This paper relays the good and bad experiences from Sherpa's delivery of hazard management virtual training to operating facilities located nationally and overseas. Sherpa identified eight key steps in the plan and prepare phase of developing a training session that can be used to equip facilitators with operational agility. Sherpa then developed solutions to overcome the challenges of a virtual environment and ensure that key learning outcomes are successfully delivered. © 2022 American Institute of Chemical Engineers