Publication: There’s no formula for taking sensitive trainings remote
March 23, 2021: YLabs Project Director Laura Baringer was quoted in a recent article published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review discussing how sensitive trainings are going remote and how organizations must plan for these changes.
Here is an excerpt from the article, There’s No Formula for Taking Sensitive Trainings Remote, written by Alexa Hassink & Joe Dougherty.
“Will attendees have access to a private space and device to participate? Does your team have a protocol to delete identifiable information from their phones after a remote session? These are things you have to consider from the beginning.”
While it’s always a challenge to make online training and workshops as effective as in-person sessions, these challenges are particularly acute when dealing with subjects as deeply personal and provocative as gender, racial bias, and/or violence and sexual harassment (as well as when working with underserved and under-resourced participants). And as providers have necessarily switched from in-person to remote sessions during the pandemic, the challenges have become even clearer.
Best practices have begun to emerge. For one thing, we’ve learned that centering participants throughout the design process—from choosing a delivery platform to structuring content—can make it possible to build conducive virtual spaces for tackling sensitive issues, rather than pale imitations of in-person engagements. And there are crucial nuances to getting it right. Running a virtual session of any kind requires setting clear objectives for the session, assigning a facilitator beforehand, getting everyone on video where possible, providing opportunities for participation every 2-3 minutes, and meeting in smaller groups or breakout rooms. Facilitators should be aware of time management, keep sessions to under 90 minutes, offer health breaks, and always test the technology beforehand.
However, we must accept that there is no “copy and paste” formula for taking in-person trainings online. Achieving impact requires creative approaches. Specifically, it requires a deeper understanding of participants’ needs and more thoughtful work to make sure the content and format of the training truly engages their attention, speaks to their concerns, and is responsive and flexible.
YLabs, which leads remote training and co-design sessions with youth teams in India, Ethiopia, and Kenya stressed the importance of considering the safeguarding and ethical implications of virtual sessions when planning an event. “Will attendees have access to a private space and device to participate? Does your team have a protocol to delete identifiable information from their phones after a remote session? These are things you have to consider from the beginning,” said Baringer.
