In class the other night we were discussing virtual zoom rooms for training. I have some deep background in that, but one that is getting shallower each day. It was intriguing to hear how my classmate, Zach's, organization dealt with the impact of a Covid, and compare it to my organization’s problems and solutions.
Our organization was quite proud of the fact that we never shut down. As a non-profit that is built around the “health and safety” of the contractor workforce that supports the energy industry we thought it was imperative that we not shut our doors to these essential workers, but also to prescribe to every single abatement measure put out by the CDC. We invested heavily in handwash stations, social distancing communique, KN95 masks for the entire staff, and tons and tons of plexiglass. In the end, we never became a hotspot for Covid exposure, and many other organizations and schools came to our campus to see what worked for us and model themselves off our successes.
What I found interesting is something you allude to. At the beginning of the response to Covid, we launched a zoom option that our contracting companies could utilize. No one used it. Well, we used it three times in two years, but in each case, it was to provide international classes (1 to Mexico and 2 to UAE). None were regional or local. Instead, we found that the barriers to entry to utilize and create a zoom room classroom were so low our contracting members were doing it themselves and bypassing us. Additionally, when we did offer the ability for contractors to work from home or train remotely, invariably they came in for face-to-face and CBT learning at our brick and mortar campus. This was a complete surprise to us.
What we are seeing now is that there is a hunger to get back to the in-person meetings and training classes we support. Zoom and remote have been seen as temporary instead of a hard and fast change for the industry we support.
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