On the importance of corporate communications in remote work and the rules for the organisation of online training

We need to build communications within the company

STEP LOGIC pays a lot of attention to corporate communications. We regard corporate communications as the glue that preserves corporate cohesion during remote work, integration of new hires, and whenever people need to be kept abreast of the activities of related business units. In order to facilitate cooperation, we've put together a pool of communications tools that employees can pick and choose from depending on what task they're working on or how urgent their message is. These tools streamline corporate communications to prevent people from getting lost in a 'zoo' of messengers and planners.

Employees that really enjoy their line of work tend to spend more time working. Sometimes, discussing work-related issues with colleagues takes up time outside the working hours. We try to develop conditions for such communication by sending our staff to professional conferences or training workshops, as well as by creating a comfortable day-to-day environment at the office or, which is more relevant today, online. During lockdown, we held a series of webinars on topics relevant to our employees, such as handling stress, emotional intelligence, effective communications, etc. In order to maintain team cohesion, we launched a project called Plague Chronicles comprising short video messages from management to the company as well as informal interviews with colleagues from various departments.  

In any professional environment, one first has to feel they belong before they can feel they are achieving their potential. By creating a comfortable environment for our staff to communicate in, our company wins in the long term from the development of staff competencies. In an environment like this, people can discuss their ideas with colleagues, get some useful advice from more experienced specialists as well as get support for the implementation of even the most ambitious plans.

How to organise successful online training

Because of the type of business they are in, IT companies generally tend to have more experience in remote cooperation than companies in other sectors, and that also applies to training. For one, most of our employees already learn primarily online. Since the start of the year, our company's technicians have completed over 70 training and professional development courses with 2/3 of the classes being completed remotely, with qualification examinations and tests being administered in remote mode as well. So for STEP LOGIC employees, the prevalence of distance learning is not something new or exotic.

Second, once a week, we hold webinars and remote training sessions for colleagues and partners. We've chosen this format of interaction because it optimises costs and saves time, and in project management, which is how we do the bulk of our business, the importance of time can hardly be overestimated.

Furthermore, STEP LOGIC has extensive competencies in building digital environments for remote interaction. As a systems integrator, we offer solutions for multimedia conference rooms equipped with cutting-edge tech to conduct online negotiations and hold mixed format meetings.

This experience has allowed us to develop some universal rules of successful online training. Let me cite the five most important ones of them
as I see it:

•      check that your equipment is reliable;
•      build a training mode that is comfortable for all involved;
•      consolidate knowledge through practice;
•      think through formats and tools for tracking and assessing student progress;
•      remember that in any training, the deciding factor is motivation.

By: Deputy CEO for Human Resources Management at STEP LOGIC Irina Grishina

Source: ict-online.ru