Virtual Group Materials That Increase Engagement and Build Your Brand
COVID-19 offers a unique opportunity to explore how to best deliver virtual psychoeducation groups with hands-on tools
Treatment programs, especially intensive outpatient programs (IOPs), are quickly redesigning their curriculum in order to facilitate virtual groups. Although most program changes are in response to the recent social distancing requirements, this new virtual approach may become a norm for how service is delivered in the future. Logistics have always been a challenge, and sometimes even a barrier, for outpatient programs given client work schedules, family commitments, and traffic congestion in metropolitan areas. Given our current circumstances, it may be an opportunity to look at your curriculum, especially if you haven’t done so in a while. Do you have anybody on your clinical team who has knowledge or experience in training virtual instructor-led sessions? This may be the time to look externally for professional expertise in the Learning and Development field, perhaps from a member from the Association for Training Development (ATD). This may also be an opportunity to rethink and rebuild your client onboarding packets to now include rich psychoeducational materials. How do your clinicians and coaches host Zoom sessions that are both engaging and educational? PowerPoint lectures may be the easy answer to get started, but often result in boredom and disengaged participants. Here are three areas and a few questions to help you explore how best to adapt to this new virtual environment:
Engagement — Are your virtual groups engaging?
PowerPoints are not enough
Quality tools send the message to clients that they are valued and the topics they are learning are important for their treatment and recovery.
Are your virtual group session engaging? Why? What virtual facilitation techniques are you using?
Do you use the breakout feature of your virtual meeting platform to get people talking in smaller groups?
Are you including high quality psychoeducational materials that are well designed, useful, and add value to the learning experience?
Are you providing tools to your virtual learners or are you relying on the presentation skills of your clinicians. Is everyone on your team effective in this environment or only a handful?
2. Education — Do you engage all learning styles?
Tools help individuals learn the subject matter, build their vocabulary, and express what they are learning more effectively with others.
How will you design your virtual group sessions to reach all learning styles, not just auditory learners using a PowerPoint lecture format?
Do you teach evidence-based practices and make them concrete through experiential learning methods?
Do the activities and tools you use enable everyone to apply what they are learning real-time based on their own situations.?
Please note that you can conduct hands-on activities with tools in virtual group sessions. Enduring materials give clients something tangible to hold onto that reinforces the information presented.
3. Documentation — Can you capture group outcomes easily?
Documenting participant’s insights is for both the client’s benefit and your program needs. Take a moment to review your current curriculum and identify areas for enhancements or replacements.
Do you have an efficient approach for distributing activity worksheets to participants prior to virtual group sessions?
Are your materials well-designed and of professional quality?
Are your worksheets engaging and functionally useful?
Do your worksheets offer an effective way to document client takeaways to meet your compliance requirements?
Other Questions to Explore
Bring these questions to your next team meeting:
1. What psychoeducation materials do you include in your client material packets?
2. Are your client materials evidence-based, engaging, and easy-to-use?
3. Do you have an easy method for clients to download Activity Worksheets or reading assignments?
4. Are your client materials interesting enough to be shared with others in recovery, family members, or friends?
5. Do the tools you provide build and extend your brand?
6. When was the last time you sent something of value to your alumni in the mail versus yet another email?
7. What’s your strategy to touch and add value to your clients and alumni in 2020?
Please contact us if you’d like to explore any of these questions with our experienced Learning and Development professionals.
Build A Customized Client Toolkit for Home Delivery
Use the Discovery Cards as an educational tool to increase engagement in your virtual sessions. Include a Discovery Card deck or multiple decks in your client materials packet. We build customized tool kits, or even branded toolboxes, that include the Discovery Cards decks, client guides, and activity worksheets. Your logo can be added to the decks, toolboxes, and/or activity worksheets to extend your brand far beyond your virtual sessions. We can also virtually train your clinical team to use them effectively and practice real time. Logistics are no longer a barrier for print-based materials with Amazon, FedEx, UPS, and other carriers. This may be the right time to touch your clients and alumni in a unique and engaging way.
Build Your Brand — Add your logo on the Discovery Cards
Use the Discovery Cards to build your organization's brand. Workbooks and worksheets typically get thrown away after a treatment or recovery program. The Discovery Cards are rarely thrown away. They are kept on desks or in prominent places at home and often reused with others. Add your logo and contact information to Discovery Card boxes to promote and extend your brand. Use with both clients in treatment or alumni in after-care programs. The benefits will be exponential as they share and use the tools with family members, friends, and individuals in their broader recovery networks.
Lastly, we hope that you, your family, friends, and coworkers are healthy and safe during this challenging time. That is most important. Know that we are here and available to address your training and engagement needs when you are ready. Thank you for your interest in our work and being part of our R1 community. Please take a moment and do the following:
1. Share this blog post with others. (Thank you!)
2. Start a conversation with your team. Bring this information to your next team meeting or share it with your supervisor. Change starts in conversations. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
3. Visit www.R1LEARNING.com to learn more about R1, the R1 Learning System, our Discovery Cards, and how we’re creating engaging learning experiences through self-discovery.