It’s been all too easy, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, to forget some of the things that happened before it. Indeed, it’s sometimes a real boost to get a reminder. I got one recently in the form of this video that popped up in my LinkedIn feed last week.
The video was shared by a colleague, Keti Vasadze, who had attended this course:
The course in Tbilisi was the first I delivered for the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation, focusing on Conciliation of Collective Labour Disputes. Indeed, I wrote about the course just afterwards in a previous Strathesk Re:solutions blog. These courses are particularly rewarding for me. They combine my background and experience of industrial relations as a trade union negotiator, with my more recent and growing experience as part of Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution‘s Mediation Skills Training Faculty.
It’s all in the delivery…
One of the joys of delivering these courses is the people I meet, both the participants and the ILO staff. In Georgia, the knowledge and support of co-trainers Sharon Wakeford and Ebrahim Patelia, both experienced mediators and trainers from South Africa (and featured in the video) was invaluable. This has also been a feature of each of the courses I’ve delivered since.
I’ve just completed the coaching and assessment phase from a similar course in Ukraine, the follow up to a theory course I delivered in Kiev last November. It was wonderful to see, hear and meet the participants again, albeit this time Covid-19 meant we had to deliver the course using Zoom.
Indeed, this was an eye-opening experience. A mere 6 months ago, although familiar with and regularly using Zoom, I would have doubted that it could be used to deliver such complex training by video-conference. Particularly with simultaneous translation! However, having completed the course, I can’t deny that, while perhaps not as smooth and seamless as face to face delivery, it proved to be extremely effective.
I’d be interested to know your thoughts on this subject, so please leave a comment, but if you’d like to discuss this topic more directly please contact us or give me a call on 07736068787.