TD Bank Develops Virtual Master Trainer Program

By Margery Weinstein

Growth and an ever-expanding geography were making it a challenge for TD Bank to achieve its goal to continually improve the skills of its employees. To meet that challenge, TD University embraced the virtual classroom. The company knew its best source of expertise was its own skilled classroom instructors. They “wowed” employees in the classroom, so the company saw no reason they shouldn’t also wow them online. To ensure their skills translated into a virtual space, the company launched the Virtual Master Trainer program, a certification process to build a corps of skilled virtual instructors. Here are the details of this program:

• The first step in the certification process is a two-hour online class to get comfortable with the basics of the Adobe Connect online meeting room. Participants are given an opportunity to master the technology of the online room. They also explore the roles of the virtual participant, presenter, and host; meeting room management; and best practices. The class is followed by independent practice and a certification session where participants must demonstrate and explain 20 basic functions.
• More than 50 TD University instructors have completed this first step. But it is not enough to master the mechanics of the online meeting space. The company believes great online instructors also must be able to engage, teach, and inspire students to build the sales, service, and leadership skills they need to succeed. Online hosts with potential are nominated to participate in the Virtual Master program, an intensive experience that includes:

1. Three 90-minute online classes focused on best practices for engaging participants and presenting training in the virtual classroom. Virtual Master trainers participate in intersession work to learn advanced features of the virtual platform and sophisticated facilitation techniques to help their learners to better connect and engage in the virtual classroom.
2. Practice with feedback, leading to each student conducting an online session of his or her own. In this session, students must demonstrate mastery of the technology and best practices of facilitation under the watchful eye of the instructor.
3. Following this formal demonstration of mastery, the candidate must facilitate several online sessions of real virtual classes, again under observation. Only then can the candidate be certified as a Virtual Master. They then can serve as observers and mentors for the next round of Virtual Master candidates.

• This program was developed internally by the TD University Learning Solutions Team's Virtual Study Group, which established best practices for virtual facilitation and design based on industry research and experience with the company’s inaugural virtual classes. The study group developed facilitation standards and integrated them into TD University’s Facilitation Observation Standards. Virtual Masters are observed regularly facilitating virtual classes and provided with constructive feedback by experienced virtual trainers. A virtual leader’s guide was created and used for the design of three additional virtual offerings.
• Many virtual classes are now in development at TD University. Because of the Virtual Master program, the company says it will have a skilled cadre of virtual instructors ready to make a “WOW! experience” for its learners.

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