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My day starts… in a haze as I'm not a morning person. I go through the motions of getting prepared in a semi-dazed state and creep into consciousness and coherence as I stumble out the door for a walk with the dog and the husband (and sometimes the cats). I'm acutely aware of how lockdown has adversely affected life and livelihood so it has made me even more appreciative of so many things: that I can now have a less frantic start to the day that doesn't involve scrambling to catch the early train, that there is space nearby that's not virtual to get some fresh air, and the fact that the University and my team have shown flexibility and understanding in the face of remote working.
I’m responsible for…making sure that the Learning & Development team are fully empowered to provide exceptional learning experiences to Professional Services staff as well as research students - be it in person, online, or a blend of these. When I started out in January 2020 as Training Operations Lead, the Learning & Development portfolio within Organisational Development (OD) comprised 1200 mostly face-to-face courses for the Academic Year. My role organically evolved come March 2020 to take on the challenge of providing continuity in the face of the Covid crisis and making sure that the courses, learning, and life go on and go well.
The Learning & Development portfolio currently consists of fully online (both live/synchronous and self-paced/asynchronous) courses so I am now involved in the learning design and educational technologies aspects of training operations. This involves, among other things: consulting with course and content owners, providers, and facilitators to get a clearer view of the learning needs and outcomes for the learners and just as importantly, empowering the team by working out platforms, process, and tools to best deliver these learning experiences to the learners. This also means making sure that both facilitators and the team are equipped with the know-how and know-now through live upskilling sessions and point-of-need resources.
My typical day…starts by checking in with the team, scanning my to-do list, triaging emails and actions, and then diving headlong into a flurry of meetings, calls, chats, walkthroughs/demos, process and tool testing, and online content build and reviews - a number of them running concurrently at times. Every now and then I try to squeeze in a webinar to make sure that I am able to keep abreast of University and industry knowledge and standards and help ensure that the team and other colleagues are constantly kept up-to-date as well.
Most memorable work moment…I think I can count the emergency response to the Covid-19 lockdown among my memorable work milestones. Within hours of the University declaring the suspension of all face-to-face teaching activities in March 2020, I spearheaded the pivot to online to seamlessly roll out 192 previously face-to-face courses for the March - August 2020 term to over 13000 staff and research students to a remote online learning format composed of a mix of live (synchronous) webinars and self-paced (asynchronous) material. This was done rapidly yet methodically through the efforts of the L&D team to: scope and align with the available infrastructure and guidelines set by Teaching and Learning, Information Systems Division, and the Information Security Group; gauge provider willingness, access, and proficiency in terms of moving to an online mode of course delivery; streamline the portfolio to a more manageable undertaking based on provider and team capacity; and engage personally with facilitators and providers in open conversations to understand learning needs and outcomes and ensure that these were properly translated into meaningful online experiences for all. This was complemented by an OD-wide knowledge-sharing session in April 2020 to distil information and usage guidelines on the online platforms available for use at that time.
In June 2020 during an OD Away Day, I had the honour of recounting this amazing journey that the whole L&D team undertook and how we did so with much resilience and even more resourcefulness. The team worked at pace and in step with each other to make sure that we were able to support not just our learners but even our providers as well in navigating these strange times. It was only after sharing this achievement with the wider OD team that the magnitude of the undertaking dawned upon me and I was swept away by the exhaustion and exhilaration of it all.
One note to add to this sweet symphony of success is that while all of these were unfolding, I lost high frequency hearing in one ear a few weeks into starting with the University and was only properly diagnosed shortly before lockdown after a long battle with the health system. I was completely untreated and unaided for more than 8 months so my feelings of helplessness and isolation brought about by the hearing loss spurred me on even more to make sure that the learners, facilitators, and of course the team did not have to deal with these feelings because suddenly finding one's self in a different environment - whether physical or virtual - can be truly terrifying. Our new way of working may be remote, but it doesn't have to be distant.
The best part of my job…I'm very process-driven and geeky so I enjoy seeking out tools, and techniques for learning design and technology but at the heart of it all, what brings me fulfilment and satisfaction is working with and nurturing the development of very brilliant, talented, and just overall-wonderful people to present great learning experiences to others - be it on a small scale by sharing tips and tricks with the team, peers and colleagues or on a larger scale through full-scale training programmes. I enjoy the challenge of distilling what exactly learners need, when, and how best to deliver this; drawing up plans and processes to translate this into reality; and then drawing on team members' unique skills and talents to deliver to our learners. The beauty of it is that this aspect of the job means the learning never ends - we all learn from and about each other.
After work…is very low key and has always been even before lockdown. I live a good 100+ minutes away from London so after work pre-Covid usually meant making a beeline for the train station with fervent hopes that there are no breakdowns because the next train is usually 40 minutes away. I did make an attempt to explore the food places in the Bloomsbury area with my husband and was thrilled with the diversity and range of not just food but goods and experiences. Once lockdown set in though it has been the same scene before, during, and after work: at home with food and chocolate involved one way or another. It does make it harder to draw that line between work and home life especially since other people are more aware of my availability online.
My back-up plan…Is not so much a back-up plan but a plan on the back burner for the moment. My post-graduate degree is in Distance Education and I want to further this with the Education and Technology programme in the IOE. The University has shown great compassion and flexibility in accommodating people's different needs and circumstances and the Masters programme itself offers different modes that take into account both face-to-face and online settings so whatever the new normal emerges to be, this plan remains hopefully, quite feasible.
After 20 years in Learning & Development, I have at times wondered how my decisions have led me and kept me here. After completing my bachelor's degree, I seriously considered taking up law because of one of my role models: a well-respected lawyer known for her integrity inside and outside the courtroom, a law professor, and eventually the youngest woman to be accepted as a judge. She is also a personal friend of mine and I admire her as a person and how she manages to strike a healthy work-life balance and raise adorable, well-mannered kids. At that point in time, I was helping raise my younger siblings so it wasn't an option I could easily pursue. I wouldn't be here had I pursued that path but I probably would have still tried to find a way to be involved in helping people learn and develop in that field. I just can't help myself!