Virtual Training

2Look Mom, I Built a Virtual Training Studio

In January 2019, I sat down with David Monostori, who leads our creative team, and laid out my plan to build a virtual training studio complex at our corporate headquarters from the ground up.

There were two things driving this plan. First, I was worried about the inevitability of a recession hitting within 18–24 months and that we needed to be prepared. Second, I was very unhappy with the of our virtual training deliveries (see voice-over PowerPoints).

In recessions, travel budgets always get slashed, which is generally devastating to private training companies and corporate learning and development (L&D) departments. However, even in recessions, people need training. In fact, when times are bad, elevating and training talent gives organizations a competitive edge. Back in 2019, my plan had been to prepare to shift to high-quality virtual delivery as a hedge for when the next recession hit.

I also thought we could do better, whether or not there was a recession. Personally, I wasn't proud of our virtual training performance and quality. Our virtual deliveries were often poorly planned and delivered on the fly in airports, hotel rooms, and even cars.

David and I devised a plan to build broadcast-quality sound studios specifically for virtual training delivery. When we presented the idea to the rest of the team, though, it didn't go over well. My CFO was not happy about the massive expense involved in building the studio. The sales ...