Phone a friend? Not waiting for someone to help any more!
When we begin our sessions with our seniors, carers and care workers we quickly identify the participants who are less confident than others. They might keep their camera off, stay on mute, be looking at all places but in the camera and generally be very quiet. The skill of our facilitators is to ‘see’ them and gently nudge them to participate.
At a recent care worker session, we had one such participant, let’s call her Sita. Sita was very nervous from the outset. As we began the virtual session she said, “I can’t really do anything, but if you need me to do something I can get Jane over. She is here to help me”. We pointed out that in the beginning of the session the only thing she would need to be able to do was put herself on mute. “I don’t know how to do that” she said, and quickly called Jane over to do it for her.
At that point we didn’t say anything. However, it really highlighted how common that first instinct is to ask for help to solve a problem. Our question is whether this is because the level of uncertainty around digital tools is so much higher than in other situations which stops people 'experimenting’ to find the answer? What is rewarding is the reaction they have when they can do something for themselves. As was the case for Sita.
That’s the heart of our approach to our digital learning process - that we enable our participants to be self-sufficient and confident to solve their own problems rather than rely on others.
As Sita’s training session progressed, there was the need to again unmute participants. Our facilitators were ready though, and before they gave the instructions they worked individually with Sita to help her understand how to do it, without having to call over Jane. Well, when she was able to do it for herself, she was overjoyed. It might seem like such a small thing, but for our participants it is a symbol of their digital independence. Seeing that happen is what keeps us motivated and passionate about what we do.
Sita’s experience also reminds us that we are not trying to develop everyone to be digital experts. In some cases, we are taking people from 0 to 1 in terms of their digital knowledge. Giving them enough to be curious.
Importantly, it is understanding the basic functions of their devices, not just the features of particular software or apps, that is the key. Once they know this, they can then explore for themselves - and they do. Often in our second and third sessions with our participants they have stories of digital activity they have taken part in - finding websites, connections with colleagues or family and friends through communication tools and so the list goes on. All of this because they have confidence in the basics and they build from there. It’s rewarding to see that progress from session to session, especially when these are often only a week or so apart.
Let’s finish with a reflection from Sita. At the end of the session she reflected, “I never thought I would be able to do some of these things by myself. It all felt very confusing but now I’m really proud I can do this on my own - off I go”. You have to love that.
Situations like this are where YourLink can help care providers. We’ve seen it countless times and have experience in how to support your care workers. So give us a call if your organisation wants to support the “Sita” within your organisation and the team of care workers.
Contact Richard Scenna, Director by email richard@yourlink.com.au or phone 0408 742 743.
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