Page 11 - Staff FocusSeptember 2020

‘It all went smoothly Quick turnround made

and I had worried training available

for nothing’ Training for the first virtual hearings had to be
quickly carried out. The Education and Learning Unit
(ELU) worked as part of the Virtual Summary Trials
Tribunals colleagues have also been at the forefront of project to understand how WebEx could be used to
the virtual revolution and Megan Wilkinson from the deliver pilot hearings.
Health and Education Chamber Team shares her They then used the unit’s technical training and
experience of clerking their first ever video digital learning expertise to develop a plan to meet
conference remote hearing. the needs of the early phases of deployment.
“Essentially we created online guides and checklists,
So I am told I have made Tribunals history – I’m glad I hosted on DELTA, to provide pre-reading and
didn’t know this before I clerked our first video hearing! reference, and a live two-hour WebEx event to replace
Due to COVID-19 the Health and Education Chamber what would have been a face-to-face session,” said
hearings had to be cancelled when the office was closed. Ian White, Senior Digital Learning Designer.
After about six weeks of working at home, we had our first More than 100 staff have now been trained with 25
remote hearing on the telephone, which went well apart WebEx training sessions delivered so far. In the
from my signal cutting out every few hours. coming months the training offering is being
I was introduced to the Cisco WebEx video platform which enhanced by developing self-paced online resources
we would trial for our hearings. I spent a considerable including videos, interactive materials and quizzes.
amount of time learning all about it, and I took part in Virtual hearings will then be business as usual, and
local and corporate training. training will be part of our technical portfolio.
I did numerous tests within my team as I wanted to make Going forward ELU will provide WebEx training for all
sure I had enough practice scheduling and clerking the Megan Wilkinson: ‘I’m told that I have made Tribunals history” staff from October/November 2020 and throughout
hearing. The first hearing was coming up so I read and 2021. Technical Training will deliver WebEx events
re-read the guidance as much as I possibly could. the hearing, so I could make sure I had peace and quiet training for operational staff and Digital Learning
The President was the legal member on the hearing, and during the hearing. will deliver WebEx events, meetings and
there was also an observer – I didn’t think I could have I set everything up 20 minutes before it started and when teams/training (new) for all the other parts of the
any more pressure in one hearing. the legal member joined, the call got locked so we could business and for operational staff not involved in
The day before the hearing I had to do test calls with the have a quick chat before the hearing began. hosting virtual hearings. ELU will publish this
parties, legal member and observer to make sure At 10am, I came off the camera and muted my information in their prospectus which will be
everyone was able to access the link I sent, and that microphone before I let the parties in. available on DELTA and advertised in the Circular
their cameras and microphones worked. The hearing went well and everything ran smoothly – on 5 October 2020.
I went into Glasgow Tribunals Centre on the morning of thankfully. I had worried for nothing.