Bi-Jingo Academy goes Virtual…

In 2014 we launched the Bi-Jingo Academy, endorsed by the ILM it is our investment in both our people and our industry.  We took our SMART approach to rehearsal and feedback and designed in-house sessions for our Associates that would strengthen the skills and competencies necessary to perform where it counts – out there, with our clients.

 

The Academy has since become a cornerstone of the Bi-Jingo brand, our chance to get creative with strategy, rehearsal and performance in-house, ensuring our people are the best they can be. All our Academy graduates tell us that the programme has made tangible difference to their working practice and the way they approach the work they do for us. They have also told us how much they value learning from each other. 

 

Collaboration fuels all our work here at Bi-Jingo, it is an essential ingredient for rehearsal.  Our work is also global – we have local teams in more than 20 countries. When we ran our second Academy in 2015 we had Associates travel from our teams in Hong Kong, Holland and India – participants spoke 9 languages between them.

 

But of course it isn’t possible for all of our people to travel 5000 miles to take part in an Academy session…so we needed to do what we do best…get creative.

 

Recent virtual training sessions with our clients had offered up the perfect platform in Adobe Connect. Slide-shows, white-boards, instant chat and (most importantly) faces share the screen – live. The software meant we could take our Academy online, enabling our actors to interact with content and with each other, wherever they are in the world.

 

On Monday 12th Sept, 12 Associates from 3 different time zones, clicked on the link that gave them access to our Virtual Academy.  They joined from Ireland, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, India, USA, Germany, Mexico, and the UK. Some were at home, some were at work, but they were all in our training ‘room’, sharing their thoughts, their challenges and their talent.

 

We are immensely excited by the possibilities that working in this way creates for us as a business – and keen to surmount the usual bandwidth challenges that come with working virtually (however frustrating they are at the time!). Next week our team of 12 will be working in virtual skills pods; virtual, collaborative and social learning.   Working in this way grows both skill and community. It strengthens our people and the Bi-Jingo brand worldwide. It also really engages our team, which we think is hugely important.

 

Thank you so much for a great session! Wow, I really loved that. It felt great to be connected to the broader Bi-Jingo community (so impressively huge) and to formally hear about expectations and professionalism… Thanks so much, again, and see you next week!! 🙂

Andrea Jones-Rooy – USA