As the world is adapting to the new normal we have developed a modular online highly interactive workshop to assist us all in this new normal. Given that we can suddenly have certain groups of staff isolating for a period of time we now have the ability to put them on engaging training. So how did this online workshop come into being?
In these interesting times, the world has moved online as businesses fulfill this need in any manner they can. I resisted this for a very long time as I do not want to be someone who is just creating more noise in an already overcrowded space. However, I was due to deliver essential training to a large group of people socially distanced in a massive hall with a large high screen. This had all been agreed upon and was considered critical by the powers that be.
The afternoon prior to this, which was a Sunday, the boss rang me as there were a couple of staff uncomfortable with meeting under the current guidelines. This is something I can understand given we all have personal reasons why we would prefer not to get sick, we all need to adapt to the new normal and that may need to be through technology online.
Luckily, as I had recently qualified in facilitating a system that can be delivered wholly online if need be, I was able to swing those new skills into action. I created in a matter of hours a version of what we were delivering that could be delivered in a virtual way with a large amount of participant interactivity. As we all know participant engagement is something that is difficult when you can be competing for the attention of someone's social media, the dog needing to go out, email etc.
This also means we cannot do an entire day of screen interactive training and expect great results. Therefore I made the online section 1/2 a day and produced a worksheet for those on the other half of the group. An interesting point here is that participants who had done the worksheet in the morning often commented on how good it was to have seen some related content prior to the workshop.
And so we had a surprising number of online feedback forms filled in. The content and method of delivery causing a swell of positive responses. As an outcome from word of mouth, I have been asked if I can do something bespoke for three other customers and approached by someone who used to work for the original service who has asked me to deliver the online workshop covering slightly different content to a new staff group.
It remains to be seen how this method of interaction comes over with a group of staff who have never met me. That is going to be interesting. There are however a karge number of testimonials on the workshop page.
I have finally put this online as a course and have decided to make it modular in nature meaning that the attention span of the average participant to a screen is not going to be all day. Each section can be a slightly or completely different subject. Starting with ACT does seem to have a positive effect on people especially coming to understand others feel a similar way to themselves.
Challenging Behaviour is a term the healthcare sector has misused for years. When the term was originally introduced, it was an attempt to move away from the then widely used term "behaviourally disturbed". The healthcare sector recognised that the term had become associated with some very negative connotations and therefore should not, in good conscience, be given to an individual.
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A service director the other day commented how it was only on Physical Intervention training that the staff start questioning to the Nth degree about scenarios and possible outcomes of events. She stated that it would not happen on a first aid course. Well I know a first aid trainer who would disagree, however I have been on a lot of training as a participant in the last year (see biog) and can agree her point is valid.
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From Inception D8 was formed as a method of getting high quality training to those who care for individuals in distress. Part of that concept involves smaller companies and individuals who find accessing training prohibitive for various reasons. Apart from the obvious cost implications with running a full training course there are also the implications regarding closing a business to release staff for the course to occur.
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When under pressure we respond in a small number of differing ways. These tend to be in 2 main camps. Those who feel the need to control and those who have a more relaxed attitude. The question is which has a better effect on the person in distress? Picture this, you are under pressure and in distress and you shout at your partner "just get me my dinner!" and your partner replies "No, you will not talk to me in that manner! ENOUGH now."
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Over the last few years we have had a terrific response in terms of de-escalation with our course incorporating Affect Labelling. Emotions arise to make us pay attention to our environment. The more emotional our experience, the less we can think clearly, resist impulses, and engage in constructive problem-solving. By creating even the simplest label, we learn to express what we are experiencing. At a rudimentary level, we think about what is causing us to feel emotion and take action to experience either more or less of the emotion, depending on the situation.
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The mind shift almost always travels from introductions where people say / imply things that contradict the basic philosophy of the course to an ending where people state publicly (or privately to me) how they always thought like this. Usually adding something like - “it is great that a training like this exists so that all those other people I work with whose attitude needs adjusting can access it”.
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What would you do? This seems to be an innocent question with a straight forward answer. However, when asked by someone who works in healthcare industry, assumptions take over and most people are convinced they know exactly what that entails – lets look at the options
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The term debriefing is an industry-used term. In our industry while useful it is often misunderstood when talking about application at ground floor or grassroots level. When discussing the term de-briefing we @de-escalate.com have separated the term debriefing into different areas. I will discuss one of these here.
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If there is any indication or suspicion that anyone has suffered an injury or psychological trauma following the incident / use of physical intervention they must receive treatment and support as soon as is reasonably possible. Debriefing is misused as a term, and while analysis is important in a Positive Behaviour Support framework, your D.ESCAL8™ facilitator discussed these two areas and the differences between debriefing and offloading.
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Teaching different groups can lead to predictable responses. When you teach a group where half the participants work with younger kids (under 11 ish) and the other half work with young people (teens) there is a clear dichotomy in their attitudes and responses around problem behaviour. It all comes back to the issue around the distractor versus the reinforcer.
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I have wanted to do a post about Hanlon's Razor for a while and the mask issue has led to me combining that here. Our non verbal communication being misinterpreted or misunderstood should not be considered intentional.
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This is a series of images sent to me by the area boss. It's not merely about the evaluations people provide at the end. It’s about the deeper consolidation achieved through meaningful conversations within the team. These conversations foster understanding, collaboration, and alignment, which are far more impactful than numerical scores or rankings. The true value lies in engaging dialogue that strengthens bonds and resolves challenges. Success stems from shared insights and collective growth within the team. Conversations truly matter in building trust and unity.
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