Why Virtual RCA Training?

This may seem obvious since many training providers took their live courses and started presenting them virtually when the COVID pandemic struck. But we knew the value and quality of our live face-to-face training and we saw many poor quality virtual courses that just didn’t deliver. Therefore, we waited. We hoped that COVID would pass and we could return to effective, live, face-to-face training.

However, by June COVID was still around. Some companies were starting to hold live, face-to-face training or sending people to our public courses, but many were begging us to provide a virtual course experience that was just as effective as our 2-Day TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Training.

We could see that COVID was sticking around and that many TapRooT® Users might wait until mid-2021 to have live training, so we decided to try to produce training to match the quality of our 2-Day TapRooT® Course.

Therefore, we started assessing various virtual training platforms and testing ways to provide virtual training that would be interactive and effective.

Virtual RCA Training Development

We knew that just providing our 2-Day TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Course virtually was not an option. Why?

• Eight hours of virtual training in a day was just too long.
• Our instructors were practiced at making live, face-to-face training interactive, but this was more difficult in the virtual classroom.
• The classroom environment is different than the virtual environment. We knew that picking the right training delivery software environment would be important.
• We didn’t know how many people we could effectively teach in a virtual course.

Therefore, we started testing different software virtual delivery systems and experimented with changes to content and timing.

• We found a delivery system that provided a great virtual training experience that included virtual breakout rooms for team exercises.
• We found that students could remain alert and interactive in three-hour segments that were structured with the right amount of interactive exercises, instructional content, exercises, and breaks.
• We started with 10 person classes with two instructors to allow good interaction between students and instructors and provide an instructor to handle technical challenges while the other instructor taught.
• We found ways to add quizzes, exercises, and software practice to the course to keep people involved.

Virtual RCA Training Testing & Refinement

By early July, we had a draft course that was ready for testing. Our first test used our staff and our contract instructors. We tested:

• Our course material conversions to a virtual environment.
• The timing of segments, breaks, and lunch.
• Various quizzes and new exercise ideas.
• The number of people to have in a virtual course and the capacity of our wifi with multiple students and breakout rooms.
• How to coach the use of TapRooT® Software in a virtual environment.
• The studio needed to conduct an effective course.

Ken teaching in the virtual classroom studio.

It was now August. After testing on our staff, we partnered with three TapRooT® Users (three different companies) to test our refined virtual course with a follow up post-course coaching and evaluation regimen to ensure the training was effective.

The testing continued through November. We found that:

• The six-hour per day, three-day course was effective and received excellent student reviews.
• Post-course coaching of the student’s first application of the TapRooT® System was very effective to reinforce the classroom learning. Not only did this question and answer/coaching session after their first investigation provide the students with a chance to ask questions about their use of TapRooT® RCA, but it also provided the instructors with feedback on the students’ use of the techniques and ideas of ways to make the training more effective.
• Some of our initial post-course training (we initially held two post-course mini-review sessions plus an incident review) wasn’t needed and could be dropped to save student’s and instructor’s time.
• Some quizzes and exercises could be modified to simplify the course administration but keep the interactive elements of the training,
• We could increase the number of students in the class to 16 and reduce the number of instructors to one once the instructors were fully familiar with the virtual training environment and the new course materials.

During the later part of the testing, We started testing contract instructors’ wifi connections to ensure the needed capacity for conducting multiple, simultaneous courses and certifying more of our instructors to teach the new virtual RCA course.

When the testing was complete, we held two review and refinement meetings to improve the course once again.

That brought us to the end of the year.

Virtual TapRooT® Root Cause Analysis Course

With all this course testing and refinement, what did the virtual course content turn out to be? Here is the course outline…

Course Outline

Day One (9:00 am to 4:00 pm with a 1-hour lunch)

• Class Introductions and TapRooT® Introduction
• TapRooT® System Overview – What You’ll Be Learning
• SnapCharT® Basics – Gathering Information
• LUNCH (1-hour)
• SnapCharT® Exercise – Practice
• Causal Factors – Identifying the Errors

Day Two (9:00 am to 4:00 pm with a 1-hour lunch)

• Root Cause Tree® – Eliminating Blame
• Root Cause Analysis Team Exercise
• Lunch (1-hour)
• Corrective Actions (The Corrective Action Helper®)
• Generic Causes

Day Three (9:00 am to 4:00 pm with a 1-hour lunch)

• Putting It All Together
• Reporting – The Management Presentation
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Lunch (1-Hour)
• Final Exercise – Putting to Work What You Have Learned
• Final Exercise Management Presentation

Learning Environment

The course is given virtually using an online teaching platform. Each student must have their own computer, with a webcam on during the class, allowing them to see the instructor, be seen by the instructor, and interact with the class. There will be continuous opportunities for participation, with plenty of breaks to keep everyone engaged. Team exercises will be completed throughout the course and will utilize cloud-based TapRooT® Software.

Course Materials

1. TapRooT® Essentials Book
2. Laminated TapRooT® Root Cause Tree®
3. TapRooT® Root Cause Tree® Dictionary
4. Corrective Action Helper® Guide
5. 3-Day Virtual Course Workbook

For more information, CLICK HERE.

Post-Course Investigation Coaching

This is one of the most significant changes we made to improve the effectiveness of virtual training.

After the course is complete, the student can schedule an approximately 30-minute long review of their first application of the TapRooT® System to investigate an incident or to perform an audit.

A TapRooT® Expert (probably their instructor) will review the students SnapCharT®, Causal Factors, root causes (use of the Root Cause Tree®, and corrective actions (use of the Corrective Action Helper®). The student can ask questions, and receive advice that will improve their future use of the TapRooT® System.

We have found that this review and coaching is very valuable and provides one more virtual face-to-face learning opportunity after the information from the course has been allowed to sink in and then be applied in a real-world situation.

How To Schedule a Virtual Course for Your Company

For the first six months of 2021, we will be providing an opportunity for companies to schedule a Virtual 3-Day TapRooT® Training for up to 16 people at a time. The number of these courses will be limited as we certify our own in-house instructors (expanding our capability to deliver this interactive training).

Therefore, to get training for your company’s employees, contact by clicking on this link…

SCHEDULE A VIRTUAL COURSE

Also, we will not be certifying company instructors or offering public virtual courses until after an evaluation of the program at the 2021 Global TapRooT® Summit to be held on June 14-18 in Knoxville, TN. This review is to ensure the quality of the training and provide another opportunity to review the course with the TapRooT® Advisory Board.

Therefore … Don’t Wait!

Slots to conduct virtual training will fill up fast. Click the button above or call your TapRooT® Implementation Expert at 865-539-2139 and get your course scheduled today.