The Project
An e-learning piece to support the re-opening of Museums during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Background
Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales is a Welsh Government sponsored body of nine museums and collection services in Wales.
Like many public serving organisations within the heritage and tourist sector, the museums were closed during the Covid pandemic.
As restrictions lifted, Amgueddfa Cymru identified the need to train all staff about the new measures that were put in place for visitors and employees, as a result of the ongoing covid related laws and guidelines.
The aim of the course was to ensure employee safety and wellbeing as museums re-opened and to reassure and help staff across all museums and departments to adjust and adapt in ever changing circumstances. As staff could not physically return to work until their understanding of the new working practices and protocols were confirmed, e-learning became the clear and obvious method of delivery.
Challenges
One of the key challenges of this project was to deliver a piece of learning in the very short time between Government announcements of changing lockdown rules, and the subsequent re-opening of the Museums. The need to be agile and reactive was huge, whilst timeframes and details of the course content were uncertain and changing all the time. In addition, due to the unexpected nature of the requirements, museum budgets and staff resources – due to furloughing – were also limited.
As the e-learning piece would act in place of being physically and personally welcomed back to work after a significant, and in some cases, difficult period of absence, it was essential to create a tone that was both informative, appreciative of staff support and resilience through such a difficult period and most importantly, to deliver clarity and to be reassuring with regard to staff and visitor safety. It needed to convey both the importance of understanding the new regimes, but also emphasise how both the Covid pandemic and the changes it would bring were an experience shared by all, from the Director General, DIrectors and Trustees .
The final challenge was the multi-faceted content of the course, as multiple departments, including Senior Leadership, Health and Safety, Wellbeing and Human Resources would all need to contribute and communicate their own clear message including updated policies and processes. Finally, the learning had to presented bi-lingually, in adherence with the Welsh Language Standards.
Our Approach
RealSense worked jointly with Amgueddfa Cymru and their team to identify and establish the aims and objectives, to produce a storyboard and establish a style reflecting the new brand of the organisation.
We worked with a ‘museum themed’ visual style, incorporating photographic media from many of the sites, and using everyday scenes to further resonate with the broader Amgueddfa Cymru team.
It was important to represent visually, that despite the many changes, there would be much that was reassuringly familiar about the return to work.
Over a three-week period the RealSense team worked closely with the Human Resources Learning and Development and Marketing Teams to create the e-learning solution.
The Outcome
To ensure an engaging and accessible piece of learning, we incorporated a broad range of multimedia elements into the piece – including video recorded from key staff members homes via web cameras and mobile phones, the museums internal learning resources and communications including webinars and presentation slideshows. It was brought together and presented in the museum’s refreshing new branding and stylisation guidelines.
