Client Participation Expectations

Establishing expectations for participation will set your clients up for a more engaging and meaningful eVolve experience. It will also offer facilitators and clients clear entry points for conversation if clients are not able to participate as per agreed upon expectations. Consider the following strategies:

Set Clear Start and End Dates – It is important for clients to have a clear understanding of the start and end times of their eVolve session. This will allow clients to manage their time to complete all work within the time period provided. While it is necessary to allow enough space for participation and completion, often less time (weeks) is better than more (months). For example, for our current EPBC customers, we recommend one week of access for every 2-3 topics, with each topic taking a client approximately 2 hours of time spread over the week.

Encourage Frequency of Participation – Whether completing only a couple of eVolve topics or a bundled program, frequent participation is key to create space for meaning making and dialogue through reflections and the group discussion forums. Encourage clients to set aside about 1-2 hours each day to participate online, which can be at any time of the day. Also consider requesting specific tasks to be completed each day (ie. complete 1 Personal Application Activity and 1 Reflection Question each day Monday to Friday). This will give clients a goal to work towards and help set pace and momentum.

Share Facilitator Response Time – At the start of an eVolve session, inform clients of your response time to their reflections, private messages or discussion forum posts. In most cases, we recommend a 24 hour response guideline, but whatever your internal policy is, let clients know ahead of time. By sharing this expectation, clients won’t always expect an immediate response, and will interpret a 24-response delay as part of regular facilitation flow. It will also encourage clients to log in to their session on a regular basis.

To discuss these and additional client engagement strategies in eVolve, contact us!

Establishing an Online Presence - Preparing Your Learning Space

In order for clients to have a successful experience using eVolve, it is essential for the facilitator to establish a strong online presence from the very start. No different than you would in a face-to-face workshop, facilitators need to show up online to welcome their clients and set the stage for their work together. There is nothing more comforting for a client logging into their eVolve session for the first time, than to feel a sense of personal welcome. Below are a few strategies on how you can prepare your client’s learning space prior to a workshop starting to maximize success:

• Make yourself visible through the use of Photos, Videos and Bios – photos and bios can be easily added using the Profile feature, available to all users of eVolve. Those with Classic and Premium Design privileges are also able to upload videos, such as personal welcome messages. Once you create your video, upload it to an external video-hosting website such as YouTube or Vimeo. Once uploaded, videos can then be embedded into the HTML code of any slide.  
• Using the Private Messaging feature, write a personalized welcome message – whether facilitating a group or an individual learning experience, facilitators have the ability to send individual private messages to each client. This is one great way for a facilitator to welcome each client individually, as well as introduce and showcase the private messaging feature. 
• Start a Group Reflection – if you are facilitating a group workshop, consider starting a Group Reflection titled “Say Hi to the Group” or something similar. If your clients have already met face-to-face, be creative with your first group question (ie. What’s one thing you are looking forward to out of this learning? How do you think this group can be of help to each other?, etc.) Be the first to post a response. It will help clients feel less shy about posting and you will also be able to point out how a client can respond (ie. “just click on New Reply at the top right corner to make a post.") 
• Link any email instructions to eVolve Content and Features  – many facilitators send out log in instructions to a client over email. Consider including a word or two about what to do first once logged in: (eg. “Once you log in take some time with the unit called Getting Started. You will find it by clicking Development in the menu bar. Also take time to introduce yourself in the Group Reflection called Say Hi to the Group. That way your fellow participants will know you have ‘arrived’!”) 
• Suggest Where to Start – eVolve is pretty intuitive to navigate, but it is important that your clients orient themselves. This way, they will be able to concentrate on actual learning rather than trying to figure out where to access what. Help clients along, and by using the suggestion feature, point out where a client can start their learning and orientation.
• Consider posting a response to the first Reflection within 24 hours of the client’s first login – Reflections are one of the valuable meaning-making spaces in eVolve, but keep in mind that clients may not initially understand what a Reflection question is or who sees the responses. To introduce a client to the concept of a reflection and to show them how the feature works, consider posting a response to the very first one they will be completing. By doing so, your response will show up on their summary page, showing them how they will be able to see new activity in their learning space. You also have the opportunity to introduce the idea of reflections and let a client know how quickly you will respond to each one they submit.

To keep track of your “welcome communication”, consider keeping a word document with some of these initial communication pieces. While you won't want to use a “one size fits all approach”, by having templates you will save yourself some time.  Tailor your responses based on the information that you have about each client – this will be the most effective way to build rapport and help the client feel supported and welcomed.

For further tips or to discuss your particular delivery scenario, please connect with us!

New Feature Update – Private Messages

As of July 15^th, you can now add the Private Messages  feature to any of your Workspaces in eVolve. 

How Private Messages Works - This feature allows clients to send a private message with a file attachment (such as a draft resume or cover letter) to their Facilitator all within eVolve. 

The Facilitator receives notification of the message in eVolve as well as an email notification to their email address.   Facilitators can reply to Private Messages or send new messages to clients.  They can also send a private message to ALL Clients in that session if they need to communicate something to everyone at once.  Clients receiving a message will receive notification in eVolve of the new message as well as an email notification that reads:  You have a new private message from your online facilitator. Login to [Session Name] and find your new private message under What’s New.

How To Start Using Private Messages
To add this feature to a Workspace, a staff user with Designer permissions should login to eVolve, click on your organization’s Collection, click on Workspaces, select the Workspace you’d like to edit, click on the plus sign next to Private Messages.  This will enable the feature for all Sessions that use that Workspace.

Benefits of Using Private Messages –

Manage Client Data - With this new feature, eVolve now gives you the ability to keep all online communication with a client directly in eVolve.  While clients and facilitators receive the handy notifications through email, the actual text and client sensitive data is not split between email and eVolve. 

Send and Receive Attachments – Clients now have a location where they can easily send you drafts of their resumes or other files they want to share with their facilitator.  They can also retrieve those same files at a later date, from a different computer.  This provides them a safe and secure location to store files if needed.   Facilitators also have the ability to send attachments – whether it be feedback on a resume, LMI, and other career resource. 

Reengage Clients – Facilitators now have the ability to send a message to a client who hasn’t logged in for a while without going to email.  Clients receive an email notification that a message is waiting in eVolve.  

Easy Announcements – Facilitator’s sending a Private Message can select between sending it directly to one client or all clients in the session.  This gives them the ability to use the feature to make important announcements at the click of one button.