True story! Just two weeks before the UK went into lockdown, I was a visiting lecturer teaching Strategy for a few days on an MBA programme in Muscat, Oman. The following week, I ran the induction day for an 18 month leadership programme for a client in Yorkshire. My work is pretty diverse like that! At the end of the day, there was an urgent message from the Head Office of my client to the effect that the project was put on hold, due to the uncertain Covid-19 situation.
The next week saw my diary empty, and my anxiety grow, as I wondered when next I would get a paying gig. That’s when lockdown started, and the whole country seemed to go into shocked paralysis.
This was when I found my inner resourcefulness. And all thanks to Catullus. You see, unknown to most of my clients, I actually studied Latin at university. Not that I’d touched it for years. But in those early, discombobulating days of lockdown, I found a newly set-up group on Facebook, ‘Stuck at Home and Want to Have Fun!’ Now, what can be more fun than learning Latin? So intrepid Nick decided to post that I would offer free Latin classes, not having any idea that people might be interested.
A few days later, I had been contacted by over 50 people, who were either furloughed, working from home, or just curious. So I decided to put on some online classes – 2 a week for beginners, and 2 for advanced students. And I launched myself into the world of facilitating over Zoom, something I’d never done before. I ran the classes for about 3 months. The beginners completed the first volume of the newly available online Cambridge Latin Course (Caecilius est in horto), and the advanced level group were introduced to the delights of Catullus (whom I love), Horace, Ovid and Pliny.
And they even had fun! Most importantly, I became really skilled at using Zoom to facilitate. I learned to use my iPad as a whiteboard, got smart with breakout rooms, and developed lots of ice-breakers, energisers and interactive games.
After a while, my clients began to come back, stabilising after the initial shock, including my leadership client in Yorkshire. I was by now very confident in facilitating online. In an idle conversation with a colleague Raj, I floated the idea of writing a book on how to use Zoom to facilitate engaging workshops. To cut a long story short, three weeks later the ‘The Online Facilitators Guide’ was not only written, but for sale! My good friend Guy Howley got involved as co-author – he had been in the same boat as me, and my son Matt, trying to get into Publishing, edited, proof-read and got the book ready for publication. To date, we have sold dozens of copies, from places as far afield as Canada, Australia, India, Mexico and Japan.
Best of all, I have picked up 3 new clients, for some decent pieces of facilitation work, totally on the back of having written the e-book, and being able to position myself as an -ahem – ‘expert’ in online facilitation!
Moral of the story is – nil desperandum! Be resourceful, stay positive, and be creative. And you never know what great things can come out of a crisis! Or as Horace would say – ‘carpe diem!’
PS – Guy and I are already planning our next book!