The City of Wichita's policy for maintaining social distancing and healthy interactions during the pandemic created a challenge for the in-service planning team. Normally, all 140 staff members from the department would come together for a day of learning, but this year, the planning team chose to keep branch staff at their respective locations. This gave the team an opportunity to leverage technology to connect each location into one Zoom platform.

Each location received a camera, microphones and a monitor to view all locations at once through Zoom. Presenters logged in and presented virtually, and left time for discussion amongst work groups. Presentation topics were timely and relevant to the work staff went through this last year, including stress management, handling ambiguous situations, staying on top of messaging and working with children.

The goal was to create a safe hybrid in-service day that built up morale and gave relevant information to staff. Staff stated they enjoyed breakout sessions that allowed for “non-screen” activities in their workgroup. Comments regarding content were in agreement that it was well-timed, appropriate and that the presenters were knowledgeable. Staff commented that they would be putting what they learned into practice.