Yesterday our Seafood Trainees gathered for a social mini meeting on Teams. To help the group stay connected in between the four modules of the program, we organize short one-hour-long meetings on Teams once a month. These meetings are a voluntary part of the program, but many of the trainees choose to participate. 

The program originally consists of four modules throughout the year, but considering the twoyearlong pandemic, program manager Cathrine Gravdal has seen great value in inviting the trainees to å digital meeting once a month.

“A mini meeting is first and foremost an informal meeting point where the trainees get to update each other, and exchange experiences in their role as trainee. It is very valuable to share experiences and potential challenges such as managing working from home in a new role. The trainees share many common positive experiences in the various trainee companies, and it is great to see them create a network amongst each other” – Cathrine Gravdal, program manager

“Of course, it can be tricky to socialize on Teams if the group is too big,  so we divide the trainees into smaller breakout rooms where they discuss everything from current happenings in the industry, to social and personal conversation.  Every now and then we invite industry experts to join the meeting to give a short presentation and spark relevant discussions in the group”, she continues

The request for a digital meeting point came from the Seafood Trainee group who participated in 2020/2021. In total, two of their four modules had to be organized on a digital platform due to the pandemic, and we quickly learned that it is possible to get better acquainted through a digital platform, and that focusing on staying in touch in between modules is experienced as support throughout the group.