Teaching Piano - Remotely!

Tuesday, March 31, 2020 10:00 AM

CASE STUDY: Teaching Piano - Remotely!

 

It's no doubt things are tough for people right now, with many organisations enacting their business continuity plans and people all over the world now working and learning from home.

We have seen some companies expedite their technology journeys through absolute necessity, and we're constantly amazed at people's tenacity and willingness to keep pushing through to deliver their services to customers, however they can.

In just the past two weeks WyldLynx has personally witnessed and supported the transformation of business practices for Doctors, Hairdressers, Physiotherapists and many more.

One particular success we'd love to share is that of a sole trader, a Piano Teacher whose business success has traditionally come from face to face contact with thousands of students and parents over the years.

Catherine's business model has been simple and effective - be the best teacher she can be and provide students with the tools to develop their concentration, discipline, emotional intelligence, and all of the skills required to become a good musician. These tools have included:

• Hands on advice and support on how to physically play the piano
• Sharing music during lessons
• Physically writing down tips and tricks to enhance technique
• Communicating with parents after lessons on progress and accounts
• Coordinating and booking lessons via phone and a diary

So what did Catherine do when most of these tools were physically removed?  She transitioned to Microsoft 365, in particular, Teams.  Within 3 days of seeing a demonstration on how Teams worked, Catherine hosted her first online lesson!

Not only is she able to operate as effectively as always, Catherine has also undergone a crash course in Azure account management, Microsoft Teams security and functionality, the importance of information governance over all information, and the joys of assisting others on how to use technology to achieve a shared goal.

Let's be real here though - this was not easy for Catherine!

Having come from using a home PC, a phone and a diary to manage her entire business, she had to quickly understand the various aspects of cloud environments and how that worked in terms of connectivity with other people.  However, this transition has created so many more opportunities for her business and personal life, including:

• The ability to continue a relationship with her students and support on their learning journey, even when they are literally worlds apart, through video conferencing and screen sharing
• The ability to share information directly with students and parents in a secure and readily accessible environment from any connected device
• Coordination of lessons from within Microsoft Teams, which integrates with her Outlook mail and calendar
• Recording of lessons and uploading into the student's 'Team' for reference during the week they don't see each other
• A communication channel which keeps a history of conversations and potentially accounts in one single place, including tips and tricks to enhance technique!
• With some smart marketing, the ability to potentially teach anyone in the world how to play the piano

Catherine was slightly overwhelmed at times, however we guided her through each stage of the process at a pace that suited her needs.  As Catherine puts it, 'WyldLynx have been on the ball and instilled much confidence in this process, and on call when I needed to panic!'.

This is by far the fastest transition to technology we have witnessed with any customer.  Congratulations Catherine, we wish you all the best on your journey in teaching with technology!

Please contact the WyldLynx team if you would like assistance with setting up your own remote communications for you or your team.