CoverStory
Be bold. This was a foundational tenet for argenx’s training team as it began its months-long initiative to prepare field teams for Vyvgart® Hytrulo’s new indication in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).
The argenx training team partnered with Illuminate to create “The Quest for CIDP Launch Excellence,” a training endeavor that consisted of four phases:
Home study.
A live meeting that brought together the research and development teams with field teams.
Regional launch workshops.
Pull-through engagement.
The first two phases included elearning modules, quizzes and workshop activities, all contributing to a competitive leaderboard. Live workshops were short, highly engaging, interactive experiences. In regional launch workshops, the field teams sought to master their role-specific resources while the sales team assimilated the CIDP interactive visual aid (IVA) in an immersive virtual reality (VR) environment.
Argenx’s innovative training strategies fostered engagement and collaboration, embodying their belief in the importance of fun and boldness and their serious commitment to behavior change and skill uptake through the science of collaboration. These qualities made the Quest for CIDP Excellence a smashing success.
The argenx team put forth several goals in their endeavor to provide their representatives with meaningful instruction during this learning journey:
Innovative and engaging training solutions: The argenx training team wanted to ensure its training was innovative, fun and engaging.
Field focus during training: Their field teams had to be trained on a new indication while actively promoting an existing one.
Cross-functional team building: A new cross-functional team (XFT) structure had been implemented organizationally, and it was up to the training team to help all XFT members understand one another’s roles and how to work effectively together. This included not only knowledge transfer but also team building within the local market teams.
Logistical and training coordination: Two months before the indication was approved, argenx held a live, full-team meeting. Maximizing that opportunity, and utilizing cutting-edge VR technology during regional meetings, presented logistical hurdles.
This article will explore how the argenx team navigated these challenges to create a truly innovative and immersive training experience while embodying their organization’s values.
The training team received an unexpected opportunity to engage in a live touchpoint with its field force at a companywide meeting. They first assessed how to utilize that time to maximize training outcomes based on where learners were in the learning journey.
Since the meeting would occur before the label was approved, the team devised a plan to use the live touchpoint as a time to train on content that would have otherwise been taught asynchronously. They were able to formulate innovative training solutions that would achieve the team’s learning objectives.
The first challenge was one that every training team faces: how to make exciting and engaging workshops. Studies have shown that learner engagement is a critical part of learning, and while this can be achieved through fun and novel elements, they must be implemented purposefully and with intention.
The training team’s success in this regard made for a memorable experience. The quest-themed training was designed as a multi-month competition, beginning before the companywide meeting and ending after September 2024.
It started with weekly high intensity interval training (HIIT) quizzes on the training modules, then continued with the games played during the workshops and post-workshop quizzes. Teams were organized into brackets and seeded based on their performance in the early quizzes. These scores accumulated over time, encouraging learners to continuously check the standings and creating a spirit of competition that kept them engaged over several months.
In the quest to build excitement and interest from the start, offering a unique approach likely not seen before, argenx developed augmented reality (AR) postcards. The first postcard was physically mailed to each learner as an invitation to the upcoming companywide meeting and as a reminder of the training requirements, while later postcards were delivered virtually.
These colorful, eye-catching postcards played an AR video of Professor Smart, a 3D-animated talking llama with a strong Boston accent. While this choice was amusing, it was not random and reveals the team’s commitment to intention: The llama is an important element in the company’s foundational science, and argenx’s U.S. offices are in Boston.
Professor Smart announced the Quest for CIDP Launch Excellence and told learners about upcoming modules and quizzes. These postcards generated buzz and excitement around the training requirements and the entire event.
The argenx team was aware that their learners could be tired from travel to the companywide meeting, so keeping them moving with engaging activities would be essential. To achieve this, the argenx team created several games focused on content from the home study modules to assess the field team’s content mastery. Each session lasted only 20 minutes, ensuring learners were constantly moving.
One session was an AR scavenger hunt in which participants raced through the convention center looking for QR codes that launched questions when scanned. When all questions were answered correctly, participants would receive a coin, then move on to find another QR code and earn more coins.
Teams received leaderboard points based on the speed with which they collected all the coins. There was also a facilitator-led game-show-style activity where teams traveled around a map based on their performance and a “Heads Up” inspired game that tested learners’ clinical knowledge. These games created a high-energy, entertaining experience in which learners acquired knowledge and reviewed understanding of the disease state.
It was essential to the training team that this momentum was carried through the entire training journey. Following the companywide meeting, additional HIIT quizzes were pulsed out, with humorous GIFs based on antics of the training team during the meeting used for correct and incorrect answers.
Later, when the new indication was approved and a new IVA was released, the training team created a unique VR experience for the regional launch workshops. Wearing the VR headsets, users were guided through a virtual park by two avatars who discussed important takeaways and key messages in the IVA. The immersive VR experience allowed field representatives to focus on the content and learn how to verbalize the IVA without typical distractions.
The argenx team needed to train their sales force for a new indication while keeping them focused in the field. They addressed this with a solution that aligned with proven adult learning principles.
Modules and quizzes were periodically released over several weeks and had flexible or adaptable timelines, allowing reps to engage with the material at their own pace. The AR postcards — including the memorable llama AR avatar — helped learners stay on track by providing summaries of the training materials, due dates and where to access them.
Additionally, the training team rolled out a series of weekly HIIT quizzes, delivered as push notifications via phone and email. These short quizzes, branded to the overarching theme of the training program, aligned with the key learning objectives of that week’s training modules. Based on accuracy and speed, scores were fed into the companywide leaderboard so individuals could compare their team’s score against their peers.
These strategies drove excitement and interest in the home study materials and the upcoming meeting while creating an at-home training experience that encouraged completing training while maintaining a presence in the field.
Before the quest began, argenx had restructured its field teams, creating XFTs comprised of various matrixed roles. Some team members had never worked together, and many were unfamiliar with matrixed team structures.
During the launch process, argenx’s training team recognized the need to foster a sense of teamwork and community within the XFTs so that team members understood one another’s responsibilities and how they needed to work together. To promote cooperation, the argenx training team ensured that the overarching competition reflected the whole XFT’s performance.
This required members to work together to leverage one another’s strengths. During the live meeting workshops, all XFTs worked together as a single group and were awarded points collectively to compete against the other teams. Only with every team member supporting one another and performing well could an XFT team hope to advance into the next round of competition.
During the regional launch workshops, XFTs again participated in workshops together. This included additional application workshops, which put into practice all the knowledge and skills they had learned as a team throughout their journey. Having created a greater sense of familiarity and cooperation, teams could work together for optimal outcomes.
A companywide meeting offers a unique opportunity for disparate teams to communicate and learn from one another. However, organizing workshops for such an event is a multifaceted endeavor that requires navigating numerous obstacles and complexities, from creating workshops from the ground up to ensuring that workshop materials were available.
From day one, the training team showed up ready to problem-solve. Everyone was prepared for their different roles and distinct responsibilities in advance, but they were also flexible and adapted to changing circumstances so that any issues that arose were solved seamlessly.
Later in the learning journey, the training team developed the VR IVA experience, which required them to support one another and seamlessly pivot in new directions at a moment’s notice. Since this technology was new to the organization, the argenx training team needed to ensure that there was clear alignment regarding what the experience was, what would be shown and why. Marketing, training and partners met to ensure a cohesive message was established for the experience. Hosting a concept review in advance helped to set the stage for these conversations.
In addition, the team created a backup plan for how to achieve the learning objectives without VR in case the technology wasn’t approved by medical, legal and regulatory review in time. The timeline for approval was tight, but the diligence of the team and their partners ensured the experience was ready on time.
Then they were faced with the next logistical challenge: coordinating the setup and distribution of 60 VR headsets at three different regional meetings. During the regional meetings, the same strategy of having clear roles and responsibilities – along with a healthy level of flexibility – enabled success. When team members became unavailable, others stepped up to ensure a successful event.
By placing the needs of the team above the individual, the argenx training team was able to overcome potential crises.
While the Quest for CIDP Launch Excellence was designed for argenx’s field teams, it also took the training team on their own journey. The team was bold. Each decision was made purposefully, with the clear intention of creating a unique learning environment for the field teams.
Though they wanted this to be a fun experience for all, they were also serious in their commitment to training excellence. Field teams needed to be prepared so that when the new indication was approved, they could hit the ground running in product promotion.
The training team created an innovative, fun learning environment that cultivated teamwork to enhance learning outcomes. When challenges arose, they adapted quickly and worked together to overcome them.
Shaun McMahon is president and founder of Illuminate. Email Shaun at shaunmcmahon@illuminate.net or connect through linkedin.com/in/shaun-mcmahon-86a7aa3.
