Your Digital Champions

We are all likely to be digital champions already. We help our family, friends and colleagues to gain online access. We show them how to use a new tool and navigate the ‘how to’ together if we don’t know the answer. We're more likely to learn a new skill when supported by someone we already know. It helps to build our confidence.

It’s more than likely that your workforce is full of Digital Champions, even if you haven’t given them that name yet.

Three key actions

• Understand the role of a Digital Champion
• Identify your Digital Champions
• Help your Digital Champions to build their skills and confidence

What is a Digital Champion?

Digital Champion's help others to build confidence and skills to get online. You don’t need to be a digital expert to be a Digital Champion. You do need to be confident in your own digital skills. You must also have the patience, enthusiasm and passion to help others.

Identifying your Digital Champions

Embedded Digital Champions tend to be in front-line positions, for example support workers, advice officers or befriending volunteers. But all staff and volunteers can play a role. All roles that come into regular contact with users can be Digital Champions.

Examples of some of the activities a Digital Champion might undertake:

• Helping a learner set up an email address
• Showing a learner how to use video calling
• Helping a learner pursue their hobbies and interests online

Building Digital Champion confidence

Your workforce is likely to already have the softer skills to be a Digital Champion. They are also likely to have most of the digital skills to offer others support.

It's important you check your staff and volunteers are confident in their own life and work skills. This is key if you are moving your services online and they will be showing someone how to access them.

You can use our Essential Digital Skills Checklists to help measure these skills. This will help you to identify key digital skills for life and work they need more support to develop. They can then access free and flexible online learning tools to improve their own skills.

Digital Champions often underestimate how many people they can help. Especially when delivering support through regular informal interactions. Learners will often return to someone they trust for more digital skills support.

Digital Champions often provide support to their colleagues too. This contributes to building a more confident workforce longer-term.

“Digital Champions are on hand to help and guide participants and have benefited from increased confidence and skills. Our Champions have also brought their own digital innovations.”

Craig Wilson, General Manager, Big Hearts