By Viqui Dill

Some folks talk about training as “coaching.” I think they have the metaphor wrong. Coaching means developing skills within a team by repetitive drilling and motivating them using a combination of respect and fear. Real training is nothing like that. Real training is more like cheerleading than coaching.

Engage the Players (Learners)

So I’m standing in a conference room with my trusty slide deck and handouts, looking out at the other folks in the room for my training. My position looks like it’s up front but really I’m on the sidelines. The real action will be with those learners.

The learners are the real players, the real action in the game. The learners are going to make or break the training. If they’re tired or bored, they won’t engage and they won’t learn. We don’t have a lot of time here and this training session is costing the company a boatload. When you count up all the hours of preparation, then the total hours for all the bodies here in the room, then measure the slow climb up the learning curve for the learners, you know there’s a lot riding on this training. These learners are going to make the difference in whether the investment will pay off. I know I’ve got to engage them in the short time we have together.

So we start off with an icebreaker, the part of the game when the team leaves the field house and comes running on to the field. And I’m cheering like crazy, trying to call the players by name and praising their ability to answer the icebreaker quiz questions. It’s exhausting but it pays off hugely if the learners are energized and engaged by the interaction.

Then we start exploring the content. My favorite training sessions are the ones where we all work together, ditching the PowerPoint slides for real hands-on learning. First I give a short demo, then the real players do their magic. I shout, “Hit ’em again, hit ’em again! Harder! Harder!” and they do.

If I’ve done my job, the process is easy once you know how. The learners pick up the skill and the underlying technology or the system it runs on. They carry the ball down the field. “This isn’t so hard. I can do this on my own next time.”

The last part of the session will tell how well we’ve done. We review what we learned, review expectations and collect feedback from the training. If things went well, the feedback will be upbeat and energizing. If things didn’t go well, the team will wander back to the locker room and leave the champagne corked for another time. Negative feedback is sometimes tough to hear, but it does let us know how to make the next session better.

But let’s go back to what happens when we win. At the end of the winning game (successful training), the players leave the room feeling like winners. They have learned some new skills and have confidence they can do it on their own, and maybe even show the new skills to their coworkers.

Engage the Crowd (User Community)

Another function of cheerleaders is to engage the crowd and get them cheering. In the training world, this means inspiring the user community so that they will see the trainees as rising system experts. The more that the user community recognizes local system experts, the less work for you as the trainer. Everyone prefers asking a coworker for help over having to search for an answer in the online help or opening a customer support ticket. If you can get the user community to see each other as the system experts, you will have fewer questions to answer and fewer customer support calls to take. It’s a win for the home team and a big win for you.

When the Cheering Stops

After the game, when the team and spectators have gone home, we celebrate the win or mourn the loss. If we’ve done a good job, the whole organization benefits. The learners go back to work confidently using the system to accomplish their goals. Their goals are not to be a great system user. Their goals are to be a great doctor, lawyer, or master craftswoman who happens to use the system. They become great clients, providers, and colleagues. They make the world a better place, thanks to you and your effective training.

Let’s cheer about that!

*The article was first published by insynctraining™ at: http://blog.insynctraining.com/rah-rah-rah-training-is-more-like-cheerleading-than-coaching

By Phil Havlik

In my experience, what makes the best training evaluation questions really depends on what types of information you’re looking to capture, who you’re asking, and how long you’ve kept them as your prisoner.

At my previous company where I was an Instructional Designer within a larger training team, we used a series of generic questions following every training module. It was the same questions every time, and I don’t even recall what was asked. Our primary interest was reviewing for the inevitable complaints, errors in content or programming, or grumblings our global user base cared to share with us. We had Likert scale questions, but the numbers didn’t really mean much, especially given the total number of users who were required to complete the suite of training modules each year.

Asynchronous training can be like talking to your computer, unsure if anyone is listening or if your mic is even turned on. So getting feedback is always appreciated.

As the trainer, I of course want all the detailed feedback that I can get. As a participant, I want to click as little as possible and get back out. I currently have four standard questions on the docket:

• Did you learn something new by attending this webinar?
  • Yes, this was all new to me.
  • This was a refresher, but I learned some new tricks and/or a method I didn’t know before
  • This was a refresher, but I didn’t learn anything new
  • Other (Let us know more below)
• Rate this webinar offering compared to other webinars? (5 = Best, 1 = Worst)
• Any additional feedback for our staff? We’d love to hear it. (Open answer)
• We’re testing some new software features and need some volunteer testers. Could you help us?

Sometimes for fun, depending on the seriousness of the topic and or attendees, I might throw in something like “Rolling Stones or Beatles?”, “What’s your favorite season?” or something similar to lighten the mood.

I won’t say I’ve gotten this exactly right, but I think keeping questions few and focused on the desired outcome (did you learn something new by sitting through this) point in the right direction.

By David Dick| STC Fellow

Users generally do not care if a system is based on an old method, technology, or computer system. Users want reliable, dependable, and secure systems. Every year, IT managers meet to discuss how to replace legacy systems. As long as these systems adequately serve the organization and the budget does not allow for modernization, they are likely to remain unchanged. IT managers need to weigh the cost and risk of keeping legacy systems, such as end user support, training, documentation, and security.

Employees that provide end user support of legacy systems must be retained, because they are familiar with users’ frequently asked questions and know how to work around common problems. Unfortunately, whenever they are out of the office, their absence creates a backlog of help desk tickets that cannot be answered until they return, preventing users from performing their work. Another dilemma is that when these employees inevitably move on or retire, they take their knowledge with them. Service companies might be able to fill the gap, but ultimately they also struggle to find experts with the right skills.

Training for new users on a legacy system is often nonexistent, because the only people capable of providing the training are the same people that provide end user support. Even if there is a user guide or tutorial, users still prefer to call the help desk. Often, the help desk will perform the task because it’s easier than explaining to a user how to do it.  IT managers need to be aware that a lack of training is creating additional work for the help desk.

Documentation on the design of legacy systems might exist, but it likely hasn’t been updated. Documentation is always needed whenever new system administrators, stakeholders, and IT managers want to know how the system processes data, generates reports, connects to the network, and interfaces with other systems. IT managers can create the unrealistic expectation that system administrators and staff maintain documentation, but neither of these groups have the time for such a daunting task.

If a legacy system is created on a platform that a vendor no longer supports, a third party vendor must be contracted to support it. However, operating systems without security patches are prone to hacking, viruses, and other malicious attacks. If it’s not possible to update security patches, the only option to protect the system is isolating it from the rest of the enterprise, which might not be practical if it interfaces with other systems. The value that system security auditors provide is conducting network scans to identify system vulnerabilities and bringing them to the attention of system owners.

All things considered, legacy systems provide critical services to organizations, and replacing them isn’t easy. That’s why IT managers need to be aware of the people who ensure those systems are up and running, and the impact those systems have on users.

 

*This article first appeared in STC Notebook  at: https://www.stc.org/notebook/talking-usability-legacy-systems-and-their-impact-on-users/

By Allie Proff | STC Member

A few years ago, I attended my very first conference. I was amazed.

Up until that point, I had only worked in one group in one company. I’d worked there for nine years, so I was experienced, but only in my own little corner of the world. It was eye-opening and refreshing not only to learn the content from the sessions, but also to see what other people did at other companies around the world. I’ve heard people refer to the networking that goes on as the “conference within the conference.”

At that first conference, another attendee and I were discussing the speakers, and what we learned. “You should sign up to be a speaker,” she said. “That’s crazy!” I replied. But it got me thinking. I really love helping people and explaining things.

“I can do this,” I thought.

How often had I given a presentation to my engineers or other writers within the company? I mean, I am a technical communicator, right? I should be able to verbally present my writing. I may be horrible at improv or comedy, but I can do well when I have a chance to really research, prepare, and practice.

Then the doubts started to set in.

Who was I to give a session? I didn’t feel like a recognized expert in anything. Then I started reviewing notes of sessions I attended. Some of my favorite sessions were research-based or case study-based. A presenter didn’t have to be the smartest person in the world. Sometimes value comes from time spent summarizing hours of research. Value can also come just from having a different experience or approach, and even more so when the presenter found some valuable lessons learned from a failed experience.

My fellow attendee also pointed out a speaker’s entry fee is waived or reduced. My company’s policy was to send a new person to conference every year, which helps everyone get an opportunity to grow and develop. But the travel budget is separate from the conference budget, and my company was willing to pay for my flight and hotel if I paid my own way for the registration fee. I’d get to come again next year. Awesome!

These thoughts simmered in the back of my mind until I just happened to be on the website one day and saw the call for speakers. “What the heck,” I thought to myself. “All they’re asking for is an idea of what I’ll present and the learning outcomes for the attendees. Conference is still seven or eight months away. I’ll try and see what happens.”

So I submitted two ideas that I’ve been wanting to research for a while and waited. One idea was rejected, but the other was accepted! I was elated and terrified at the same time. It seemed surreal to see my name in the program.

I investigated. I explored. I practiced my presentation on family and friends. I tweaked my presentation. I presented at a brown bag lunch and learn at work. I tweaked my presentation some more. Finally, the conference arrived.

I practiced (yet again) in the speaker rehearsal room, and felt very supported by the conference staff and helpers. I attended sessions and networked, and finally my turn came. It wasn’t the best presentation in the world, but it wasn’t the worst either. A number of people told me they found my session very useful and thanked me for compiling all the information into one place. The experience was so positive and rewarding that now I look forward to what topics I can research and present next year.

I’ve presented at three different conferences now over the course of three years. I don’t consider myself special or outstanding, and even though I enjoy being with people I’m an introvert at heart. There will always be people who know more than me about any given subject, but there will always be people who know less than me and those are the people I can help.

Now it’s my turn to say to you, “You should be a speaker.” Even if you’re relatively new to the profession, or newly graduated, you still can make valuable contributions. Take a question you’d like to have answered, and submit that as a topic. Stay focused on your message and one to three key takeaways. Look up public speaking tips by TED coaches on the internet. Practice on friends, family, and coworkers. Present at your local chapter or at a smaller conference first, if that would help boost your conference. You can do it!

One of the great things I appreciate about the Society for Technical Communication is how supported I’ve felt by everyone I’ve met. If you’ve been a presenter, I’d love to hear about your first time. If you’ve never presented but are inspired to try, I’d love to hear from you as well and offer my support.

See you next year!

*This article first appeared in STC Notebook (available at https://www.stc.org/notebook/speaking-at-the-stc-summit/)

.

By Viqui Dill

Hello IDL friends! We had another great quarter and have many more great things planned. Our webinar series is going strong and we have our own channel on YouTube. Looking ahead, we are going to rock the 2018 Summit and want to help you get involved. Let me demonstrate.

Webinar Series

Phil Havlik kicked off the new season of webinars with “Digital Citizenship in an Online World”. Havlik helped us understand our own roles in the online world and gave us tips on how to be stronger and more informed members of the digital community. Find a link to the recording for this and other webinars on our website: http://www.stcidlsig.org/membership/webinars/free-recordings-of-idl-sig-webinars-for-members/

Chuck Campbell was our speaker in September with “Create Presentation Handouts that People Will Actually Use”. Campbell reminded us about the value of handouts, showed examples, and gave us tips for this common training resource. Find a link to the recording for this and other webinars on our website http://www.stcidlsig.org/membership/webinars/free-recordings-of-idl-sig-webinars-for-members/

More webinars are planned for the next few months.

Robert Hershenow will be presenting “Your Brain on PowerPoint: Better Presentations Through Science” on October 12. You can register today on Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/your-brain-on-powerpoint-robert-hershenow-tickets-37341618787

Allie Proff will be reworking her Emotive Analytics presentation from the 2017 Summit on November 16. You can register today on Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/remembering-forward-allie-proff-tickets-38464209486

Phylise Banner will be presenting on December 7. Watch for news and links on our website http://www.stcidlsig.org/events/

Debbie Kerr will be presenting “Learning Styles and the Cancer Experience” on January 18. You can register today on Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/learning-styles-and-the-cancer-experience-webinar-with-debbie-kerr-tickets-36458859430

Ed Marsh will explore using analytics on February 15. Watch for news and links on our website http://www.stcidlsig.org/events/

Students attend for FREE. We have opened up our webinars to students and academics for free. Register with a *.edu email address and attend for free. Explorers are welcome. You do not need to be enrolled in a tech. comm. or IDL program. As long as you’re a student and you’re curious, you are invited to join us. Find out more on our website http://www.stcidlsig.org/news-students-attend-our-webinars-for-free/

We have a YouTube channel! We’re now hosting our recorded webinars and meetings on YouTube. Check out our channel here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW68UREs2Cxs6KJUM7nZdtA

Summit Planning

We’re starting to plan the festivities at the 2018 Technical Communication Summit. Want to help plan the fun? Visit the Summit website https://summit.stc.org/ and then contact us at manager@stcidlsig.org. We need you!  

Virtual Open House

Look for our annual Virtual Open House, happening in November. We love to showcase all our volunteers and accomplishments. See you there!