Um...argh?!
So we are bolding going where no one in this company has gone before: we are setting up Customer Support Centers for basic customer support and order administrative issues in our regional offices.
I'm on a team to produce training materials consistent with our policies and procedures for the current training (Basic Customer Service) and I'll travel to Cambridge, England this fall to train the team on Order admin and complex database administrative issues and fixes.
OK, original date to have the basic training materials done was July 27. Until yesterday. Now it is this MOnday (yes, 3 calendar days from now).
Um...eep!
So I'm on a team of 4. Out of the 4, only I have actually conducted a significant amount of training, including both conceptual and procedural training. I'd done this via WebCast, and also on-site in Japan, Brazil, and England.
Only today did I get a comprehensive list of what the trainer in the UK needs. Brilliant guy, but young. He's got a BS in Internet Technology, but zero experience except for the projects he's been working on at our company. He recently did some training in our California office (2 weeks), but I think this is his first big training.
The other two folks are 1) a Customer Support guy, and 2) an order admin, like me. The second person has created training documentation and trained via WebCast.
The meeting today was a struggle. I've got probably 70% of what the guy needs for training materials already created in a year and a half's worth of self-authored PowerPoint presentations. I can fill in the rest over the next couple of days. But he wants it in Word format so that he can create a book for training, something to use as a reference in the regional offices.
Totally reasonable request. EXCEPT that nobody knows how to easily convert .ppt to .doc, and 70% of our materials AREN'T in .doc format! And he needs to start in THREE days.
I had a bit of a battle on my hands. I'll provide whatever this guy wants, but I can't both provide it all and convert it to Word format in that timeframe. I feel that the important bridge to cross is that of getting all the training materials reorganized and fleshed out. That I can do in a weekend. The comprehensive training document can be done AFTER he's done (he's there for at least 2 weeks). Besides, he's going to make revisions to the documentation, as this is a firt-run for this kind of training.
I'm trying to convince folks to re-arrange the priorities. Get the materials together, organized, and fleshed out FIRST, do the training, REVIEW the materials, edit as necessary, THEN convert to Word if necessary.
And I think converting to Word is dumb@ss. Nobody wants to search through a Word, PPT, or PDF document. Each of these topics need to be a Solution in our Solutions database, easily found via search function, each one saved as a kind of little "vignette." And they can be numbered or ordered so that they can be viewed in sequence as a training doc.
Anyhow, that's my rant I've got full license to collect OT this weekend and get this stuff done.
Nothing like a crisis to get the blood pumping, eh?
Oh. And I got a raise for the new "head trainer" position. Yay! And I'm still eligible for a full annual raise in January of next year (it averages around 4 %, which doesn't suck).
I'm on a team to produce training materials consistent with our policies and procedures for the current training (Basic Customer Service) and I'll travel to Cambridge, England this fall to train the team on Order admin and complex database administrative issues and fixes.
OK, original date to have the basic training materials done was July 27. Until yesterday. Now it is this MOnday (yes, 3 calendar days from now).
Um...eep!
So I'm on a team of 4. Out of the 4, only I have actually conducted a significant amount of training, including both conceptual and procedural training. I'd done this via WebCast, and also on-site in Japan, Brazil, and England.
Only today did I get a comprehensive list of what the trainer in the UK needs. Brilliant guy, but young. He's got a BS in Internet Technology, but zero experience except for the projects he's been working on at our company. He recently did some training in our California office (2 weeks), but I think this is his first big training.
The other two folks are 1) a Customer Support guy, and 2) an order admin, like me. The second person has created training documentation and trained via WebCast.
The meeting today was a struggle. I've got probably 70% of what the guy needs for training materials already created in a year and a half's worth of self-authored PowerPoint presentations. I can fill in the rest over the next couple of days. But he wants it in Word format so that he can create a book for training, something to use as a reference in the regional offices.
Totally reasonable request. EXCEPT that nobody knows how to easily convert .ppt to .doc, and 70% of our materials AREN'T in .doc format! And he needs to start in THREE days.
I had a bit of a battle on my hands. I'll provide whatever this guy wants, but I can't both provide it all and convert it to Word format in that timeframe. I feel that the important bridge to cross is that of getting all the training materials reorganized and fleshed out. That I can do in a weekend. The comprehensive training document can be done AFTER he's done (he's there for at least 2 weeks). Besides, he's going to make revisions to the documentation, as this is a firt-run for this kind of training.
I'm trying to convince folks to re-arrange the priorities. Get the materials together, organized, and fleshed out FIRST, do the training, REVIEW the materials, edit as necessary, THEN convert to Word if necessary.
And I think converting to Word is dumb@ss. Nobody wants to search through a Word, PPT, or PDF document. Each of these topics need to be a Solution in our Solutions database, easily found via search function, each one saved as a kind of little "vignette." And they can be numbered or ordered so that they can be viewed in sequence as a training doc.
Anyhow, that's my rant I've got full license to collect OT this weekend and get this stuff done.
Nothing like a crisis to get the blood pumping, eh?
Oh. And I got a raise for the new "head trainer" position. Yay! And I'm still eligible for a full annual raise in January of next year (it averages around 4 %, which doesn't suck).