There are certain things that have improved exponentially over the past few decades. Maybe you’ll agree with me on a few:
Photo editing
Remember the ‘90s when it took a degree in graphic design to be able to cover up a pimple or put your friend’s head on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s body?
Scary movies
Special effects used to be just puppets and fake blood. Now with CGI, anything is possible.
Party planning
Thanks to Pinterest, our kids’ birthday parties are nicer than our weddings were.
A fourth thing, and the one I want to talk about today, is training
Training has improved so much over the past 30 years, which is good because the steady forward march of technology has made it more important than ever.
But training can sometimes get a bad rap, so let’s debunk a few myths about training in the 21st century . . .
Myth #1: Training isn’t necessary
Some companies think they can introduce a new process, system, software solution or hardware package while skipping the step of training their employees on it. But people are generally averse to change, so if you don’t make them comfortable with the improvement you’ve introduced, they’ll rebel. They’ll grumble. They’ll find ways to work around it. And as we say in project management, if the new solution comes in on time and on budget, but it’s not adopted, it’s still a failure.
Myth #2. Training is boring
If you believe this then you obviously haven’t been in one of our classes! Just kidding. But seriously, training as a whole has grown more and more engaging as we trainers implement more interactive techniques for imparting knowledge rather than just yacking at you in front of a slideshow. We employ fidget toys, encourage participation with incentives and prizes, and play games like Jeopardy to increase retention. And now that Solarity is offering technical training in Microsoft, Cisco, VMware and more, we’re looking forward to finding even more and better ways to keep our learners engaged and having fun while they expand their skills.
Myth #3. Training is a waste of my time
This sentiment often comes from employees who resent being pulled away from their work to attend a training session. The complaints get even noisier if they don’t feel the material is relevant to their job. The good news is, modern training solutions have become lean and mean. At Solarity, we meet extensively with our clients before training takes place to make sure the sessions are tailored exactly to the vision and needs of the organization and the people in the room.
We’ve even taken extra steps to respect our learners’ time. For example, in one our most popular classes, Best Practices in Project Management, training exercises have been replaced with actual projects from the students’ work life. While they are learning techniques in project management, they are getting their work done at the same time. Win-win.
There’s a great quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Think about training as sharpening your axe, but way more fun.
About the Author
Cory Camic, PMP, is the Business Development Manager at Solarity, focussing on leveraging solutions-based selling to partner with our clients in helping them to integrate the people, processes, and tools to enable success. Before joining Solarity, Cory worked in a technical training organization, helping to design, implement, and manage training programs for enterprise level organizations. He is characterized as a results-driven individual with excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
About Solarity >
Our mission is to help people, organizations, and communities THRIVE! Our broad range of experience and knowledge in a range of different industries allows us to customize our approach to fit the situation. We work in total partnership with our clients to understand their business needs and the current environment, and then match the right amount of process to meet the culture and the project.