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Subject:Re: Training New Employees From:Rick Lippincott <rjl -at- BOSTECH -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 4 Jan 1996 14:01:55 EST
Karen Gwynn asked about training and listed three alternatives:
>***provided formalized, structured training?
>***provided self-paced training materials?
>***used the old fashioned, seat-of-the-pants, on-the-job-training methods?
>What has worked and what hasn't?
I've been through formalized training at one job, seat-of-the-pants at
three others. Formal beats informal any day.
Why? Organization. If you're gonna do a formal training session, there's
time to plan out all the things that the new writers have to know. What's
the company structure? Where do the SME's sit? What's the process for
preparing the product, and what groups are involved? Where does the writer
go to find released engineering data? What's the lunch period? Where's the
rest room? What are the key acronyms the new writer will encounter in
daily conversation?
Present all this info (and more) in organized sessions, and the new writers
will of course be somewhat overwhelmed. But you'll probably include a
written summary of everything that you present, so at least the new writers
will know they have a source they can turn to, a handbook they can pull off
the shelf, a place that will start to direct them to the answers.
Rick Lippincott
Boston Technology
Wakefield, MA
rjl -at- bostech -dot- com
