Systems training can be really hard to design in a way that’s engaging for both the presenter and participants.
On Friday, I had about 5 minutes before I needed to jump on a call, so I decided to see if I could generate something more interesting for a 2-hour Salesforce Basics training session. This is what I came up with:
Next month, our rapid authoring tool for in-person training – Soapbox – will be available for everyone to use, and this is the kind of thing it generates.
Soapbox Even Surprised Me!
I hadn’t really ever considered having people visit stations around the room for a systems training class, nor had I thought of checking whether or not they actually understood what they learned by having participants develop an FAQ document at the end of the session.
Why shouldn’t these elements of design be part of a systems training? Why do most systems training courses require people to sit in front of a computer, watching someone show them what to do on a screen (or reading through a user guide) and then having to perform some basic functions?
Create a Presentation in 5 Minutes
As I mentioned above, I was able to generate this outline in less than five minutes, which would typically be dead time for me when I’m between meetings. It’s not usually enough time to do anything substantive.
Later in the day on Friday I spent about 40 more minutes customizing the lesson plan that was generated by Soapbox in order to make sure all of the talking points I would need were actually in there. If you’d like to see the final plan with all talking points and activity instructions, you can download the final Salesforce Basics lesson plan.
If you’re interested in saving time and producing better presentations, we’d love to tell you more about Soapbox. You, too, can generate presentations if you find yourself with an extra five minutes between meetings!
Have you found ways to make your systems training – things like Salesforce or Accounting software or HRIS or other systems – engaging? I’d love to hear some of your promising practices in the comment section!
