I love to be seen as a resource to my colleagues. But every once in a while I get tired of saying the same thing over and over. I’m thinking our IT guy (as well as IT guys all around the world) feel similarly. And he came up with a slick solution: training without a trainer.
I was sitting in a team meeting the other day and I looked at the projector we were using and I saw these images taped to the projector:
The next time someone isn’t quite sure how to hook up the projector to their computer (and you might be surprised how often this is still a problem), there’s no need to drag our IT guy away from his daily battle against viruses that the rest of us have unleashed because we opened an attachment from someone we didn’t know.
What is Training without a Trainer?
I wanted to share this example because:
- it’s simple
- it’s on-demand
- it’s crystal clear
- it’s located exactly where someone might need help, and
- it requires absolutely zero time or effort from the subject matter expert – he can keep doing what he does best and we can be successful in what we need to do.
The next time someone asks you how to take care of something you’ve shown them how to do a thousand times, don’t roll your eyes (or fire off a sarcastic blog post for the world to see), ask yourself how you can offer a more permanent solution – a well-placed photo (or two), a job aid or some other form of training… without the trainer.
Know someone who’s always being asked to show people the same thing over and over again? Feel free to pass this along and encourage them to provide training without a trainer!
