Software Training Workshops: Holly Ross

For busy organizations that need to train a group of staff members on the same software as efficiently as possible, workshops can be very helpful, providing a hands-on environment where workers learn skills they'll use right away. But it's important to evaluate your training needs carefully to make sure a workshop would be effective for your organization.

Software training workshops are usually one- or two-day sessions conducted in a computer lab and led by instructors who demonstrate how to use the software. During these demonstrations, participants see how specific tasks such as creating a report or formatting text are accomplished. Designed to give participants maximum interaction with the software, workshops usually include time for participants to complete exercises at their own workstations so they can practice the skills they’ve just observed under the instructor's guidance.

Workshops are widely available through many for-profit training centers. Classes are available for many software applications at thousands of locations across the country. But nonprofits should be cautious when signing up. Many training centers pack too many students into a class, offer insight for only those topics on the syllabus, or don’t understand the common ways many nonprofits use software.

Training people to use our product, ebase, over the last several years has helped us at TechRocks understand what works, what doesn’t, and what questions you should ask when looking for a software training workshop.

When Workshops Work Best

The key benefit of training workshops is that they are a relatively hassle-free way of training staff. All you have to do is find the class, pay, and show up. Generally speaking, this type of training is most appropriate when you need to train staff on the general use or management of a common software application, and your staff members are “hands-on” learners.

Training workshops work best for general-purpose non-customizable software. The best example of this is the Microsoft Office products, including Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Regardless of the kinds of documents you create with these programs, the programs work the same way, and workshops can teach this.

To be effective, workshops should have a small teacher-to-student ratio of one trainer to no more than 10 students. If you’ve ever tried to teach your parents how to send e-mail, you realize that in the hands of an untrained person, a mouse can be a dangerous thing. A single trainer can only really assist the “mad clickers” in a group of about 10 to 15 people.

This model works best for hands-on, tactical learners, so it's a good idea to have an understanding of your staff member’s learning styles before they sign up for a workshop. If they learn best by putting their hands on the mouse and keyboard and operating the software themselves, this style of training is ideal. In a good workshop, the instructor will ask the class for examples of how they use the software in their own organizations, and then use these real-world examples to teach and practice skills. These tactical learners flourish in the workshop environment, as they can practice skills they'll use the next day.

Keep in mind that workshops are designed to teach an entire group of users at the same level. Generally, workshop groups include novice, beginner, intermediate and advanced users. But the workshop will provide that group with what they need to know to function only at a particular level of use.

Consequently, the training is only worth the price if your staff members all need to function at the same level. If you have a beginning Microsoft Word user who needs to learn to write one macro, sending that person to a full-day advanced workshop might not be the best option.

When to Avoid Workshops

In the understaffed world of nonprofits, it often seems that sending staff out of the office to be trained is a luxury we can ill afford. Workshops usually take more time than seminars or one-on-one training sessions. Any staff you send will be out of the office for a full day or more, especially if they have to travel to a training center. You may be able to alleviate this burden by planning well ahead of time and avoiding training during usual crunch times like holidays or organizational events.

Many organizations use software that is highly customized, such as a database that a consultant created, specialized client intake software, and Web site management tools. Training workshops generally do not work well for these types of software. These applications are often built using software like Access or FileMaker Pro as a base. But sending your staff to an Access class will probably not help them use that customized database any more effectively. Customized applications are typically designed to mask the behind-the-scenes operation of the base software, and workshops won’t be able to address these key modifications. In other words, you may have a customized “Create Thank You Letter” button in your organization's Access database, but an Access trainer won’t be able to answer any questions about it; you’ll need to ask the person who created the database for you.

Remember that some people are auditory and visual learners, and just need to see something demonstrated and hear an explanation to master a skill. These learners may do just as well at a (usually) less expensive training seminar, or they may be able to pick up skills more quickly in a one-on-one session. Auditory and visual learners often become bored in workshops and may use the demo time they don’t need to check e-mail or read celebrity gossip online.

Workshops can also be more expensive than other alternatives, like training CD-ROMs or having a staff person conduct in-house training. Workshops that focus on common software applications cost, on average, about $250 per day of instruction at for-profit training centers. More specialized classes can cost much more.

This expenditure of staff time and money can be more than made up for in efficiency after the training, which brings us to our final point: it’s important that you carefully choose a workshop that best matches your training needs, and evaluate its effectiveness afterwards.

Getting the Most Out of Workshops

The best way to make sure you get what you want out of a workshop is to know what you want before you get there. If you start by making a list of the specific skills you want your staff to learn when you evaluate the available workshops, you’re halfway there. Make sure you share that list with your staff, and make them responsible for badgering the trainer until all the topics are covered.

Be as specific as possible when you identify the skills you want your staff to learn. Ask training centers for syllabi of the related classes -- all good trainers will happily comply -- and compare your list with the syllabi. If the skills you need are covered in several separate classes, you may want an individualized course designed to meet your unique needs. If there are just one or two things on your list that are missing from a single course, talk to the instructor. If the skill is applicable to many participants, the instructor may be able to include it in the class.

When your staff members return from the training, you need to ask them a couple of questions. Did they learn what they needed? Are they applying those skills in their work? You don’t need to go as far as technology pop quizzes in the office -- you won’t make any friends that way. But you can go back to your original list of skills and use it as an evaluation tool. Immediately after staff return, have them rate how comfortable they are with each skill they were supposed to learn on a scale of one to five. A few weeks later, have them rate how often they use each skill. This will not only help you learn how effective the training was, but also how practical.

Students tend to forget most of what they learn if they don’t apply it right away. Focus on the skills you most want your staff to learn, then follow up the training with some specific activities that will help them retain their new knowledge and apply the skills to their work.

Conclusion

With a good instructor, a workshop can be one of the most entertaining and informative ways to learn software. Many students feel a great sense of accomplishment after successfully completing the exercises and enjoy meeting others who are experiencing the same challenges. However, this style of training isn’t for everyone, or for every type of software.

Do your homework in advance to make sure you’ll get what you need out of the training, and the experience most likely will be rewarding and productive.