How do you get exactly the right training? Just ask!
We all now shop with an 'add to basket' mentality - perhaps assuming that what you see on the shelf/Web page is all that's available. This can even apply to training courses. But does this always deliver the most effective training solution?
19 July 2006
Not that there is anything wrong or ineffective about off-the-shelf courses - they offer many advantages. For instance, by setting the topics as part of a structured curriculum, courses can be run to a wide audience - which keeps the price low. It also means that courses will run frequently, making it convenient. Also, the same curriculum can be found not just in classroom courses, but also in books and on-line courses - providing greater choice for the learner.
As with everything, classroom courses can have some drawbacks. Because the topics are set, some people or organisations find that as well as learning what they need to know, they have to learn other topics too. Durations of courses are fixed - if it’s a five day course, that’s it, you need to attend all five days.
So, when organisations need to learn specific topics, it makes sense to have courses tailored - which can perhaps reduce five days’ training to just two or three, by focusing on exactly what you need to learn.
This seems simple enough, but life is seldom that straightforward. For example, if you have just a couple of people, then tailoring a course won’t really be an option - because the cost of doing so will outweigh the benefits. It would make far more sense to use public courses.
There’s another problem with ‘add to basket’ course shopping though. What if what you need simply isn’t on the shelf? Do you assume that it can’t be done? Sure, in a supermarket you can’t ask for a tin of peas mixed with custard and fish (well, you can ask) but training companies are more flexible than that. In fact, not only training companies - most official training courses (Microsoft’s especially) are modular by design. They are designed to accommodate a mix-and-match approach - and this can be done surprisingly quickly and easily.
This is no accident. Software companies recognise that people don’t actually use all of their products. If you look at a typical Microsoft-based network, you might see Windows 2003 Server, SQL Server, Exchange Server, ISA Server - you get the picture. It’s certainly an option to attended courses for each, and not a bad one. But if your organisation uses these products in a specific way, then it could make more sense to have a course created - using components from the Microsoft Official Curriculum - which fits exactly with your needs. This could cut training time down dramatically.
There are two keys to success. The first is having the right number of people to make this approach work financially. There isn’t a hard-and-fast rule with this - whether it makes sense depends on many factors and these will only be determined by opening up a dialogue with your training company. Which brings us neatly to the second key to success - engage your training company in conversation!
To get more from your training company, all that’s needed is a phone call - and perhaps a meeting. This serves one simple - but important - purpose: it changes the acquisition of training from being ‘I’ll have one of these’ to being: ‘I’ve got this problem, what’s the best way of solving it?’
To add real value, the training company needs to get you to ‘take a few steps’ back. This means understanding which technologies you have, and what it is you need to do with them. The training company is then able to unlock those parts of the training mix which aren’t ‘on the shelf’ and suggest the best ways in which training could meet your needs. With an inside knowledge of how courses are structured, more options than you can arrive at on your own will open up.
In an off-the-shelf world, this might not seem like the easiest solution - but, if the numbers of people who need to learn are right, it often is. In fact, not only the easiest one, but it can be the most effective - and possibly even the cheapest. All it takes is a phone call to find out.
