Overview

There are many operational tasks required to run a product training program that is both efficient and effective. This section covers three areas that may or may not be part of the direct responsibility of the subject matter expert. Even if an expert is not accountable for the outcome of these areas, it is important that they understand how each one functions and how it affects their training, their program, and your company.

Chapter 18 covers an area that many delve into with little or no knowledge: product proficiency certification. Certification is an important topic in product training. It is important for instructors, executives, and many in between to understand the difference between a certificate and a certification. There are good reasons to offer a certification program, and companies should not be afraid to do so. Product proficiency certification is an official acknowledgment of an individual’s ability to perform a particular task with your product. General industry knowledge is important and may be a prerequisite to certification, but certification requires evidence of a particular ability. A certificate, on the other hand, signifies the successful completion of an education program or process.

Chapter 19 is an overview of how to administrate a product training program. The message to the product expert is that administration matters. Never take lightly the value of good administration.

The chapter starts by covering three areas that are important to manage in any program. Administrators must make sure that every training program is measurable, sustainable, and traceable. Executives need to be aware of the dangers of providing training without tracking the recipients of that training. Too many experts provide “training” on your product, and some may even give out pseudo‐certificates with your company logo on them without your knowledge. Companies can and have been held liable for training delivered, so it is important to ensure that all training events are tracked properly.

This chapter also covers how to track curricula for changes and make sure that all instructors are teaching the same course. Consistency of teaching methods and outcomes will provide more accurate metrics to determine the value of a course.

While it is not the main emphasis of the chapter, it does provide administrators with some ideas for measuring the business value of training as well. Note that I encourage that as a six‐month project every few years, since it takes a significant amount of time and resources to get accurate information.

Another area of indirect concern for many product experts is what is often referred to as “transfer of knowledge” from senior employees to more junior employees. The concern is very real for talent development experts and a top priority for human resource departments. One of the best ways to make that happen is in an informal mentoring relationship.

Mentoring won’t happen unless the experts believe in it—in its benefits to them, to the new employee, and even to the company. Mentoring fits well with a hands‐on approach to learning, because it is grounded in learning while doing. This chapter encourages participation in stretch tasks while assisting a more experienced expert. Learning that matters and that happens in a real environment with real and important results is more effective than any other type of learning.

Just because mentoring encourages informal learning does not mean the program itself should not be organized or formalized. Every company will have different ways to do that, but some ideas are provided in this chapter.

Every good training, presentation, or book has a call to action. This book is no exception. The last chapter, Now, Go Do It, is the instructor’s call to put what they have read into action. They cannot become a good trainer until they start training. The sooner they do it, the better. This chapter may also serve as a summary of the book, and one they can review from time to time.

How You Can Help

First, thank you for reading these executive summaries. Your support for effective training will pay dividends. Here are a few things you can do to help make any product training program more effective:

1. When certification is required, make it meaningful

   Make certain that certification programs add value to your customers. Make them more than just an agreement between companies. Product proficiency certifications are for individuals who have demonstrated an ability to do something with your product. Hold to the standards of certification, for legal and practical reasons, and help your instructors do the same.

2. Get good administration help

   Don’t expect instructors to be experts in the administration of training, experts in the design of training, experts in the delivery of training, and experts in your product. Too many great trainers get burned out because they are asked to do too much. Administration is an important task. Asking trainers to act as administrators or adding it on as a subtask to another office manager’s position is only sending the message that it doesn’t really matter. Make sure that those in charge understand the important role they have and how they can add value to the training program.

   Invest in the administrators as well as the trainers. Administrators can benefit from conferences and learning opportunities. Give them the formal training in the learning management system or other tools that they need to be successful.

3. Develop a mentoring program

   Mentoring will happen. Junior employees will watch and learn from veteran employees. Help them learn what they are supposed to learn and what your organization wants them to learn.

   If there is a culture of hoarding or hiding information, start the process of eliminating that cancer. Emphasize teamwork and the human value of helping others. Reward a behavior that exemplifies collaboration. Become a mentor yourself and don’t be afraid to state what you are learning from the mentoree. This will set a good example to follow.

Conclusion

Effective training is artwork as a team sport. Some instructors will be better facilitators than others. Some designers will be able to work with subject matter experts in a way that makes designing come together more quickly than others will. To deliver training that is really going to make a difference, your company needs product experts, instructional experts, curriculum design experts, administration experts, talent development experts, and more.

You can teach a salesperson the basics of selling or a methodology that works. But much of their success will come in the art of selling. The same is true of product training. It is not a math process that has only one correct answer. Training is an art form, and some will be more artistic than others. Find trainers that love people and love teaching. If they want to make training their primary job function, encourage it, if at all possible. The more they do it, the better they will get at it. When you have instructors, designers, and administrators that encourage hands‐on learning, you can have a product training that is effective and changes what your customers or employees can do with your product.