One of the first things I do when I start an on-site class is ask:
"Why Am I Here?"
- What value do I add by being here?
- Why did your company pay me money to teach you something that is available for free?
- Videos of these lectures and exercise are availble online. In fact, in many of them, I'm the narrator (unlikely now, but common at the time).
- Why Am I Here?
- It forces staff to spend the time 24, 32 or 40 hours taking the training.
- I can answer "detail" questions and provide context.
- I diagnose, triage, and curate. There is a LOT of content available, some of it is critical to you, much is not. Some has a negative consequence. The first hour I spend focused on learning your needs, picking appropriate foundational material to work through for the first day. Over the course of the day (and the next), I refine my understanding of what you need and then find the best material available. Generally if there is a day 4, I've got some new custom exercise that fill the biggest gap in the material that fits your needs.
- I can translate the generic workflow to how you do things or how you should be doing things for your projects' unique or quirky needs.
- The Oberth effect. Your team prepping for training has direct benefits to them. Your company gets an impetus to focus on your processes and a deadline to drive the discussion and consolidation. This not only increases the value you get from the training, acceleration prior to class actually increases the acceleration you get during the class. (from a physics standpoint is seems that the same amount of fuel should yield the same results. Not true. (here's a little more detail on that: Oberth effect)). Oberth effect
- In-process progress evaluation and adjustment. Not all pages in 600-page training manual are equal. Some things are critical. I can ensure that your staff is getting the critical concepts and that they fully understand them - this is actually one of the hardest things to do remotely. The visual feedback of in-person training (actually, the entire breadth of feedback and dialog is increased in person) makes connection dramatically easier.
- Ensure the outcome.
- Connect/Communicate. All the above are greatly enhanced in live remote and in-person training.
Live Remote vs. In-Person?
Which is better: remote live or in-person training? In-person, objectively. It tends to be more expensive; does the delta in value justify the added cost? Like much, it depends on your needs.
I will recommend this: if you have access to good and relevant online training, such as Bentley's Learn Server offerings: use these resources as much as possible.
The Takeaway:
As I tell my son, "Every interaction is an opportunity." Live is inter-action; in-person, even more.
