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Technical staff training is crucial to keeping personnel up-to-date on the latest technological solutions you plan to implement in your business.
But.
When staff training is technical in nature, it can turn into a nightmare for both managers who organise it and staff members who attend it.
It’s hard to hold training on technical topics because they are often very dry and complex.
One of the common issues of holding technical staff training is that attendees often can’t grasp the topic so they don’t follow the lessons or they get bored and trail off easily. To efficiently battle these issues, you need to keep staff actively engaged.
Here’s some of the ways you can do this:
Include Multimedia
Your staff members have various learning styles, so, have an even mix of lessons that will accommodate each.
- Visual learners will benefit from visual additions such as Powerpoint presentations, images, or videos.
- Auditory learners will enjoy your presentations and engaging in conversation or sound clips.
- Kinesthetic learners will benefit most from activities, testing or writing formats.
Gamification
Use game design elements to engage staff by applying game elements such as challenges (learning objectives), feedback (helps with progress), collaboration to achieve goals (a sense of community), competition (to keep staff motivated), and rewards for achieving them (gratification and sense of accomplishment).
Demonstrations
Using props or demonstrations are an easy way to make technical subjects more ‘real’. Often users can’t relate to new technical solutions and therefore don’t connect. If you can’t offer a tangible demonstration, show off benefits and changes in operations that they can relate to.
Have Breaks
The more technical the training, the more breaks you need. The brain can’t process too much at once and it will actually hinder learning to try and cram everything in at the same time. Keep your lessons to 20 minutes max and then offer a breather by having a quick Q&A, telling a story, having an activity or giving free time.
Real-Life Examples
Stories stick with people. If you use a compelling story to explain any concept of the new tech it makes it more memorable. Use real people, real examples and specific situations to engage with your staff.
Role Play
When explaining concepts during your technical staff training, assign roles to your staff and help them explain the lesson through simple role play. They will interact with each other and remember new operations easier. Questions are also more likely to pop up and be dealt with on the spot when you’re acting things out.
Blended Learning
A combination of digital and in-person learning can help all members. Not all staff members will be able to attend all lessons every time – the workload often doesn’t allow it. Allow members to learn remotely too, and make sure to keep tabs on their progress. Then, compliment their learning with meetings or in-person support.
Customise For Your Business Specifically
Whatever your company culture is, include elements so that your technical staff training feels part of the organisation itself. This way it can show employees that the business has adapted to this tech already, making it more likely they will engage.
Offer Choices
While you might have planned every detail of how training will go, give attendees some breathing room as well. Give them the freedom to rearrange the lessons to an extent. By having a say in how technical staff training is conducted, they will be more interested in actually attending.
