More Bang For Your Training Buck
Posted by shanemurphy on Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Came across a good article earlier today at ATW Training Trends giving a list of ten things that companies should consider for sqeezing the most out of every dollar in training budget. They’re all good ideas, though a few, such as #10 – Build a library full of books, may be seen as cost-prohibitive in these times, a few others are spot-on and it continues to baffle me why more companies aren’t thinking about different ways to improve the skills of their employees.
Consider #6: Use Podcasts and YouTube to spread your message. It’s free and easy.
I couldn’t agree more, but I believe that it’s important to ensure that there is sufficient quality in the delivered message, and quality isn’t exactly free. Video training surely requires some level of scripting, some pratice, and that all equates to bottom-line dollars. These sorts of messages, though, can be done relatively inexpensively, but nothing is free.
The Bald Trainer’s Short List
- Screencasting
- Job Aids
- Recorded Webinars
Something that I didn’t notice on this list was the concept of recording screencasting, especially when it comes to training of technology. While it’s also not free, screencasting can be done inexpensively using freeware products such as UTipU, which allows for a solid user experience with little initial training and gets the job done.
Another idea that I’m also pretty sold on is the development of well-written job aids, which in many cases can all but eliminate the need for any formal training. They’re also not free, but can be done simply and the process can be duplicated for several different trainings.
In regards to webinars, they can also be done for a little bit of nothing, and again… using the right provider, they can be replicated and placed into a queue for any customer to access later.
The Bald Truth here is this – there are numerous ways to have a significantly postitive impact on any training budget, it just takes some different thinking sometimes. In these lean times, chanigng the way of thinking is the most positive way that companies can save dollars.
