Social Networking & Training
Social networking is now a way of life for many of us, but not necessarily for those we work for or with. I just discovered a site that has some interesting insights into using social media for marketing (http://socialmediatoday.com). So why don’t we make more use of social media for training?
Recently, I received a link to a blog about Lotus Notes and how people fail to understand how to use it effectively (http://www.pmooney.net/2011/02/i-find-it-very-hard-to-find-things-in-notes/comment-page-1/#comment-28275). The article is called “I find it very hard to find things in Notes”.
Basically, training has taken a real beating in this economy. “We can’t afford training” and “Our users know how to use email” are the new mantra for Notes, and other mature software products for that matter. So how do we get users information on the best way to use the products they have? Well, why not use social networking?
Why not use a Twitter account to set up Notes tips and tricks, for example? Point your users to it. You just have to be sure to keep it current.
For trainers, you could point your students to a blog or Twitter or Facebook site that you use to keep them posted on tips for using the software they’ve just been trained on. With a blog, you can also encourage responses.
So, how about getting social?
If you are a trainer and already are using social networking as a training tool, let me know what you are doing so we can all benefit from your experience.
