by Joe Wallace

I admit it…when I think about training new people to do detail-oriented, non-writing techie stuff like managing WordPress, resizing images in Photoshop, or the finer points of troubleshooting buggy FTP interfaces, I start hearing the Godzilla movie music in my head–that ominous, doomy music that lets you know things are about to go very wrong, very soon.

I share this because for the first time in YEARS, I am on the other end of the lesson. I’m learning a whole new universe of WYSIWYG editing platform issues, file management system pitfalls and hiccups, even where to send the copy corrections is a new and special headache for the uninitiated. Whatever happened to e-mail?

But if you stay on an upwardly mobile career path long enough, you’ll probably encounter similar training needs that put you in the teacher’s seat at least long enough to teach somebody else what to do in case you go on vacation and need someone else to upload your content for the day/week/year.

Why do I hate training? Because inevitably, whether I’m the teacher or the learner, some critical piece of information gets left out of the equation due to human nature–one that becomes absolutely essential once the trainer is gone and no longer of any assistance.

Calling Mister Murphy…your law is being invoked on aisle seven.

What can you do to prevent this from happening? Continue reading Confessions of an Editor: I Hate Training →