7 reasons 1-to-1 newsroom training is needed
The anecdote goes something like this: A guy complains that he can’t get any work done when he’s in the office. People are always interrupting him, asking questions, bugging him for help. A co-worker reminds him the interruptions are his work. Epiphany.
I heard that story a long time ago; I bring it to mind frequently. A big part of my job is helping co-workers get comfortable with the tools of the job — tools they had never heard of when they started in journalism, or never thought they’d need.
So, while group training is important, here’s seven reasons why the one-on-one time is likely never going away.
You want stuff done. We want reporters to Twitter news events. So, in some cases, that means we have to show them how to send a text message. Everyone isn’t naturally curious about figuring things like that out. Sometimes they’re intimidated.
They need personal reassurance that they’ll get it. Show a blogger how to regularly post his stuff on Facebook, and why it matters, and the light bulb goes on. They get it and it can excite the ones who care.
They don’t use the skills often enough yet. We have people in our newsroom who started blogging for the first time this year. As we’ve layered on new expectations, they started learning new skills — such as adding a photo to their blog items. Until they do it regularly, they won’t get it reliably.
It’s too easy to ignore you in a group. This is a corollary to item one. We do plenty of group training in our newsroom — what social media is, for example. How our story comments work. How to create a quiz using our template tool. And so on. But in a group setting, it’s too easy for someone to slide by, thinking the training doesn’t apply to them. One-on-one, they get the idea that yes, you mean them, too.
It’s technology; it’s never perfect. Their computer settings aren’t the same as yours. Their browser may be different. Whatever. Once the group training is done, the one-on-one time fixes any glitches that inevitably arise.
They need tough love. Sometimes, you’ve got to tell them they’re not listening. Example: I’ve told colleagues that WordPress works better with Firefox than with Internet Explorer. Some persist on using IE. When they complain that the blogs “don’t work,” I have to remind them (sometimes forcefully) that they’ve been told to use Firefox. That’s better done one-to-one.
It’s fun. Honestly, I love it when someone really wants the help because they value the intellectual exercise, or they truly want to spread their wings. I’ll take all day with them. The ones who are blogging because their boss is making them (you know the type), well, they’re just fun-suckers.
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