Еден куп години, my boss asked me to train some users on a product called Results. Results is an end user reporting tool. It’s roughly analogous to SQL Server Reporting Service or Crystal. Во времето, тоа беше дизајниран да работи на зелен цевки (e.g. Wyse 50 терминал) connected to a Unix box via telnet.

Мојата стандардна одговор на секое прашање, која започнува со "може да ви … " е "Да" и тоа е каде што сите проблеми почна.

На клиентот беше хемиска компанија во јужниот дел на Калифорнија и само што заврши за еден од главните ERP имплементација врз основа на QAD на MFG/PRO. The implementation plan now called for training power end users on the Results product.

I wasn’t a big user of this tool and had certainly never trained anyone before. Сепак, Јас ја воделе голем број на други обука класи и беше брзо на моите нозе, so I was not too worried. Dennis, реалниот со полно работно време Резултати инструктор, had given me his training material. Гледајќи назад на неа сега, it’s really quite absurd. I didn’t know the product well, had never been formally trained on it and had certainly never taught it. What business did I have training anyone on it?

Да ги комплицира работите логистички, I was asked to go and meet someone in Chicago as part of a pre-sales engagement along the way. The plan was to fly out of New Jersey, одат во Чикаго, meet for an hour with prospect and then continue on to California.

И, I got to Chicago and the sales guy on my team had made some mistake and never confirmed the meeting. Така, I showed up and the prospect wasn’t there. Awesome. I pack up and leave and continue on to CA. Somewhere during this process, Сметам дека на клиентот е учење помалку од 24 часа пред моето доаѓање дека "Павле Галвин" го поучува класа, not Dennis. The client loves Dennis. They want to know "who is this Paul Galvin person?" "Why should we trust him?" "Why should we pay for him?" Dennis obviously didn’t subscribe to my "даде лоши вести почетокот" philosophy. Awesome.

Јас пристигнат на аеродромот и за некои неверојатно глупав причина, I had checked my luggage. I made it to LAX but my luggage did not. За мене, губење на багаж е многу како минува низ седум фази на жалост. Eventually I make it to the hotel, без багаж, уморен, гладни и носи моето (до сега, многу изгужвано) business suit. It takes a long time to travel from Newark — да О'Хара — на клиентот — назад кон О'Хара — и конечно да LAX.

Јас конечно се најде себеси седи во хотелска соба, џвакаат на бар Сникерс, exhausted and trying to drum up the energy to scan through the training material again so that I won’t look like a complete ass in front of the class. This was a bit of a low point for me at the time.

Се разбудив следниот ден, did my best to smooth out my suit so that I didn’t look like Willy Loman on a bad day and headed on over to the client. As is so often the case, во личноста која таа беше убаво, polite and very pleasant. This stood in stark contrast to her extremely angry emails/voicemails from the previous day. She leads me about 3 miles through building after building to a sectioned off area in a giant chemical warehouse where we will conduct the class for the next three days. На 15 или 20 Учениците потоа ги соберат, most them still expecting Dennis.

Јас секогаш започнете мојата обука часови од страна на воведување на себе, giving some background and writing my contact information on the white board. As I’m saying, "Добро утро, моето име е Пол Галвин ", Јас пишувам моето име, email and phone number up on the white board in big letters so that everyone can see it clearly. I address the fact that I’m replacing Dennis and I assure them that I am a suitable replacement, итн. I have everyone briefly tell me their name and what they want to achieve out of the class so that I can tailor things to their specific requirements as I go along. The usual stuff.

We wrap that up and fire up the projector. I go to erase my contact info and … I had written it in permanent marker. I was so embarrassed. In my mind’s eye, тоа изгледа вака: Постои и ова "Пол Галвин" лице, last minute replacement for our beloved Dennis. He’s wearing a crumpled up business suit and unshaven. He has just written his name huge letters on our white board in постојан маркер. What a sight!

Сето тоа заврши среќно, сепак. This was a chemical company, по сите. A grizzled veteran employee pulled something off the shelf and, веројатно во кршење на ЕПА прописи, cleared the board. I managed to stay 1/2 day ahead of the class throughout the course and they gave me a good review in the end. This cemented my "pinch hitter" reputation at my company. My luggage arrived the first day, па јас бев многу повеќе згреши два дена и три.

Како што беше преземање на црвени очи дома, I was contemplating "lessons learned". There was plenty to contemplate. Communication is key. Tell clients about changes in plan. Don’t ever check your luggage at the airport if you can possibly avoid it. Bring spare "stuff" in case you do check your luggage and it doens’t make it. I think the most important lesson I learned, сепак, беше ова: секогаш тест маркер во долниот лев агол на бела табла пред пишувањето, во огромни букви, "Пол Галвин".

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