The Lone-Ranger Trainer, an interview with Jane Bozarth

T/D: If you’re the first trainer or a one person training department, how would you get started? How would you set up?

JB: I think especially for the first one, there’s a temptation to think that there’s nothing already in place but very often there is. Perhaps there was some kind of mandatory training done five years ago or there’s been some kind of tutorial for using the company telephone, for example.

The first-time trainer walks in and it’s just so overwhelming. They don’t know where to start because they've got all these different people making different demands. As a quick exercise I would invite the reader to answer the following questions.1. What do you believe your job is? What is your job in this organization? 2. What does your boss or the person who hired you think your job is and what your role in the organization is? And 3, What do your co-workers think your job is?

It’s really critical that you are very clear on the different expectations of the different people with whom you’ll be interacting. I have seen trainers go into an organization and make big mistakes by not being really clear on what their boss wanted them to do or what their co-workers thought they were there to do.

The other thing that I would warn you about is to find out what promises have already been made. If your not the first trainer the organization has ever had, it's important to know who your predecessor was. Different trainers have different styles and they have different approaches. Are you trying to fill big shoes and are people looking to you to fill the same shoes? Or perhaps the new trainer may have been brought in intentionally to correct deficiencies the prior trainer had or to do things the prior trainer didn't do.

For instance, I once replaced a trainer who was very, very popular but she never did any training. She saw herself as the organization’s one-on-one HR consultant. People would call her day in and day out with questions about the performance management policy or leave procedures - things that I was never going to do. Therefore, finding out who you’re replacing, whether they were formally in a training role or not, can be really important. Also finding out if you’re replacing someone who’s weak can be a great thing; capitalize on that.

T/D: This is wonderful information. Is there other information that’s useful to a new trainer when they’re just getting started?

JB: The biggest mistake I see new trainers make is that they go into their offices or their cubicles with piles of policy manuals and prior training materials and perhaps whatever else has been dumped on them and they don't actually do any further research.

Don’t be a little office mole. Get out. Find out what the standing meetings are and get invited to those if only to come in and say, “Hi I’m Jane.” Find out who the key players are and make a point of introducing yourself to them.

I had a new boss one time who had been in place for a couple of months who stopped me in the hallway to ask who somebody was that was walking by. It was one of our senior managers. He was someone she should have met the first week she was there and remembered his name – she should have made it a point to speak to him when she saw him.

You’re never going to get credibility or get a foothold in the organization if you’re not informed. Find out who the players are. Find out what their needs and problems are and find out how to support their projects.

For more information on Jane Bozarth, visit www.bozarthzone.com. To hear the complete hour-long interview you can order the CD or downloadable Mp3 at The Accidental Trainer Store on our website.

The Training Doctor is the sponsor of our free “Accidental Trainer Power Interviews.” Remember when you can’t find it off the shelf The Training Doctor is your custom instructional design and solution and you can find us at www.theaccidentaltrainer.com.