I was training the trainer today (picture supplied by him). Daniel sat in on an intermediate Excel 2013 training course with the goal of him doing training for us in the future. The 5 delegates from the company didn't mind him sitting in on the the course and all really enjoyed it. There is so much psychology involved in training. For a productive day it's important to keep your wits about you. The company, Frutarom, made flavourings for various foods including juices like cranberry etc. The fruity smell was so potent, I could smell it as I was driving up to the building. It was a friendly company who provided lunch, offered to make drinks etc. The coolest thing was the boardroom which used a wireless system called Barco that allowed me to connect to their two TV screens this meant I could sit anywhere in the room, felt very Star Trekie. Good day that Daniel, as a trainer, enjoyed as well. But the next time you bite into a Mr Kipling cake the flavours you are tasting may be extracted by Frutarom in Wellingborough near Northampton.
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Photoshop training in Cambridge is a good way to start the week. I really enjoy delivering this training course. I usually get my students to grips with the various selection tools and more importantly which tools to use in what circumstances. The company, "Pico Technologies" I have trained before. Last time it was InDesign and they were obviously happy as they called me back to conduct their Photoshop training. With all of the wonderful things you can do with Photoshop, the cutting out of oscilloscopes (hope I spelled that correctly) seems a little mundane. However using the background eraser tool made short work of that. Another happy customer trained in Cambridge. How far can you push Pivot Tables? Oh go on have a guess? Say for instance you wanted to calculate a Year To Date calculation? Or wanted to work out the moving annual total? Or even if you wanted to create a map charting where in the world your best sales are coming from? These questions have evaded even the most seasoned Pivot Table users. Check out our site and see what a PowerPivot training course can do for you. Or if you want to know what it is then please check out our free excel training videos. The staff members at Personal Touch Finance found the PowerPivot training course at their office in Birmingham extremely useful and I was glad to help. If somebody asked you:"How good are you at Excel?" What would you say? If you can explain the following then you're ready for our intermediate course:
There is a new email application on the scene, Outllook 2016. When I say new I mean except for the new colour scheme and a couple of other features it's pretty much like the 2013. This begs the questions: "Why should I upgrade?" The basic answer is don't bother. Let's look at one example. One of the features Microsoft really needed to add was adding attachments in Mail Merge. Now I examined every dark crevice of this new Outlook, dug and delved however there was no sign of any way to add attachments to a mail merge. I ended up having to use a third party app. Anyway onto the training which is what this blog should be about. The hardest thing about training Microsoft Outlook is that people use it every day, so knowing the students knowledge can be tricky. However I was pleased that all in the students in enjoyed their computer training in Luton. Great day! Six Ladies at the Cambridge Education Group learning InDesign. Some had experience with InDesign, some hadn't. An awkward thing which should be simple in InDesign is Inserting a picture. It's important that this bit isn't rushed as there are many preconceptions about this and if delegates are used to the Microsoft Word/Publisher way of doing it, they might find it difficult to adjust. Take it nice and slowly so as to to not let them get too frustrated. All in all an informative and enjoyable day, also a great venue for the InDesign training course by the train station in Cambridge. 2 days of training XML in Cambridge and I learned a couple of things. I learned how to use Oxygen as an XML/Schematron editor, we looked at some Schematron examples and how easy it is to use to look for patterns in XML. So you can check whether email tags/nodes actually contain an email address. The company elifesciences are one of the companies to train with Computer Tutoring in Cambridge. So I decided to take the guided bus. There is a computer controlled bus that doesn't need a driver that runs along a concrete path between Cambridge and the villages/towns to the north of the city. There is a driver however, who sit's with his arms folded as the bus speeds it's way along the track. However there are a few downsides to using this bus way. First when you arrive to get your ticket the computer asks you "Who do you want to travel with?" The choices being either Stage coach or Whippet. "Whichever one comes first" I found myself saying out loud. Somebody must have heard me because she suggested that I get the stagecoach ticket. When it came time to go home after finishing a full day's training the bus stop was just outside the elifesciences office on Hills road. A bus appeared, it was green, the writing announced it was bound for St. Ives using the bus way. However when I showed my day rider ticket I was told it was not valid as: "This bus is a Whippet mate, you need a Stagecoach". The driver then went on to describe the half mile I would have to walk to pick up the other bus. Please would Whippet and Stagecoach and think of customers rather than themselves. Well that's enough ranting. Apart from transport then guys at elifesciences were fantastic and it has encouraged me to add a Schematron training course to my repertoire. |
The art of trainingI've seen many things the good the bad and the darn right ugly. Not that perfection in training is anything I've achieved but sometimes a bit of empathy and common sense can make the person you're training feel at ease and aid training. Archives
October 2020
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