Friday Training Format
Starting 11/13/2020, the trainings will have the following format:
- First, we will start with a brief stand-up. This will include the whole team (PM, Dev, DevOps/QA), and will last about 10 mintutes. During this time, each person will have ~20 seconds to explain:
- Training you completed last week
- Training you’re planning to attend today
- Any brief blocks (we can review these in detail afterward)
- Next, we will have our usual group hangout session. This will last about 20 minutes, so get your personal trivia answers ready! (or we can simply chit chat 😊)
- We will then break out into individual training sessions. There will be a “menu” of options for you to choose the topic and format that works best for you. You are encouraged to give feedback to your manager and in the weekly stand-up. Below are the three options you can choose from for the breakouts:
- Small group trainings: DevOps, DNN, CEF FE, CEF BE, Connect, Xamarin, etc. – you can spin up a training and offer to walk other folks through topics. Please record all break out trainings, even if it’s just you and one other person. We can incorporate this into the LMS, and it can be edited to remove any non-relevant info. The group training topics for each week will be shared with the group either before or at the beginning of each training.
- Pluralsight - you can select a track within Pluralsight to pursue during the Friday training time slot. You'll need to complete the validation/quiz after and confirm you've successfully completed these and be able to share updates to the team/your manager.
- Programming books or other courses - review with the group and discuss specific training that you'd like to focus in on. You'd be welcome to do this either individually or in a small group - for example, we had about 5-6 team members reading a dense C# book about 12 months ago and that helped the group progress with accountability. If you have a book/course in mind, please bring it up with your manager or during the standup so it can be acquired if necessary prior to the training.
- Occasionally, we’ll meet as a group in lieu of the breakout training session and discuss specific topics.
As always, the goal for these trainings is to share information in ways that are valuable and engaging, and we’re looking forward to getting the ball rolling today. If you have any questions or comments about the new training format, please let the leadership team know.
File Organization
Microsoft Teams
- CVI – Training Channel
- General
- Files
- Choose the departmental folder that applies
- Clarity – All
- PMO
- Development
- Each folder will be titled by topic + date of the training
- In each folder will live the edited video file + additional documentation to supplement the training (i.e. agenda, Powerpoint, Notes, Outline, etc.)
- Naming Convention:
- YYYYMMDD_TopicTitle_v# (Version number is included in case this topic is covered more than once and elaborated upon)
Weekly Process
- Tuesday afternoon: Management chooses Training Topic + Presenter.
- Management provides the basic agenda of the training to the presenter for refinement.
- The presenter creates an outline of training with topics + subtopics based on the template provided.
- The presenter creates Powerpoint to accompany the presentation.
- 5. Presenter posts training topic in CVI – Training channel for the team to view.
- Team members can ask questions to be covered ahead of time.
- Presenter refines training plan and shares with Training Moderator.
- Thursday afternoon: Moderator shares meeting agenda with the Teams chat
- Friday: Training
- The designated team member will record the session and take notes of the training to accompany the video.
- Monday: designated team member downloads and edits the video to the proper length, cutting out any idle chat or background noise.
- Monday: designated team member uploads video and documentation to a folder in the above Teams channel
- After file upload, the team member should notify the channel that files are ready for viewing.
Script for Meeting Moderation
- Allow for up to 10 minutes of banter as team members join the meeting.
- The designated team member is to begin recording the meeting upon arrival.
- Once all parties are present, the designated moderator should quiet the banter and introduce that week’s presenter.
- The presenter may share their screen with the necessary presentation and/or documents ready for the team to follow.
- Save questions for the end. Team members send their questions via the Teams Meeting chat function. Moderator asks questions to limit overlap.
- When questions are done, the moderator makes a formal announcement that training is complete. The team is given the option to stay in the meeting for general discussion or leave as they please.
Agenda Provided to Presenter
Topic: _________________________________
Presentation Date: ______________________
Presenter Name: ________________________
Training should break down TOPIC NAME HERE into a minimum of [X] subtopics. Management’s desired subtopics listed below.
Subtopic #1 ___________________________________________________________________
Subtopic #2 ___________________________________________________________________
The presenter is given the discretion to plan training as they otherwise see fit.
Outline Template Provided to Presenter
This document is meant to assist the weekly trainer in planning the meeting and organize their lesson plan. When this document is complete it should first be submitted to Management. Upon review, the presenter may be asked to refine the outline. The outline is to be shared with the team via Teams CVI – Training channel.
Presenter Name: __________________________
Topic: ___________________________________
Presentation Date: ________________________
- Introduction
- Basic description or definition of the topic.
- What you’d like to accomplish this training.
- Highlight subtopic titles
- Subtopic 1
- Description or definition + how it relates to the overarching topic
- Why this is important to this training
- Explanation of subtopic
- Subtopic 2
- Description or definition + how it relates to the overarching topic
- Why this is important to this training
- Explanation of subtopic
- Subtopic 3
- Description or definition + how it relates to the overarching topic
- Why this is important to this training
- Explanation of subtopic
- Q & A
- Team members may submit questions related to the topic ahead of time.
- Answers may be incorporated to existing subtopics of training
- Answers may be saved for the final section before Live Q&A
- Conclude training
For the Presenter: Best Practices, Tips + Tricks for a Successful Training Session
- Tell trainees what you’re going to cover. Introduce your session with a brief overview of the training subject’s main points.
- In the main portion of the session explain key points
- Tell trainees what you told. Give a conclusion of your session with a summary of your opening overview.
- If you are using a PowerPoint or any visuals to aide your session, explain to trainees what they are going to see so that they know what to look for.
- Involve trainees if it calls for it. Ask participants to share their experiences with the training topic.
- Have any extra material such as URLs or documents prepared ahead of time. Feel free to share them in the Training Session Group Chat on Teams so that trainees can follow and take personal notes.
- Keep the goal of this training session in mind. If things start to get off track, remember what you are trying to accomplish and redirect back to a topical subject.
- Keep Adult Learning Principles in mind (listed below):
- a. Self-concept: as a person matures, they move towards becoming a self-directed human being.
- b. Adult-Learner Experience: As a person matures, they accumulate a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning.
- c. Readiness to Learn: As a person matures, their readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of their social roles.
- d. Orientation to Learning: As a person matures, their perspective changes, and they become more focused on solving problems.
- e. Motivation to Learn: As a person matures, the motivation to learn is internalized.
- One way to understand these principles and to apply them to your training session is to revolve the session around solving a problem.
- Having clear goals maximizes the potential and impact of your session by setting expectations and ensuring attendees that the topics being covered pertain to the feedback they had provided.
PowerPoint Template
Weekly Training Lifecycle
Presentation Outline
Presenting Best Practices
Meeting Script