Successful Training? Offer Happy Hour

Feliz Cinco De Mayo! Do you have a favorite bar you'll be visiting this afternoon? Yeah, me too. Take a sec and think about what makes it your favorite bar.

...giving you time to think...

Did you come up with things like great atmosphere, good music, love the bartender?

I bet many of you, like me, rank a bar based on the bartender(s). Bartenders are fascinating characters in our society. They become our best friends, our confidants, our counselors and sometimes even our mates (Whatever. Don't act like I'm the only one who's been there.) Even an ugly bartender can become attractive and keep you coming back as long as other important "bartender elements" are in place.

In our world of law firms and legal tech, the person you allow to interface between technology and the people is often a trainer, or a help desk attendant. They ARE your firm's bartenders. Used wisely, they can be the most valuable weapon in your technology arsenal.

As a free-lancing trainer, I'm often asked by clients what they should be looking for in a full-time trainer. The answer is quite simple: they, like bartenders, must be likable.

A really good trainer is first and foremost naturally likable and liked by everyone - by partners, associates,  word processors, staff, even by outside vendors. If they show up with a copy of The Likeability Factor : How to Boost Your L-Factor and Achieve Your Life's Dreams, think twice about hiring him or her. Think about this...you have to find (or be) a person who an attorney is willing to trade-in a billable hour for.

Second, they need to be trainable. They should have a broad knowledge base that can easily and willingly be expanded and connected. Every mixologist graduates with the same skill-set. But based on the bar, region, holiday, clientele, etc, they are constantly learning and perfecting new concoctions. They are not afraid to say. "Never heard of that one! How's it go?" They need to love learning and experimenting as much as they do teaching. I worked at a firm once where the other trainer couldn't accept work outside her training scope. She truly believed that she was "just a trainer". That meant, not sitting at the help desk or participating in roll-outs. Can you imagine? Everything I know is from doing just those things. Guess you better not hire any prima donna's.

They also need to be incredibly perceptive. They need to be able to hear, smell and touch thirsty. Good story for you:  After a 3 hour training session with a group of secretaries, a trainer came out and said to me, "What a great class! They were so good, they were really fast learners. This upgrade is going to be a breeze." Well, upon further investigation (we simply asked), we found that the trainees weren't getting it, weren't following along and found her patronizing and annoying. She couldn't tell. She was terrible and so was her training. These types of trainers are often encountered when you hire a national training firm whose goal is to meet contractual needs and just put bodies on the floor...but that, my friends, is for another day. The situation was remedied (she was let go and they were offered extra deskside training) but it wasn't without some pain.

So keep in mind, your bar is only as good as your bartender. How's that saying go about customers...if they like it they'll tell one person but if they hate it they'll tell ten?  Get it as right as you can, because as with customers, with users you only get one chance.