Is the training manual or reference guide becoming extinct? For anyone who knows me, you know I am a Training Specialist, which means I create many training manuals, reference guides, or user guides – whatever you want to call them. I think I do a pretty good job of making sure the guides I create are thorough, usable, visually appealing, and consistent. I also do my best to encourage trainers to reference these in class so learners know they are useful and will turn to them following class. However, when I sit back and reflect on my own learning, I find that most of my guides, binders, and books just sit on a shelf. Is it just me and my style of learning, or does it reflect the change in how we get information these days?
Where do you turn for help or information? My impression is that many people like to talk to someone directly for help, while others like to feel in control and find the answers on their own – easily. When we are curious about something new, we don’t go to the library to look it up; we look on our phones and computers. We go to Google, Wikipedia, or IMDB – the sites we frequent. If I have a question about how to do something in PowerPoint or Word, I don’t take time to find the answer in a book. I look at the online help.
So where does that leave us when we need instructions for an internal system or process? Do you pull out guides or binders from past training you’ve attended? If so, what about those guides makes them so useful? In the PMO, we have all our process docs and templates in an online help system that we created. Do you use the online resources? Is that the direction we need to go for all training guides?
My preference is an online aid so I can look at the help side-by-side in another window. It also allows me to access it from anywhere, not needing to have the physical manual.
If I think about the most prominent reference books – a dictionary and encyclopedias – I can’t remember the last time I dusted one off, instead choosing to look up words/things online or use their apps.
Interesting Deb! I thought you might argue for a physical manual at times. I know I have a whole shelf full of guides that I may bust out once a year. There’s some reassurance knowing I have them there, but it’s not something I go to regularly.
I’m trying to think if there is a guide I pull out regularly…only cheat sheets I think. I do like to have a physical book for some things though, like Photoshop, though I often look for tutorials online.
As manager of a training group, we have placed much of our content online to make it easily accessible as well as reduce printing costs. We provide abbreviated user guides in training sessions, but still maintain a full reference guide posted online for those who want the full guide. Different generations and learning styles call for different resources, so I think there is still a need for documentation.
Thanks for your great perspective Joan. I certainly learned from the best! Do you by chance keep/monitor web stats on the full reference guides to see how often they are viewed? I generally feel like I’m jumping with no net if I don’t create a full guide for the training we provide, but I still wonder if it’s worth the time spent creating them. Would a full guide in an online tool like RoboHelp be better or accessed more regularly?
This is something I struggle with constantly. I frequently work with teams to redesign their processes, often integrating new technology & tools. All of this requires “detailed documentation” – but what do we mean by this?
Like Amy and Deb, I typically only reference electronic and online content as I look for solutions to computer challenges. While user groups, blogs, and help documentation is sufficient (and most convenient) for me, I know this doesn’t suit everyone.
Since my audience is always a broad set of users, often with limited computer expertise, I try to keep my user guides limited to single-page cheat sheets, with limited text and lots of screenshots and diagrams.
Since I know my instructions will need to fit on a single page, I force myself to find the simplest and most concise solution possible.
That’s a great approach Rob! Saves time and trees by only providing the one page guide, but fulfills the need for folks who like something tangible to have with them. Do you end up still creating any of the lengthier materials or create any online guides, or do you end up forgoing that all together?
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