- About 10 years old, I transitioned
from a career from academia to corporate training.
The transition, to be honest, was rough.
It's hard to be new at something
especially when you're used to having all the answers.
Not knowing a lot of people in my new field
didn't help either.
What really aided my transition
was an online forum,
The Articulate E-Learning Heroes Forum to be exact
so I have a soft spot for external social platforms
that help people learn,
things like online forums
and communities like you find on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Rather than giving you tips
on how to use external social platforms in your training,
I'd like to dive into how you as a training professional
can maximize these platforms
for your own professional development
which in turn will help you develop more effective training.
To begin, I suggest that you find two communities
and commit to them.
If you're new to digital communities,
I suggest signing up for LinkedIn and Twitter.
You'll quickly find those people
that are into what you're into.
More than two digital communities though
will probably be too much.
Make a goal about your involvement
like I'm going to post to this community once a day
or five times a week.
We're not talking a big commitment here,
maybe 15 minutes a day.
Another thing is to give more than you receive.
Perhaps you've noticed that most people in life are takers,
like that family member you only hear from
when you need something.
The same goes for users in a digital community.
However, if you give more than you receive
by contributing consistently,
writing thoughtful replies,
posting helpful resources,
you'll get noticed and when you need help, you'll get it.
And the last thing, share what you're working on.
This might be a completed project
or something challenging that you're in the midst of.
We learn the most about training
by analyzing actual projects.
If you share, you'll encourage others to share
and everyone will get better.
You want to develop more effective training, right?
One simple yet totally effective thing you can do
to make that happen
is to commit to a digital community.