Organizations trying to stretch their training budget while maximizing the time allotted by participants are using brown bag session for their Kronos training. In this entry, I will define what a brown bag session is and highlight some tips and tricks for effective use of a brown bag session. Brown bag training CAN but is not absolutely defined as a training session held during or near the lunch in which lunch is not provided. These sessions are generally short, rarely lasting longer than one hour, and are informal in nature. Also, brown bag sessions tend to have a smaller number of participants. Often they are conducted in a conference room or large meeting room, and not in a training room! Now, I qualified this definition with a CAN because this definition, though fairly consistent is not hard and fast. This is helpful to you as the designer of a training program because you will have the ability to shape all aspects of the courses to your liking...Have some snacks to share? Great, give me some. Only have 30 minutes of training? Fantastic, my blood sugar levels thank you. Meeting in a quiet corner of the cafeteria? Awesome, minimizes my commute to training. Brown bag sessions are easy to characterize, but hard to define.
Here are some tips:
LIMIT CONTENT - Brown bag training works best when there is a limited amount of content. Remember, you will be answering questions and managing understanding. These take time, maybe more than you have...so, keep your content to no more than two thirds of the time you have. The extra one third can be used to answer questions, make additional examples and so forth. You will need that time, so take it.
FOCUS ON CONTENT - This is obvious, but should be stated. One good use of brown bag sessions is to introduce new features in an upcoming version of Workforce Timekeeper 6.2. Generally, for users or managers, there are a few really important new features. Focus on them. Drill them down to their most basic steps. Allow participants to record those basic steps. This isn't the time to delve into the minutia of how these features were added, why these features were added, or who made the decision. Stick to the steps, stick to the content, don't color things in if you can help it.
BRANCH OUT FROM WHAT IS KNOWN - This is really important. Because of the short period of time allotted, participants need to feel comfortable right away. Start with what they know. Even if what they know is logging on, it is something. Build on that. With all the new features in Kronos Timekeeper over the last several versions, you will notice the timecard itself still looks pretty much the same from a lot of older versions. Start from that, then branch out to the new features that are out there.
KEEP IT CASUAL - Never, never, NEVER forget that people are taking time away from their job or possibly from their break to take this training. Do not expect them to show up on time, don't expect the behavior you would from a normal training class. It simply won't happen. Feed in to it. Don't be afraid to veer off into conversations before or after the session, just make sure you have time to cover what you need to cover. You may have participants bring their lunches, don't let that bother you! Don't focus on dates. You create anxiety when providing "drop-dead" dates for roll outs and implementations. Note that Kronos will be rolled out "in a couple of months"; or that it is coming "in the near future". Anxiety shouldn't be present in any training event, but especially here in these sessions. You may ask them to be careful if they are using a PC, however. Yes, you are doing them a service by providing the session, but remember that your participants are taking the time to attend.
COMPUTERS ARE OPTIONAL - What? Kronos workforce Timekeeper works ON A COMPUTER! How can you conduct training where computers aren't involved? Calm down! Breathe! It is possible to train on Timekeeper without having participants use a PC? How?
Remember, Kronos Timekeeper may be a complex software application, but from the perspective of some users, it is quite simple. On example of this is terminal training. You don't need a PC or laptop to show participants how to use a timekeeper terminal. Heck, in a lot of training, a terminal isn't used. Another good example would be upgrade training. A customer I am working with recently had brown bag sessions discussing the new features they would use in version 6.2. There were only three new features, and that left some time for some policy review as well as your features presentation.
The point of this entry is pretty simple. Brown bag sessions are great tools to add to your arsenal during a training implementation. They can be used to present straightforward ideas in a casual, less intimidating environment. When used in addition to other learning events such as live classroom training or distance learning, you can get your participants on the right path toward real understanding of what they need to do, and how to do it.
Good luck with your Kronos training implementation.