Learn More About Software Training with William Rice

After 20 years spent developing software training, user documentation and knowledge management solutions, William Rice noted that there was a shortfall of books that taught programmers and customer service reps how to develop effective software training classes quickly and easily. In under 100 pages and at less than $12, User Training for Busy Programmers does just that.

“My first few jobs/contracts were with software companies that were in the process of growing from small to medium-sized. When I started my career in software training and documentation, the attitude was "anyone can write or talk, and if I had time to do this myself I would. But I don't so I'm hiring you instead." This meant that the owners of these companies didn't bring me in until they got too busy to do the training and documentation themselves. Eventually, they saw the difference in client satisfaction that a professional trainer/writer made.”

We usually think of small tech companies as being more nimble and forward-looking. But ironically, the larger tech companies that Rice has worked for realized the advantages of a professional trainer/writer before the smaller companies: DuPont, Hyperion Solutions, DoubleClick, Summit Software. While working for these companies Rice served clients of all sizes, from small dot-coms to Shell, Pfizer, and IBM.

One of the biggest barriers for small and medium sized businesses is that in order to get someone as experienced and talented as William Rice into their company, they will have to pay for the privilege. Many consulting companies charge over $150 per hour for course development, and over $500 per day per student for training. Of course, this is for a vertical market, specialty software: financial applications, healthcare information, enterprise-wide management and reporting. You get value for your money, but some companies just can't afford those rates. And at just $11.69 (£7.19 or €10.79) and under 100 pages, that's where William’s book comes in.

User Training for Busy Programmers is aimed at anyone who needs to rapidly develop an end-user software course. Rice states that, “If you're a non-trainer, you can step your way through the book and come out with an effective training course. If you're a professional trainer with your own approach, you can take parts of my approach and incorporate them into your individual methodology.”

In addition to being a good approach for someone who's pressed for time, it's also effective for people who learn best by doing. “I can tell you something theoretical like, "training succeeds best in organizations that are committed to continuous learning and improvement." But you'll probably learn more if I tell you: "take your training plan to the stakeholders of this software and get their buy-in on the audience, goals, examples, and measurements of success that you plan to use."  When you do that, you'll have learned more about software training than any book on adult learning theory can teach.”

William's approach when writing the book was to start in the middle and work your way outward. He based this approach on an article he wrote about how to develop user documentation. “I wrote this when I realized that my method for creating user documentation and training under tight deadlines was nothing like what I learned in school. I really expected heavy criticism from other writers and trainers when I published this article, but apparently my heresy was well-received.” It's now one of the most-linked-to and highest-rated articles on his website. By the time William saw the need for a book that enables non-trainers to develop software training courses, he had thoroughly developed the middle-out approach.

When asked what his greatest professional achievement to date has been, William Rice will tell you it's client satisfaction. “At the end of the day, I want the people in my class to be more productive and less stressed. A recent survey shows that for most office workers, computer terms are as difficult to understand as a foreign language. If you're a technology professional, you might not realize how stressful simple things are for most software users. For example, most of us geeks love it when we get a new computer... it's usually an increase in performance and a chance to start fresh. We don't stress over transferring our files and preferences, setting up our applications, and mapping network drives. But for most of the people who attend my classes, that transition is very stressful. It's my business to help that audience become productive software users.”

“Another very satisfying aspect of my profession has been train-the-trainer courses. I've coached trainers and non-trainers on how to develop and deliver customized training courses. It's very gratifying to know that what I've taught a roomful of people is going to propagate to an entire company. I don't believe in making any client more dependent upon me. It's much more fun to give them the tools and techniques they need to succeed, and having them contact me a few weeks later to tell me how well it's going! Plus, it makes for a nice collection of satisfied references.”

At this moment, William is working with a very talented group of programmers at Mount Sinai Medical Center. They develop web-based applications for putting the medical center's business processes online. It's amazing how complicated the process of filling out a form and routing it to the right people can be, especially in an institution of 15,000 people. One form at a time, they're bringing this process online and going paperless. William is the one-person training manager/course developer/trainer/technical writer for this group. Because it's just him training and supporting thousands of users, he has to make use of tools that multiply his effect: online learning, a knowledge portal, and train-the-trainer courses.

For more information on William's book, User Training for Busy Programmers, please visit: http://www.packtpub.com/training_for_programmers/book