On the ninth day of CADD Care, my CADD team gave to me… the best way to make the most out of my training sessions!
Did you know that there’s a good way, a better way, a best way, and a not-so-good way to attend software training to get the most out of your session(s)?
Good Way:
Attend training right before you are about to start working on a project in the software. This way, you can jump right in with all the new information the freshest in your mind. Make sure that you aren’t working on the project by yourself but with at least one other person who has already done a project in that software AND has time built in to mentor the rest of the team with less experience.
Better Way:
Work with CADD to do a full “Insert Software Name Here” Implementation, so that you are trained in the template and tools that you will be using, along with being trained in your custom workflows. This way you can really go back in and jump in with both feet! Just like the “Good Way,” make sure that you aren’t working on the project by yourself but with at least one other person who has already done a project in that software AND has time built in to mentor the rest of the team with less experience.
Best Way:
After you’ve taken a Level I training course using the “Better Way” method, work in the software on projects for at least 6 months continuously and then come back for a Level II course! You will have a good grasp of the general software at this point and will know what else you want to get out of it. Even better, get a custom Level II class where you learn additional advanced tools and workflows customized for your company!
Not-so-good Way:
Attend training just to “attend training” without any clear plan as to what you are going to do with it afterward. While we will gladly take your money, training to those of us at CADD who teach is so much more than just taking your money from you. We all genuinely care about what you are learning and how much it improves your productivity and happiness in general. We are here to teach you what you want/need to know to do your job. Even if your plan is “see what this software is like to see if it works with our firm” that’s fine – it’s still a plan.
And lastly, utilize all the resources that are provided to you. If you attend one of our public Level I training classes, often you will receive a year’s subscription to our CADD Community Online Learning Portal. It is a wealth of knowledge that we are constantly adding to. Along with training classes, we also have content for many of the software that we support and add-ins for our most popular software that will make them work that much better for you.
View previous posts in the Twelve Days of CADD Care blog series:
(Day Eight) Revit
(Day Seven) CADD Community
(Day Six) Bluebeam
(Day Five) User Groups
(Day Four) CADD Toolbox
(Day Three) Autodesk Account Assistance
(Day Two) AutoCAD
(Day One)BIM 360
Check back tomorrow and next week to see what the CADD team has in store for all Twelve Days of CADD Care.