Coaching

Coaching, like mentoring, is an ongoing process usually conducted one-on-one. In small organizations this aspect of career enhancement is often missing, especially where an IT group is too small to provide the breadth of experience. I have been successful in coaching many individuals and have myself been coached by some great people. To be financially viable for you, this service makes most sense if added to a basket of other items.

Training

I have done ad-hoc one-on-one training for most of my career, in person, over the phone, and over the phone with a remote PC session. I have created and presented classroom sessions on a number of topics, mostly on the use of specific applications, such as e-mail or spreadsheets.

I have also created guides, cheat-sheets and "tips and tricks" pages, both for paper and electronic distribution. I make use of many formatting and graphic aids to make the documents friendly, and in recent years I have made good use of a digital camera to record real-life images to help visualize the instructions. For instance, when we switched communications suppliers once, people in the branches had to disconnect the old router. This was accomplished more smoothly with the aid of close-up photos of the back of a router, with arrows to the appropriate connectors.

I can help you create training materials, or classroom materials assisting your own subject matter expert, or do the whole nine yards. Of course, it will be easier if the subject you want me to train on is one I know.

For localities away from Oakville, practical issues restrict the service to creating training materials rather than course delivery.

If you have any questions about how I might be able to help you, please feel free to contact me by phone or e-mail.

More Details
Software Tools	Word, Wordperfect, InDesign, PowerPoint, Visio, Photoshop, Illustrator, OneNote
Technologies used	Screen snapshot, Image annotation and manipulation, video playback of screen images
Specialties	Making technology and complex processes understandable. Use of humour to make subjects more interesting. Visual reinforcement with screen shots, photos and diagrams.
Locality	Typically, I communicate via email, and occasionally phone. Writing projects work very well from remote locations, as the product can be very easily shared via attachments or web-site posting. For personal coaching or training, you'd need to be in Oakville or possibly Burlington or Milton. I tried commuting once, and didn't like it.
Ideas	Manuals, Hints and Tips, Cheat sheets, Documentation, Training materials