We have added a few new members to our team over the last couple of months. It has been quite a while since we’ve had new team members, so I’m thrilled to have their fresh perspectives, experience and skills added to our already talented team. Their presence creates a unique dynamic and positive energy in the office.

With our new teammates comes the opportunity to inspire them in their new roles and have them reflect on how they want to intentionally approach their jobs. In some cases, we have not trained on these positions for many years, so it also gives us a chance to review our training systems and look for ways to improve or make them more comprehensive. We utilize some great training tools that we have developed over the years to be instrumental in creating successful training programs for new employees.

Basecamp is a project management platform that we use for many projects, from website build-outs to departmental project tracking. It is a great program to layout detailed project steps, save related resources and assign steps to various individuals. One of the reasons I really love using Basecamp so much is the ability to create templates. Templates allow you to create a universal “template” that will be used repeatedly. For example, we use templates for new member onboarding and event planning. It ensures that no core steps are ever missed. Templates are also customizable. So for a new staff person, I can pull from the core training template used for all team members, then I customize it specifically for that person’s specific role and tasks.

eLearning (Learning Management System) is a website we created specifically for teaching our Member law firms as well as for our own team members. Our eLearning site is set on Moodle, an open-source platform which many learning institutions use. For our internal training use, we like to post training videos to show step-by-step how to do a task and where to find the resources that supports those steps.

Network folders is where we have traditionally kept our training materials. With over 20 years of being in business, we have amassed a lot of training materials, this is both a blessing and a curse. The good news is, we have a ton of training information. The bad news is, we have a ton of training information. Over the years, we’ve had many people touch those files, create new ones and save them in different areas on the network. As I went through setting up training plans recently, it was clear we needed to consolidate those files and organize the information. It was also a good opportunity to update and add to our materials.

If creating an eLearning site or using a project management system sounds a bit too ambitious, no worries. You can easily create an organized set of folders on your network for training. You can break those folders down by department, then by role, then by tasks. If you have training that applies to more than one role, you can create a general training folder. In our general training, we have instructions on how to use our database program, network folders, various software programs, phone system, postage machine, copiers/scanners, submit purchase orders, etc. We also include inter-departmental overviews so each new person understands what each department does.

It is good to revisit your training programs every so often to ensure you are providing the best learning environment possible.

Susan Russel
Director of Member Services
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
9444 Balboa Avenue, Suite 300
San Diego, California 92123
Phone: (800) 846-1555
www.aaepa.com