Gaining Alignment Through Team Training

A topic I’ve discussed a few times is how to get your company aligned behind a common set of objectives.  I’ve described the V2MOM method (used by SalesForce.com to become a multi-billion dollar SaaS company), and our practice of daily stand-ups.  Both these tactic have been very helpful.

Today, we did a team training session to orient various teams to our marketing automation platform.  Here are a few things learned from this process:

• Put someone in charge of coordinating the schedule of events and agenda.  They’ll need to think through a logical flow, prepare logistics (like making sure the room is ready, there are enough power cords, etc.), and work with presenters to ensure the material is ready and in-sync.  This is helpful in ensuring a smooth showtime.

• Give everyone ample time to get ready.  In our case, we had a number of pre-requisites we asked everyone to do.  These included a 1-hour video series, and a 1.5 hour live session (which we also recorded for those who couldn’t make it).

• Be prepared for presenters going longer than anticipated.  We found that numerous presentations exceed our estimated time.  Unless you’re an experienced presenter, it may be difficult to estimate how much time you need (unless you run through your material and time yourself).  Next time around, we may schedule fewer presentations.

• Keep things lively by varying presenters.  We intentionally tried to engage a number of different people, so that we could take advantage of different presentation styles.  We’re hoping this kept people engaged.

All in all, I think the all-hands training session was a good step forward, and will help align everyone around our common objective.  We’ll see how things go over the next few days and weeks, and if it has made a substantial difference.

Here are a few snapshots from today’s session.  Enjoy!