It’s not always easy

I went back today and reviewed our participant feedback from the CiviCRM Admin Training in Toronto last month.

Interestingly, almost all of them highlighted something we kind of suspected already:

For such a broad topic as “administering CiviCRM,” it’s hard to find exactly the right balance between “covering everything” and “getting deep on the topics that matter to each participant.”

Even in a two-day course, some folks had questions that we didn’t have time to dig into.

Even in a small group of a dozen-or-so participants, some felt overwhelmed by all the new information, while some others endured explanations of areas they’d already mastered.

Fortunately, everyone got something out of it, and they all reported that it was worth their time and effort to attend.

My take-aways here:

• Group trainings (or generalized documentation) can make it hard to target the precise level of interest and experience of any given individual.

• Even when you’re experienced in one area, mastering new concepts can still be a challenge — there’s always something new to learn, when you’re ready for it.

That’s just the nature of things:
we learn;
we get comfortable;
we get a new idea;
then we need to learn more.

And if we can get the right kind of help at the right time, we usually find it’s worth the effort.

All the best,
Allen