How to Write an Effective Internal Training Manual

1. How to Write an EffectiveInternal Training Manual (646) 504-0452 | www.virtualassistantisrael.com

2. Support; don't overwhelm. Picture this scenario: • It’s your first day at a new job. Your boss or HR department head hands you a huge binder and says, “Here’s everything you need to know.” • What expression appears on your face as you flip through the hundreds of papers with very small print? Overwhelm? Panic?

3. Support; don't overwhelm. • In the spirit of “Love Thy Employee as Thyself,” here’s how to write an effective training manual that will help your employees (calmly and happily) learn how to excel at their jobs.

4. Make Videos • Yes, this blog was entitled “How to WRITE a Manual,” but recorded videos can be an enormous learning aid. (There’s a reason why “Show and Tell” has a “Show” part.) Videos give your employee the opportunity to watch someone actually implementing and doing what she needs to do. • Additionally, your employee can re-watch the videos while/after she performs the task in order to check her work, eliminating the need for her to constantly check with you/other co-workers if she is doing it correctly.

5. Create PowerPoint Presentations • PowerPoint Presentations can be incorporated into training videos, contain videos, or stand on their own. • Presentations help keep the viewer’s attention. To maximize their ability to hold attention and get points across:

6. Create PowerPoint Presentations • Use animation and pictures • Use different colors to make information POP! • Do not pack each slide with a ton of information. It is better to have a lot of slides than to have a few slides with lots of information on each one. • Use bullet points and numbered lists to keep your slides organized and concise. • Walk through each step of the presentation with the employee, so he can ask any questions. • Print out the presentation for the employee, so he can write notes on the slides as you are talking and explaining.

7. Use Lots of Illustrations When You Write • Finally, we’re actually talking about writing! But don’t write paragraphs and paragraphs on policies and procedures. That is boring and will make your employee’s eyes glaze over! Nothing will go in, which will defeat the whole purpose of an instruction manual. • Writing a manual should be like designing a PowerPoint presentation

8. Use Lots of Illustrations When You Write Don’t put so much information on one page. Create clear and concise instructions. Make the wording simple and easy to understand.

9. Test Out Your Manual • A great way to see if the instructions make sense is to either try them out yourself (trying to imagine you’re seeing it for the first time), or (even better) ask someone else with no experience to try them. Watch and see which parts they perform easily and which parts confuse them. Ask them for their feedback, too. • Making a great manual or presentation takes time and effort, but in the long run your new employees will learn faster, more independently, and with gratitude for not being handed a huge binder filled with very tiny print.

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