I went to Springfield on Saturday and met with the flower shop ladies. Luckily, there are 4 computers in their work area in the back of the shop, so as soon as all the pre-Easter deliveries were made and everyone was ready, we got started.
I immediately realized a glaring omission in my tutorials. I did not include the link to Facebook or Pinterest. That was a huge oversight! I guess I was more concerned with how am I going to explain this rather than how will they get there. To quote Homer Simpson, "D'oh!"
It was also very obvious that Blogger was not the best platform for learning this, but we were able to make it work. I don't think they cared for switching between screens, but it couldn't be helped. If I could teach this in an ideal situation, I would have the learners sitting at tables with individual laptops. I would be able to project the screenshots on a screen while I described what was going on. Ideally.
They had a LOT of questions for me about Facebook, mainly related to privacy. Due to an uncomfortably situation with a couple of former employees, the owners are very protective of privacy. I understand the reasons behind their apprehensions, and I was able to help them understand how private they can make things on Facebook. However, once something is posted online, anyone else can take a screenshot or copy/paste.
Pinterest didn't really catch their fancy, but they thought it was interesting. The owner and I are going to sit down at another time and explore the option to create a business page. We also discussed some ways to increase business using Facebook. I suggested posting things such as "mention this ad and get 10% (or $X or whatever amount) off your order" with an end date, of course. The owner and I are going to explore some other options as well.
The funniest part of the lesson was at the end, when I asked if there were any further questions. They all wanted to know how to delete both their Facebook and Pinterest accounts. And so we learned that! Keep in mind, these ladies are in their mid-40s to early 50s. So I was a little surprised by this from all of them, but I do want to keep my students happy.
Sounds like you had a good learning experience. As I've started training people over the past two years, one thing is clear. You can't make everyone happy 100% of the time. There is always a better way to do things in someone's eyes. You just have to go with a majority and leave it at that.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how ingrained Facebook is in both the private and public sectors. I laughed right along with you when you mentioned your trainees wanting to delete their Facebook accounts. There was a time, many years ago now, that I had set up a Facebook account. At the time I thought it was very cool connecting with everyone, but soon saw my free time dwindling away. I too closed it down. My wife on the other hand loves it. Too each is to own I guess.
Keep up the good work.
Angie, I see you used my advice back from my April 13th from your first blog post "Facebook is a must and weekly posts about specials or even just a simple number that they could use at the register that they found on Facebook for 10% off might help generate allot more business."
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like these ladies once they get use to the whole picture they will open up more and not be as hesitant to use social media. Change and introduction to the unknown has historically never been easy so I can see how this may have been a bit of a struggle for you. It sounds like you have done an excellent job with your patience and presentation. Hopefully Ill get to see some other updates but till then great work and keep those Facebook posts on specials rolling out!
V/R
Andrew
Angie,
ReplyDeleteReading through your assignment, I found it very interesting. I work with a lot of people that would probably consider themselves technophones, as well. It can be difficult to explain or have them see the value of something because they are already set in their ways.
Also, I can sympathize when leaving a key part out of your instruction. As I have done this more than a few times in my teaching career. Overall, I find it very interesting what you are doing for this company and hopefully it all works out.