ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு ஒரு கொத்து, my boss asked me to train some users on a product called Results. Results is an end user reporting tool. It’s roughly analogous to SQL Server Reporting Service or Crystal. நேரத்தில், இது பச்சை குழாய்கள் இயக்க வடிவமைக்கப்பட்டது (E.G. Wyse 50 கடைசி) connected to a Unix box via telnet.

My default answer to any question that starts with "Can you … " is "Yes" அனைத்து பிரச்சினை தொடங்கியது எங்கே என்று.

வாடிக்கையாளர் தெற்கு கலிபோர்னியாவில் ஒரு இரசாயன நிறுவனம் மற்றும் சுமார் அடிப்படையாக கொண்ட ஒரு பெரிய ஈஆர்பி நடைமுறை வரை மூடப்பட்டிருக்கும் என்று QAD தான் MFG/PRO. The implementation plan now called for training power end users on the Results product.

I wasn’t a big user of this tool and had certainly never trained anyone before. எனினும், நான் மற்ற பயிற்சி வகுப்புகள் பல நடத்திய என் காலில் விரைவு இருந்தது, so I was not too worried. Dennis, உண்மையான முழுநேர முடிவுகள் பயிற்றுவிப்பாளராக, had given me his training material. Looking back on it now, it’s really quite absurd. I didn’t know the product well, had never been formally trained on it and had certainly never taught it. What business did I have training anyone on it?

Logistically விஷயங்கள் சிக்கலான, I was asked to go and meet someone in Chicago as part of a pre-sales engagement along the way. The plan was to fly out of New Jersey, சிகாகோ சென்று, meet for an hour with prospect and then continue on to California.

நன்றாக, I got to Chicago and the sales guy on my team had made some mistake and never confirmed the meeting. அப்படி, I showed up and the prospect wasn’t there. Awesome. I pack up and leave and continue on to CA. Somewhere during this process, I find out that the client is learning less than 24 hours before my arrival that "Paul Galvin" is teaching the class, not Dennis. The client loves Dennis. They want to know "who is this Paul Galvin person?" "Why should we trust him?" "Why should we pay for him?" Dennis obviously didn’t subscribe to my "ஆரம்ப கெட்ட செய்தி கொடுக்க" philosophy. Awesome.

I arrive at the airport and for some incredibly stupid reason, I had checked my luggage. I made it to LAX but my luggage did not. எனக்கு, losing luggage is a lot like going through the seven stages of grief. Eventually I make it to the hotel, with no luggage, tired, hungry and wearing my (by now, very crumpled) business suit. It takes a long time to travel from Newark — to O’Hare — to a client — back to O’Hare — and finally to LAX.

I finally find myself sitting in the hotel room, munching on a snickers bar, exhausted and trying to drum up the energy to scan through the training material again so that I won’t look like a complete ass in front of the class. This was a bit of a low point for me at the time.

I woke up the next day, did my best to smooth out my suit so that I didn’t look like Willy Loman on a bad day and headed on over to the client. As is so often the case, in person she was nice, polite and very pleasant. This stood in stark contrast to her extremely angry emails/voicemails from the previous day. She leads me about 3 miles through building after building to a sectioned off area in a giant chemical warehouse where we will conduct the class for the next three days. உருக்கு 15 அல்லது 20 students slowly assemble, most them still expecting Dennis.

I always start off my training classes by introducing myself, giving some background and writing my contact information on the white board. As I’m saying, "Good morning, my name is Paul Galvin", I write my name, email and phone number up on the white board in big letters so that everyone can see it clearly. I address the fact that I’m replacing Dennis and I assure them that I am a suitable replacement, முதலியன. I have everyone briefly tell me their name and what they want to achieve out of the class so that I can tailor things to their specific requirements as I go along. The usual stuff.

We wrap that up and fire up the projector. I go to erase my contact info and … I had written it in permanent marker. I was so embarrassed. In my mind’s eye, இது போன்ற தோற்றம்: There is this "Paul Galvin" ஒரு நபர், last minute replacement for our beloved Dennis. He’s wearing a crumpled up business suit and unshaven. He has just written his name huge letters on our white board in நிரந்தர மார்க்கர். What a sight!

அது மகிழ்ச்சியாக முடிந்தது, இருப்பினும். This was a chemical company, மொத்தத்தில் எப்படியிருந்தாலும். A grizzled veteran employee pulled something off the shelf and, ஒருவேளை EPA விதிகளை மீறும், cleared the board. I managed to stay 1/2 day ahead of the class throughout the course and they gave me a good review in the end. This cemented my "pinch hitter" reputation at my company. My luggage arrived the first day, அதனால் நான் மிகவும் கண்ணியமான நாட்களுக்கு இரண்டு மற்றும் மூன்று.

நான் வீட்டிற்கு சிவப்பு கண் எடுத்து இருந்தது, I was contemplating "lessons learned". There was plenty to contemplate. Communication is key. Tell clients about changes in plan. Don’t ever check your luggage at the airport if you can possibly avoid it. Bring spare "stuff" in case you do check your luggage and it doens’t make it. I think the most important lesson I learned, இருப்பினும், இது: எப்போதும் எழுத முன் ஒரு வெள்ளை குழுவின் கீழ் இடது கை மூலையில் ஒரு மார்க்கர் சோதிக்க, பெரிய எழுத்துக்களில், "Paul Galvin".

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