COVID-19 is taking fleet maintenance training into the future with live streaming education. Streaming is the safest, most effective way to provide up-to-date training for the foreseeable future.
Among other benefits, virtual training allows underserved markets to cost-effectively tap some of the best fleet trainers in the nation. Prior to this, there weren't enough students in some geographic areas to provide live training and many technicians had to drive distances of an hour or more for class. Now they can take live online classes at home or at the shop with no travel time.
I’ve provided live and digital training for decades. In 1988, Doc Nall and I taught technician classes across the U.S. Since then, I've developed and taught automotive and heavy duty diesel courses to tens of thousands of students across 47 states and three Canadian provinces. Using that experience, I recently helped develop and deliver live virtual diesel technician training for Automotive Training Authority (ATA).
Over the years, I have become adept at best practices for technician training. I’d like to share a few practical considerations with fleet managers trying to navigate all of the training options available today.
Here’s my basic checklist for choosing productive live streaming training:
Experienced trainer. A good technician is not necessarily a good teacher. Being a seasoned instructor comes from years of teaching experience working with hundreds or thousands of students to learn how to communicate with clarity and impact. Technical training should be fun and memorable.
Interactive classroom. Recorded training isn’t as engaging as live streaming. A live virtual classroom creates interaction that keeps students interested and attentive. We’ve all seen slick training videos with high production values that are boring and empty. Interactive streaming encourages technicians to ask questions and connect with teachers – and other students.
Quality visual. Crisp video and readable graphics are imperative – that almost goes without saying. And a professional video platform is easy to use on any desktop, laptop tablet, or cell phone.
Question time. Streaming video encourages more questions. While online, technicians don't feel under the spotlight when asking a question. Experienced trainers use this to their advantage and don't have one Q&A period at the end but use the entire class as an on-going question time.
Useful resources. Every class has handouts. Most technicians want a well-organized, easy-to-read manual to refer back to after class. Digital content is helpful but can be hard to use in the workplace. A durable reference manual is rugged enough to survive work bay use. Our ATA manuals are printed on-demand so we can include the latest information.
Archived video. Instructors cover a lot of information in a class. Just like a printed reference, a video archive can serve as a refresher to clarify concepts.
Practical content. Real world training deals with real world problems. In live training, a student can ask the instructor about a unique issue and get an answer on-the-spot or after class. A wise instructor integrates this new content into future classes.
Right-sized lessons. There’s a reason movies usually run about 2 hours. Any longer and we lose attention and/or hit information overload. That’s why it’s best to break down a longer technical course into several sessions of two hours or less over several days.
Instructor availability. A benefit of live training is one-on-one time with the instructor outside class. Similarly, some online classes like ATA's allow students to schedule a reasonable amount of one-on-one time with a trainer by phone or video conferencing within a few days of class.
Measurable learning. Want to know if a technician is paying attention? Some online training programs incorporate optional online testing. This gives students a way to check their progress and supervisors an assurance that their technician is learning.
Certification / incentives. You can mandate classes, but friendly competition can be more productive. Some training firms award certificates and/or new digital badges to inspire students to take classes and pass tests. Badges and “gamification” are a big trend in adult education – and a topic for a whole other article. Making training fun and engaging encourages your team to want to keep learning.
In my time on the road, I’ve seen a trend toward fleets paying technicians to take ongoing classes. If you don’t currently do that, consider it. Paying your technicians shows that you value their time and are interested in their continued development.
There are a lot of training options out there. And like anything, some are a good value, and some aren’t. If you already have a good streaming training partner, you’ll find yourself checking off many if not all of these points when you look back at your experience. If you are looking for a new training partner, you’ll find different companies excel at different things. The partner you choose will likely depend not just on this checklist but also other intangible items like years in business, a sense of connection, and trust.
Training is not an expense, it’s an investment in your team. The payback of practical training is a more productive workforce and better operating fleet.
Bill Peek is a curriculum developer and instructor with over 30 years technician training experience. Peek has developed and delivers live streaming diesel diagnostics courses for Automotive Training Authority at ataautomotivetraining.com. He is also president of MPC Publishing, a print and digital training provider.
