[LisaB]

Hello all,

I'm an RE slave and have a new young database assistant in our office. I would like to offer her some RE help (she knows the bare basics), however i am NOT a very good teacher and I often find myself getting very impatient then i usually end up just doing it myself (it's just faster for me but i would like to move away from that).

Anyhow, my next attempt at teaching someone is here and i want to walk her through the process of generating a mailing list.

Any tips on how to explain/instruct her on the process (other than my usual "run the queries, merge them and export it" followed by "just see one of the old lists" instructions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[cindycarey]

Lisa,

Why don't you get the step by step directions from BB's Knowledge Base and go over them with your person? That should be a help for both of you.

You would also be showing her how to troubleshoot and she could see all that BB's webpage has to offer.

Good Luck!

[LisaB]

actually i never even thought about looking into "real" instructions, i've been using RE for so long and have learned just about everything on my own.


Thanks Cindy!

[JBeckland]

I do a lot of training on RE, and I have found it useful to use this general model:

1. Spend 10-15 minutes talking through the concept of the mailing at a high level, including a review of queries, how they are developed, etc.

2. Give the person written instructions on how to do the tasks (the KB recommendation is great for this).

3. Sit their quietly as they work through it themselves. Be engaged in watching them work, and offer advise/corrections as you notice that something is incorrect and the user has moved on.

This requires some investment of time on your part, but the benefit is that you only have to do this with them once, or at most twice.

Hope this helps!