Voice of the DBA

Tag: training

  • The Half Day Experiment

    Check out the half day sessions at the Summit

    At conferences and events I have found that the vast majority of sessions are one hour long. Sometimes events have experimented with 75 or  90 minute sessions, but the majority of talks I’ve heard were an hour, short enough to get an idea of how to use a feature or have an idea about why you might use something, but too short for in depth learning. More in depth sessions are usually all day sessions, or multi-day classes, which are very focused, and expensive. It seems that it’s rare the many employees get the chance to attend this type of training.

    This year the Summit is trying something new, with a few half day sessions that should provide a deep dive in a number of areas during one focused three hour time slot. There are sessions on a variety of topics including performance tuning from Tom LaRock, and Scaling SQL Server from Glenn Berry. The sessions take place on Wed and Thur in the afternoon, so check the schedule if you’re interested.

    I like the idea of combining some longer training that is focused along with the wide variety that most events offer. To me this is a way to better justify the ROI of attending an event by allowing you to focus in a deeper way on a specific subject. It also is a great way for some of the more expert speakers that offer training or pre-conference sessions to give attendees an idea of what they can teach, and why that specific training can be worth the expense.

    I’m hoping that some attendees will come away with skills they can use, or refine when they get back to their jobs. I’m hoping they can tie that back specifically to one of these half day sessions and even blog about what the reaction was from their management. I’m also hoping that this helps to get more training sessions scheduled as pre-cons at SQL Saturdays or other events, bringing lower cost training to more people and improving the skills of the SQL Server community overall.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • I Want Stupid Employees

    This is how I've done most of my training.

    It seems that the vast majority of people that I talk to in the technology field have trouble getting training funded. It doesn’t matter if it’s a conference or a class, it seems that companies don’t want to spend money training people. I find that many companies use one of two excuses. Either they say employees should already know how to do their jobs, or they worry that training will empower employees to go find other jobs.

    Or in other words: I Like My IT Budget Tight and My Developers Stupid.

    That’s the title of an article and it’s a good question for managers that don’t want to pay for training. The article talks about the choice between being “concerned that if people know what they’re doing, they’ll leave. And if they don’t know what they’re doing, they’ll stay”. It’s actually not a bad argument to make with your boss, though I might reword it in a different way.

    There are a certain percentage of people that will not be happy at your company. Perhaps the job is not a good cultural fit, the employees might be ambitious and looking for new challenges, or maybe they are always looking for someone to pay them more. There’s nothing you can do about those people, and withholding training isn’t going to keep them around.

    There are also a percentage of people that are unmotivated, uninterested in their jobs, maybe marking time, or just wanting to get through each day and go on with the rest of their lives. Training can be wasted on this group as they aren’t likely to use the skills they’ve learned at work. It’s possible they might not even learn any skills, just sitting in class as an excuse to get out of work. You can’t do anything about this group either.

    However I think that both of those groups are the minorities at most jobs. I believe most technology people are interested in what they do, like to learn new skills, and more importantly, like to solve problems. They will take advantage of training and look to use their new skills, especially if you challenge them to do so. And most of these people aren’t looking to leave your company. They might stay forever, but the vast majority of people want to keep their jobs and accomplish something.

    And if most people don’t want to stay, perhaps you ought to examine your company’s culture. Maybe it’s the problem. Withholding training isn’t the answer, and you can’t expect people to know, or learn, everything they may need on their own. That’s a recipe to ensure your company isn’t as competitive as it could be.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • Master Training

    A Kung Fu Master

    As a kid, growing up on Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and Saturday afternoon Kung Fu Theater, I always wanted to be a martial arts master. A few years later, being a Jedi Master caught my interest despite the fact that it wasn’t a viable goal on Earth in 1977. Now I’ve started down the path towards another master, the Microsoft Certified Master.

    Actually I’m not going down that path. I had the chance to take the written test with no downside for me, so I took it. I have no intention of actually pursuing the lab at this time. It’s a lot of work, and not necessarily something that would provide me a lot of benefits right now. I may change my mind if I were looking for consulting work, but I am quite happy with my job right now and don’t want to change.

    I do plan on taking one or two of the MCM training being offered by SQLskills this year, but I won’t be looking for the intensive  4 weeks of training to prepare me for the lab exam. After reading Brent Ozar’s adventures last year, I think I’d need all 4 weeks of class along with a few more weeks of prep to be ready for the lab.

    So why am I taking a class? First, it’s good training. I have had the privilege of seeing both Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp speak before, and it’s always enjoyable and informative. I come out of their hour long sessions with so many notes and new knowledge that it I feel like I’ve been learning for a full day. I am sure that a week’s training from them will result in a small novel that I’ll need to review over the following months.

    Training can be hard to get funded, but it is often worth it. I hope that more companies would be willing to improve the skills of their people with this type of advanced training, even without paying for the certification testing. The chance to learn from experts in particular areas is an investment that I think is worth making in my career and in yours.

    Steve Jones

    (originally published at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Editorial/72278/)

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts