What is one tool or method you use to train temporary interns quickly and efficiently?
The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.
A. Advanced Preparation
Interns benefit from reading up on the role, the company and their responsibilities in advance. It also helps to engage them before they start work and builds the relationships needed to work well in a short time. Send them a packet or post in an online community, where they can learn in advance and also connect with others in the company. - Susan LaMotte,Exaqueo
A. Employee Shadowing
Having the interns shadow an experienced employee who knows the ins and outs while they complete a task can go a long way. If they have any questions, asking the employee specifically would result in practical and time-efficient training. -Stanley Meytin, True Film Production
A. Task Documentation
Using an internal wiki, everyone carefully records the steps for their unique responsibilities to make it easy for colleagues to pick up where they left off if they decide to go on vacation, leave the company or switch roles. Having clear instructions allows us to avoid repeating ourselves while enabling the intern to reference it as a cheat sheet. - Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep
A. Department Introductions
Many times, interns get sucked into one department and don't know how their actions affect the company as a whole. On the first day of their internship, we host a presentation where interns hear from every department head, and are required to talk to individuals from all areas of the company. This way, interns can feel comfortable asking questions about anything in the company and can learn more. - Kelsey Meyer, Influence & Co.
A. Screencasts
I have found that screencasts tend to work the best for all types of people and can be reused to train new interns. Having a document walk-through can be useful, but screencasts will save you a lot of time. - Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster
A. Online Learning Centers
We house online materials for formal learning. These are instructional videos and text guides. We have quizzes to make sure they're internalizing the information. Finally, we assign an executive to each intern. The intern starts doing their job. Any questions, the intern can collaborate with their team or directly with their executive. This is the highly valuable, informal learning part of our program. - Joshua Lee, StandOut Authority