Snap talk: Learning by doing – Training on the job

At the AIIP19 Conference, AIIP Past President, Cindy Shamel presented a snap talk on learning by doing.  Birgit Bauer, Bauer Business Research reports on training on the job tips.

Many of us – AIIPs members and attendees of the conference  – are solopreneurs. Solo. No people, no colleagues. No corporate structure. Nobody to send us to courses. Listening to her talk we were encouraged to learn by doing.

Cindy is a veteran in the information business, expert in research solutions, competitive intelligence, and information consulting.  She shared how she keeps her own skills up whilst running her business, and described a few of her experiences learning on the job – like long ago, having to do her first information audit, or recently, when she was asked to prepare a 2-minutes video.

Cindy’s tips:

• As a solopreneur be prepared to learn many new skills, in many ways, also on the job.
• When you get a call from a client ‘if you can do the project‘:
  • build in some ramp up time;
  • schedule a meeting or a telephone call a little later for the project details;  
  • ensure you have some time to feel comfortable with the topic.
• Suggest a pilot project in cases you are not sure about the scope of the work, the topic or the client’s real requirements.
• If necessary, partner with somebody who knows how to do the project. Yes, it may cost you part of your earnings, but you’ll feel good about what you give to the client and it may even earn you some follow-up-projects (as it did for Cindy in one of her real life examples).
• Allow for a learning curve.
• Use AIIP for your training: Get involved, get out of your comfort zone and try new things within a safe community. Examples include contributing to the marketing plan, writing a blog or an article, providing a webinar on one of your specialities, giving a presentation, or serving as a mentor. Also take advantage of other members‘ advice and experiences, for instance in the articles on AIIP’s website, in the webinars on sources, on research techniques or on how to run your information service business, in the AIIP members‘ section.

Thank you to Information Management Services, Inc for sponsoring the Snap Talk.