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London
Free Press - Business Monday - August 18, 2003 |
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Technology Training Noble-y
Done
Noble
Software Solutions offers insight for business and individuals alike on how
to properly, and quickly, use software. |
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By Christopher
Clark |
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Computers.
Can't live with them; can't live without them.
Laura Noble's clients don't say it exactly that way, but that often is
exactly what they're
thinking. For every task the computer makes simpler, there seems to be
another that is more complicated. And just when you learn how a program
works, wham, here comes the upgrade to introduce a new layer of
complications.
For nearly four years, Noble has been helping people understand the software
packages
they use, from Quattro Pro to Outlook Express and everything in between. She
teaches seminars for groups or sits down one-on-one to guide someone through
a particularly vexing problem.
Either way, she leaves behind a much happier person.
"I like seeing the light turn on," says Noble, 41. "I really like helping
people understand."
For several years Noble worked for a local manufacturer, doing just enough
training to
discover how much she loved it. Unfortunately, she also discovered how much
she disliked the rest of her job. So late in 1998, she left.
"I was looking for something else. I knew I didn't want to work for someone
else and I
knew I wanted to do training."
By January of 1999, she had established Noble Software Solutions. The first
year was
slow, with lots of time to wonder if she had made a mistake. By the end of
the second year, her list of clients had grown enough to give her hope.
Today, she is extremely busy, zipping around town in her black Volkswagen
Jetta, adapting to the setting and requirements of each client.
She has a laptop computer but usually uses the client's computer, showing
people exactly how to use their machines. Almost without exception, people
use 10 per cent or less of a given software package. Of course, that's not
always the fault of the user. Just how many more functions does a word
processing package really need as we move from version 10 to 11? No wonder
people give up reading the brick-like manual that comes with the package.
People learn enough to get their job done and that's about it. Noble's job
is to help make
it easier for them by tapping into the reservoir of unused functions all
programs have tucked away somewhere.
"Everyone loves shortcuts," she has learned. "Once I show someone an easy
way of doing
something, they just laugh and say they are embarrassed to show me how they
were doing the same task before. I like helping them do it more simply.
That's what I enjoy about this job."
She learns software packages the old-fashioned way. "I do a lot of reading
and then just
teach myself."
When a client wants something like a spreadsheet or macro set up to do a
specific task,
she offers to either teach how it's done or just do it herself. The second
category is called application development and it's very popular. Do you
want to know how to build your car or do you want to get in a drive it?
Her website includes a section on tips and tricks for many of the most
popular software
packages being used. She updates it when she comes across something new and
lets her clients know about it. |
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Reprinted with permission.
www.christopherclark.pwac.net. |
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