Before you say anything, Take a Training class!

When I was transfered to the Ottawa office after several years working at TrainingCity's San Diego office, I was reminded of the fact that there is no mistaking Winter in Ottawa! The city is cursed, and blessed, with a "real winter season".

If there is anything positive about winter for me, it's skiing. Fortunately, mother nature has blessed the Ottawa area with an incredible number of ski resorts within minutes of the city.

With so many ski resorts, ranging from small local hills to the largest resorts in Eastern North America (Mount Tremblant & Lake Placid), competition is fierce. Price competition is important, but for many skiers, providing outstanding customer service is foremost.

Given this competitive environment, imagine my surprise earlier today when I arrived at my favorite local hill, Calabogie, and I encountered a classic breakdown in the delivery of customer service.

My niece accompanied us on our ski trip. She is new to skiing and we decided to pick up a set of rental skis when we got to the hill. After arriving, we spent the next 30 minutes waiting to get the rental gear.

As we approached the front of the line, the person in front of us was told that she could not rent equipment without proper identification. The young woman pleaded with the staff members. She explained that her husband had taken her wallet for safe keeping and he was already on the hill. The staff was unmoved. The policy was posted at the entrance to the rental shop, she should have read it before entering; too bad.

As the drama unfolded I began to think that this was a moment when the staff needed help. After my intervention, they agreed to contact their manager, who, of course, was unavailable. More pleading ensued, until finally I decided the simplest solution was to get my credit card out and guarantee the woman's rental myself.

As I left the rental shop I couldn't help but think that what the staff needed in that moment of crisis, when their manager could not be reached, was an on demand, one minute, mini training class!

Imagine if the staff, unable to reach their manager, could have accessed a company website where they could search for a one minute video/audio session that described what to do in a situation when a customer is in need of help and a manger cannot be reached. That training session could have told them that they have the authority to make a decision.

E-Learning may find it's niche in the "mini-training", even "micro-training" market, where short videos, audio clips, perhaps attached directly to company documents, policy statements, forms, etc, would allow employees to quickly review what to do at the moment a crisis occurs.