KW Technology Ambassador Update | September 30, 2014

Greetings, KW Technology Ambassadors!

Thanks to all of you who participated in the KW Technology Ambassador webinar last Friday, September 26, and thank you to Brian Steele and Nicole Joyce for facilitating the event!

If you haven’t heard, Brian recently joined our KW Technology Training team as a Documentation and Training Specialist after one year with our KW Technology Support team. Brian brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and fresh ideas and we are so excited to have him as part of our team! 

Nicole is the Houston Area Director of KW Technology, and we are grateful to her for helping facilitate the Mega Camp special workshop for Technology Ambassadors and MC Techs.

On last Friday’s webinar, Brian and Nicole shared the main takeaways from the Mega Camp workshop:

• First, why do we do what we do? To arm our associates with the KW Technology tools that will help them more easily carry out the critical daily activities that bring them business. KW Technology complements the proven models of The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, and allows our associates to leave a larger online footprint by reaching more people as well as freeing up time in the office so agents can meet with clients face-to-face.
• This is easier said than done. We face a few roadblocks.
• Our tools and how they work together can be confusing for many agents. After all, we are recruiting sales people not tech people. 
• Many agents have been in business long before KW Technology and need to be convinced that there are business benefits to using our tools.
• It takes time to learn our systems; associates need to be convinced that the time they invest in learning will yield a return.
• So, how do we overcome these roadblocks? By making the transition onto KW Technology tools as simple as possible. 
• Provide new agents with an onboarding checklist, perhaps a First 100 Day plan or 30-60-90 day plan. Check out this example from Tiffany Hilbert in Greater Rochester!
• There are certain technology tasks—initial account setup or a contact database import, for example—which need to be done only once. These tasks might not warrant the time and energy it takes to create, advertise, and facilitate a training class—not to mention the time it takes out of an agent’s day to attend. Why not just do the work for the agents if they don’t need to remember and repeat the steps? Save training for those tasks—keeping a website fresh and database fed, for example—that are more directly linked to increased business.
• Become experts at communicating technology concepts. Employ the Whole-Part–Whole and Tell-Show-Do models, and use analogies whenever possible.

Brian and Nicole then posed the following questions to the webinar attendees. Please join in the conversation on Google+.

• If we were to put together a checklist for onboarding new agents to KW Technology over their first 90-100 days, what would be included in it?
• What are some actions that agents can take on their own to prepare them for technology training?
• In addition to Whole-Part-Whole, Tell-Show-Do and the use of analogies, what other teaching methods are you using in your Market Center?
• Agent productivity has been linked to the use of KW technology and attending training classes, as many Market Centers who are implementing Growth Initiative tools and reports have discovered. What other reports would be helpful to you?

For your reference, here are links to resources we’ve promised you:

• Slides from Friday 9/26 Ambassador webinar
• Slides from the Mega Camp session
• Notes from the Mega Camp session
• Greater Rochester New Agent Technology Setup Checklist (shared by Tiffany Hilbert)

Finally, here are the upcoming webinars. Please spread the word in your Market Centers! And, don’t forget that we’re constantly adding new videos to the KW Technology section of KWConnect.

Have a great day! 

Brenda Harralson and W. Cavin Weber

KW Technology Ambassador Update | September 10, 2014

Greetings, KW Technology Ambassadors!

Thanks to all of you who participated in the Ambassador webinar last Friday, September 5. The slides are now available for you to download.

We focused on another best practice in training last week, which is being aware of and working to overcome the “Curse of Knowledge” that plagues us all at times.

“When we know something, it becomes hard for us to imagine not knowing it. 

As a result, we become lousy communicators.”

—Chip and Dan Heath, from “Made to Stick”

This excerpt from Made to Stick explains how the Curse of Knowledge can get in our way of effectively training and supporting our learners. We’re at our best when we can put ourselves in the minds of our learners and see things through their eyes. In other words, we do have to imagine not knowing what we know, and remember what made the information “stick” for us when we first learned it.

Here are our top three tips for being an effective technical trainer despite the curse of knowledge:

1. Eliminate jargon. This can be harder than it sounds. Albert Einstein said, “If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.” Watch out for acronyms and terms that may be unfamiliar to your learners. In fact, it’s a great idea to test-drive your classes with a trusted friend or family member first, preferably someone who has little to no knowledge of your training topic. They’ll be able to help you determine if your content is too technical and what needs to be simplified into “layman’s” terms. 
2. Use analogies. When you link new knowledge to knowledge that your learners already have, you’re using analogies. For example, when introducing the concept of databases, you could explain that a contact management database is like a rolodex, only modernized. It serves the same purpose—helps you find a person’s contact information—but does it faster and more efficiently. 
3. Assume nothing about your learners. Don’t assume that they know how to get to eEdge, White Pages, or even how to log in to myKW.  This is not meant to be insulting – everyone has to start at the beginning. And, often times, it’s the brand new agents that know nothing about KW Technology who are the most eager and enthusiastic learners. They came to you because they know you can help them with a problem or learn to be more self-sufficient.

What are you doing in your classes to simplify your content and make your training “stick?” Tell us by commenting on this post.

Here’s what’s on the webinar schedule this week. And, don’t forget that we’re constantly adding new videos to the KW Technology section of KWConnect.

Have a great day! 
Brenda Harralson and W. Cavin Weber

KW Technology Ambassador Update | September 4, 2014

Greetings, KW Technology Ambassadors!

Thanks to all of you who participated in the Ambassador webinar last Friday, August 29. The slides are now available for you to download.

We focused on best practices in training last week, specifically making sure that 50% of any class you teach is hands-on activity for the students. Studies show that students learn best by doing; don’t just lecture to them.

I hear and I forget.

I see and I remember.

I do and I understand.

~Confucius

If you want students to walk out of your classroom equipped with skills they can use, there is no substitute for hands-on, action-oriented practice. That’s why the courses published by Keller Williams University have Role-Model, Role-Play and Real-Play activities built in whenever possible, and you can aim for the same in your classes!

Through our KWU courses, we not only wants to increase our agent’s learning power in the classroom, we want to increase their earning power as well!

We achieve this by having students do actual business-building activities inside the classroom—activities that will lead to more closed transactions, such as making appointment-setting calls to prospects, or building a workable CMA.

Rather than simply theorize about action steps to be completed at a later time, students take those steps immediately, under the guidance of their trainer, and with the support and energy of the entire class behind them.

During last week’s webinar, we illustrated this practice by demonstrating a multiple-step process for adding annotations and closed captioning to a YouTube video. Webinar attendees were instructed to simply watch, rather than follow along. When we quizzed the attendees after the demo, many agreed it was more difficult to recall specific steps from simply viewing and listening. Had they followed along during the demonstration, actually clicking the same buttons, the rate of retention wold have increased.

What are you doing in your classes to increase learner activity and ultimately, retention? Tell us by commenting on this post.

Here’s what’s on the webinar schedule this week. And, don’t forget that we’re constantly adding new videos to the KW Technology section of KWConnect.

Have a great day! 
Brenda Harralson and W. Cavin Weber