5 Software Developer Training Mistakes Most Organizations Make

We’d like to think that the worst kind of training is no training at all.

However, some employment experts may say that zero training may actually be a better alternative than poor training, which can teach bad habits, waste your employee’s time and your company’s resources. Though the staff may not remember anything of importance, they may come to resist future learning opportunities.

As an employer, it’s important that you make regular satisfactory training a priority. Bright developers can, and likely already have, taught themselves current programs and applications. But training for the whole team can be a great incentive for them – it can keep your staff competitive, make sure everyone has current levels of knowledge, and encourage employees who want to learn more and be more valuable to your organization.

So employers not only need to focus on putting together software development training opportunities, but also make sure they avoid certain pitfalls. Here’s what not to do.

Provide identical training.

Unless it’s a brand new program or platform, you’re likely to have a wide range of familiarity among your developers – something may be new to some but old hat to others. Unless a trainer takes the opportunity to learn about the team’s proficiency, they may make the mistake of starting everyone at too easy or too advanced of a level. Exceptions can be made, of course, and there may be times when maybe everyone should get a refresher/overview of an update. People who know a topic well may be able to opt out of some or all of the training or be an additional resource to the trainer.

Give the wrong training.

In an open-source world, one team may have made its own modifications to a particular application to reflect local needs. But someone coming in from outside to demonstrate how to operate a newer version of the standard application may not be aware of these enhancements. Trainers may try to discuss methods, features or tools that won’t necessarily apply locally.

Teach theories only.

A traditional classroom-style presentation with a projector may be a good starting point and can create a good firm foundation. A general “high in the forest” overview is helpful, but many modern developers learn better by doing. So giving a four-hour presentation and saying “That’s it, we’re done, good luck” won’t be as effective as letting them try things out, work with new and older code in the new environment, and really take things out for a spin. The trainer can consider giving the group simple projects to try as “homework.” Then he or she can check in with them later, and offer practical feedback.

Never come back.

Whether training lasts one day or a week, it probably isn’t going to be long enough to answer every question and cover every scenario. Sometimes, you may find you forgot everything when you finally sit down and are ready to jump into things with your new knowledge. Poor trainers won’t care! But better trainers may leave behind contact details, other resources for additional info, or maybe a cheat-sheet for common problems or even a reminder of how to get started. Employers also may want to schedule a refresher/follow-up visit to make sure everyone is up to speed.

Not care about code.

Certainly everyone codes a little differently. But a better trainer can also slip in some secondary strategies about how everyone can make theirs more organized and cohesive, while a weaker trainer will just focus on the main goal only of getting everyone up to speed on the new application.

Overall, software development training can provide excellent opportunities for employers to have applications designed just for them, rather than buying something that’s already been created and adapting it. More importantly, a group of skilled employees will appreciate the extra opportunities to take in new info.