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Write A Training Manual1 PDF

The document discusses best practices for writing effective training manuals. It recommends double checking that all necessary information is included, writing with the audience in mind to make the material easy to learn, and including extras like images, notes pages, quizzes and checklists. The manual should accommodate different learning styles through scenarios, discussions and potentially supplemental videos or audio. Testing user understanding with reviews, questions and feedback ensures the goals are achieved.

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62 views4 pages

Write A Training Manual1 PDF

The document discusses best practices for writing effective training manuals. It recommends double checking that all necessary information is included, writing with the audience in mind to make the material easy to learn, and including extras like images, notes pages, quizzes and checklists. The manual should accommodate different learning styles through scenarios, discussions and potentially supplemental videos or audio. Testing user understanding with reviews, questions and feedback ensures the goals are achieved.

Uploaded by

amulya s
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Training manuals are an important part of teaching new employees about a company, or

old employees about new systems or programs. The exact process for writing a training
manual may be dictated by the industry it is for, but there are some general things you
can do to help your employees get the most out of the manual. You should double check
that you have all the information you need before you start, write with your audience in
mind and try to make it easy for them to learn, and include some extra materials to make
the information easier. Your manual will benefit if you include images and graphics, blank
space for notes, quizzes to review what people learn, and checklists of important tasks.

Method
1 Assembling the Information

Review and compile the information the manual needs to cover.Never write
1 a training manual from memory. Go through the various processes and
knowledge points that your manual is going to cover and be sure you are clear on
everything. Make a list of all the important information and refer to this list as you
write the manual, double checking to include it all.[1]
Even skipping a small step may confuse your users, so pay attention. For
example, you could be telling someone how to enter data into a spreadsheet,
but you could easily forget to mention “click File to open a new spreadsheet.” Or
when describing how to use a piece of machinery, you may forget to mention
flipping a certain switch that's vitally important.
If you don't review everything and you do forget something, users are likely to
become distressed because something isn't working right. This is not the
outcome training should ever result in.

Outline the flow of the training manual. Use the list you have made and
2 begin to organize the information into a logical sequence of chapters, sections,
or parts. You'll most likely begin with the basics and work up to more in-depth
concepts.
Before you write any content, make sure you have a good idea of where all
aspects of the manual will fit together. You don't want to mention something
from what you think is a previous section if the manual hasn't covered that
information yet.
If you can write self-contained sections that don't build on each other, this may
be the right approach in some situations.

3
Include a table of contents and an index. Even if the manual is meant to be read
straight through from start to finish, these navigational sections will help people
when they need to go back to refresh their memory and study what they learned.
The table of contents should have all the chapters titles and any section headings it
makes sense to include. Make the index as thorough as possible, giving people lots
of things to find throughout the manual.
Word processing programs often have templates for these types of documents.
You can also find helpful resources online for how to structure these elements.

Write informative chapter previews. At the beginning of each chapter or


4 section, write 2-3 paragraphs that outline what will be covered in that part of the
manual. You could include a list of objectives for the section, keywords that are
good to focus on, and mention quizzes or activities that will be included.
Chapter titles should help people know what they'll find, but they should be able
to skim the preview and make sure the chapter has what they need to know.

End each chapter with a summary. It is always helpful to wrap up and review
5 what has been covered in a chapter. It's a summary, so you can't mention
everything. Try to highlight what you see as being the most vital information that
people should take away from the chapter.
You can mention the objectives again to give people the chance to take stock of
whether or not they learned what they were supposed to.

Create a group or task force to help you write the manual. You'll succeed
6 more easily at writing a training manual if you have people to help you do it. You
need people to check for errors as you go, make sure that the content is
understandable, and help you consider all aspects of what you are training for. Plus
you can delegate some of the work and distribute it evenly.
If you can't have a group to help through the whole process, at least consider
asking people a few things at different points as you go to get second opinions.
Method
2 Accommodating Your Users

Write for and to your audience. Make sure you are clear on who the audience
1 is. Consider if they have a knowledge base or are starting completely fresh.
This will give you an idea of how broad or specific you need to be throughout the
manual. When it makes sense, write directly to the audience saying, “When you get
to this step…” rather than something like, “When a person gets to this step.”[2]
If you are training employees on a brand new software that no one has seen, it's
safe to assume they won't know anything. If you are training for sales
techniques at a clothing store, you don't need to explain what pants and shirts
are.
Don't patronize people by over explaining simple concepts, but also don't
assume they know something that they may not know.

Include problem-solving scenarios and discussion topics. Not everyone


2 can learn by reading 20 pages of text, so include ways for users to apply what
they read and get hands on experience. Give a scenario and ask the reader to solve
a problem of some kind. Allow for discussion and collaboration among trainees. You
want to cater to different learning styles so the manual is useful for as many people
as possible.[3]
You can't fit every employee perfectly, but if you only use one approach you
aren't likely to get through to very many at all. The goal of the training manual is
to help employees learn what they need to know, so aim to make it easy for as
many people as possible.

Enhance the manual with videos or audio recordings. If you are writing a
3 printed manual, consider whether or not you can give trainees access to extra
materials, such as videos or audio recordings. For learners who would struggle to
read an entire manual, you can work to ensure they still learn what they need to.
Many times the written manual will be the primary training tool, but a few extras may
make a big difference.[4]
This may be affected by the type of content your manual includes and may not
be applicable in all cases. Take stock of the specifics of your manual and judge
whether or not extra materials could be created.

Method
3 Testing the User's Understanding

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