Snap Training
February 2001
For inexperienced users of Snap, or those who want to learn more about what is possible, there is no better way to get off to a flying start than by making use of the Snap Surveys comprehensive range of training services. Snap is not a difficult package either to learn or to use, but it does contain a lot of important functionality. The flexibility to cope with a wide range of different surveys, questions and interviewing methods is, after all, the main reason many people choose Snap. A short, hands-on training course of the kind Snap Surveys offers will give you a good 'road map' to what you can do, give you practical examples and experience on how to get the job done, and build up your confidence to handle your own projects reliably and efficiently by yourself.
The philosophy behind all Snap training is to make it practical, with a lot of hands-on work, understandable, even if the people being trained are relatively new to designing surveys or using software to do it (as many often are), and to make everyone learning feel comfortable with the course and, above all, with the software.
Flexible training to suit all needs
There is an entire spectrum of training on offer at Snap Surveys, from regular, scheduled courses to individually tailored programmes delivered at your own desk.
Courses are regularly run at the Snap Surveys offices in Thornbury (Bristol, England) and Newburyport (Mass, US), and at a training centre in Edinburgh (Scotland) and are a mixture of demonstration and practical work. Dedicated training facilities at each location provide the perfect environment to concentrate on acquiring knowledge and skills, in a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. Everyone has their own computer to work on, and a range of guided practical tasks and casebook examples to follow. Group sizes are small, typically no more than six, to ensure that everyone can receive individual support from the course tutor.
The Snap course tutors are equally happy to travel to your own location to provide any of the standard training courses, or to customize one to meet your exact needs.
The Snap course tutors are equally happy to travel to your own location to provide any of the standard training courses, or to customize one to meet your exact needs. For example, a training session can be based around an actual project you are working on, or adapted to use your own examples, your own techniques or your own data. It can be provided on a one-to-one basis or to a small group. It can also be offered as a mixture of training and project consultation work, which is particularly appropriate when the need for training has arisen because you are able to work on something new and challenging.
Each Snap trainer has considerable experience of the software they are teaching, in addition to exceptional skills as trainers. It means the tutor can enrich the training by offering first hand, practical advice on how to get the best from the software, and even offer suggestions on best practice in designing questionnaires and analysing data.
When the training is over, support is still at hand, both from the comprehensive documentation and course materials each training participant receives, and from the Snap HelpDesk
Training Case Study: The Leisure and Community Resources department at South Gloucestershire District Council
As a local authority covering a largely rural but heavily populated area in the South-west of England, the Community Services department at South Gloucestershire Council uses Snap for public consultation activities ranging from customer satisfaction measurement and attitudinal surveys to research into the development of new services. In-house uses include employee satisfaction surveys and evaluation of training.
Gill Kane is the department’s Marketing Manager, and despite finding herself on the doorstep of Snap Surveys when she moved to the post, had previously used Snap at two other local authorities in other parts of Britain. Gill was in no doubt that Snap was the tool to automate and add professionalism to the department’s survey activities and decided the best way to get up and running quickly was to book key personnel onto several of the one-day introductory courses offered by Snap Surveys.
“The quality of training has been excellent and pitched at the right level. They have always tailored the level of the training to the experience of the group. If people have wanted extra help they have made it available without holding everyone up."
"...One of my staff recently did just the introductory course and she was able to come back and to set up a survey only from this one day..."
“The pace and content is also very good. The most important thing is that the training has given us what we need to know to get going straight away . One of my team recently did the introductory course and she was able come back and to set up a survey from this one day! She also found the paperwork really easy to understand and use when she got back to the office.
They are very friendly accessible trainers —very much humanizing the technology. The venue and lunch are good too."
When Gill first started at South Gloucestershire she found herself working on a very complex survey tied to a multi-million bid to run the leisure centres in the area. She realized she needed to raise her skill level to do the project justice. This time, Gill opted for a one-to-one session.
"In half a day we had cracked all my problems and the survey was ready to go. Even if you think you are being stupid, the trainers don’t make you feel it. I'd recommend one on one to anyone, particularly if you are new or you get stuck on something that is a bit to big to manage."
Training Case Study: Michigan Department of Transportation covers the distance with custom training
Michigan Department of Transportation's Training and Development division now uses Snap on a wide range of internal surveys, from classroom training evaluations to across-the-board employee satisfaction surveys. The objective was to achieve quicker deployment and avoid data corruption from manual recording and data entry by using the Internet to collect data whenever possible.
Andy Esch, Information System's Technician within the division, explained, "We chose the package because it is robust and because it did the things we needed, especially at the back-end. But it means there is a lot to pick up - it's not something you can get out of the box and figure out for yourself."
A diverse group of six received training, including Andy with his web-development background
Andy's division opted for a customized two-day on-site training course, based loosely on the Snap Surveys standard training modules but driven by several in-house examples. It was delivered by one of Snap's experienced trainers from the US office. A diverse group of six received training, including Andy with his web-development background, experienced statisticians and survey experts; some technical and some non-technical - a mix that was judged to work well.
"We had a lot to cover in the two days," said Andy. "It could easily have run to three or three and a half days, but it worked pretty well. It was nice that we could bring some hands-on examples, and by the end of the class we had built a couple of surveys we were ready to use."
Andy saw both advantages and disadvantages in not sticking rigidly to the standard course structure. "We got to work on our own real examples but the disadvantage was not knowing what you needed to write down and what was already written up in the book. The books worked more as a take-home reference."
Once the training was finished, various members of the group set about their first surveys, including those with little prior technical experience. "One person went back and developed three surveys straight after the course, so I know the training did help. I think the knowledge transfer was good. It's definitely the quickest way to get up and running using Snap."
Training - a worthwhile investment
Feedback from customers consistently highlights the benefits of taking a short training course as being both the fastest and the surest way to success in using Snap. This is because training is always designed and delivered to these important principles:
- Flexible training is available to suit all needs, levels of experience and operational requirements either at one of the Snap training centres or at your own location.
- Courses are run at the right pace, with the right amount of content and the ideal mix of theoretical and practical input.
- Clients can mix training and one-to-one work with advice and consultancy, based around the client’s own projects.
- All courses are supported by excellent reference materials and carefully designed practical exercises.
- Those attending scheduled courses benefit from superb facilities and the perfect atmosphere for learning at each of our training centres.
- Tutors are equally skilled in the art of training and in the practical use of Snap.
- Courses are conducted in a relaxed way to encourage everyone to participate fully.
- All training backed up by HelpDesk support and an ongoing commitment to enable clients to get the best from Snap.
Specifically, each training course is designed to cover the right topics so as to ensure that new users can return to work with a clear understanding. Time and time again, after a brief introduction to the software, new users return to work and start using Snap with confidence from day one. There is no better way to maximize the return on your investment in Snap.