Make a video training library - it's easy. Hangaia he pātaka whakangungu ataata - he māmā.

[May 2011] I recently took over a small job for a website community. I help subscribers, keep some records and look after the membership of the mailing list.

There are constant comings and goings: people join or leave, and PayPal sometimes unsubscribes people for no apparent reason.

None of these things are particularly hard but I did need to learn new routines.

Your organisation probably also has routines for computer-based work, for example, to log in to your website and update content. Or which folder you save certain documents in or how to set up for this month's newsletter.

With any luck you have documentation of all these things so that if a current staff member or volunteer leaves a new person can find out how to do things.

Chances are though, that the documentation is not quite all it could be. It can be very hard to make sure you have all the right steps in all the right sequences and without leaving anything out.

My colleague made a screencast while she taught me my new role. This meant that everything she did on screen was recorded as a video. Later, rather than bothering my colleague with questions about small details I was able to simply review the video to see what to do.

I recommend making screencasts for your own internal training purposes — it's extraordinarily easy to do.

I nā noa nei i tīmata au i tētahi mahi iti mō tētahi hapori paetukutuku. He maha ngā haerenga mai me ngā haerenga atu: ka hono ngā tāngata, ka wehe atu rānei, ā, i ētahi wā ka wete mai a PayPal i ētahi tāngata, ko te āhua nei mō te kore noa iho.

Ka āwhina au i ngā kaiohauru, ka pupuri i ētahi pūkete me te tiaki i ngā mema o te rārangi tuku mēra.

Ehara ēnei mahi i te mahi, engari me ako au i ētahi ritenga hou.

Tēnā pea he ritenga anō o tō whakahaere mō ngā mahi i runga rorohiko, hei tauira, mō te takiuru ki tō paetukutuku me te whakahou i ngā kōrero i reira. Mō ngā kōnae rānei hei tiaki i ētahi tuhinga, me pēhea hoki e whakarite ai mō te pānui o tēnei marama.

Waimarie pea pēnā kei tō whakahaere ngā pepa tōtika o ēnei mahi katoa, ā, ki te wehe tētahi kaimahi, tētahi kaitūao rānei, kua mōhio tētahi tangata hou me pēhea te mahi i ngā mahi.

Heoi anō, tēnā pea kāore anō aua pepa i te takoto tika ki tērā e hiahiatia ana. Me uaua kē ka whakarite kua whakatakotoria ngā upane hei whai i te raupapa tika, me te kore mahue o tētahi mea ki waho.

I hanga taku hoamahi i tētahi pāhōmata i a ia e ako ana i a au ki taku tūnga hou. Ko te tikanga o tēnei i hopukina ngā mea katoa i mahia e ia i te mata hei ataata. I muri iho, ka taea e au te mātakitaki anō i te ataata kia āta mōhio ai au me te kore whakahōhā anō i taku hoamahi.

Ko tāku e tūtohu ana kia hanga pāhōmata mō ōu ake mahi whakangungu ā-roto — he tino ngāwari noa iho.

Screencast software.

As a Mac user I can make screencasts with QuickTime Player X, free with Snow Leopard. These videos are very basic but satisfactory. See: http://mactips.info/2011/02/make-a-screencast-or-audio-recording-with-quicktime-player-10 .

Since I frequently publish instructional videos, I normally use a sophisticated piece of software called ScreenFlow.

I'm not sure if QuickTime Player on Windows is able to make recordings of the screen. However people I trust tell me that Camtasia is superb and that Jing is good too.

To make a video of what's on your screen simply tell the software to start recording, and make sure it's recording your voice too. Then work through your normal process such as adding a user to a mailing list, explaining it as you go.

Pūmanawa pāhōmata

Hei kaiwhakamahi Mac ka taea e au te hanga pāhōmata me te QuickTime Player X, he mea koreutu me Snow Leopard. He tino waitau ēnei ataata, engari he pai.

Nā te mea he rite tonu taku whakaputa ataata tohutohu, ka whakamahia e au tētahi pūmanawa mātanga e kīia ana ana ko ScreenFlow.

Kāore au i te tino mōhio mēnā ka taea e te QuickTime Player i Windows te hopu pāhōmata o te mata. Heoi e kī mai ana ētahi tāngata e whakawhirinaki ai au he rawe a Camtasia, ā, he pai hoki a Jing.

Hei hanga ataata o ngā mea kei tō mata, me tohutohu te pūmamawa kia tīmata ki te hopu, me te whakarite kei te hopu anō i tō reo. Kātahi ka mahi koe i āu hātepe noa pēnei i te tāpiri i tētahi kaiwhakamahi ki te rārangi mēra, me te whakamārama haere i a koe e mahi haere ana.

Tips to make the videos more useful.

At the start of the video introduce the topic: "How to add a user to the mailing list". Include a date and your name, so people know who to refer to for more information and how old the video is.

Work a little more slowly than usual, so viewers can keep up.

Make one short video per topic rather than one giant one for everything.

When you save the video give it a useful name such as "Add user to mailing list".

You could quickly and easily build up a very useful training library for your volunteers and staff members by making screencast videos. Just give it a try and let us know how you get on.

He kōrero āwhina hei whakarite kia nui ake te whaihua o ngā ataata.

I te tīmatanga o te ataata whakamāramatia te kaupapa: Me pēhea te tāpiri kaiwhakamahi ki te rarangi mēra. Tuhia te rā me tō ingoa, kia mōhio ai te tangata me pātai ia ki a wai mō ētahi anō pārongo, e hia rānei te tawhito o te ataata.

Kia pōturi ake ō māhi, kia āhei ai te hunga mātakitaki te whai haere.

Me hanga ataata poto mō ia kaupapa, kaua e hanga tētahi mea tino nui mō te katoa.

Ina tiaki i te ataata, tapaina ki tētahi ingoa tōtika. Tāpirihia te kaiwhakamahi ki te rārangi mēra.

Ka taea e koe te hanga i runga i te māmā tētahi pātaka ataata tino whaitake mā ō kaitūao me ngā kaimahi mā te hanga i ngā ataata pāhōmata. Whākamātauria, ka whakamōhio mai i ngā otinga.

 

Website tips contributed by Miraz Jordan, http://knowit.co.nz . Need help or advice about the Internet? Contact Miraz. 

Miraz also writes the Tech Universe column for the NZ Herald - it's published online every weekday at http://bit.ly/bGX7UY .

Nā Miraz Jordan i takoha ēnei Kupu Tohutohu, http://knowit.co.nz . Kei te pīrangi āwhina, tohutohu mō te Ipurangi? Whakapā ki a Miraz.

He kaituhi hoki a Miraz i te wāhanga Tech Universe ō te NZ Herald - kei te tā ipurangitia ia rā mahi i http://bit.ly/bGX7UY .