So I’ve taken on the role of Training Officer after our last one wasn’t really cutting it, but I’m pretty much starting from scratch as there wasn’t really a plan in place before.
So I’m just looking for advice from anyone else on how they put this together? I am thinking one big yearly planner that all the camps, training weekends, ATC Sunday, bag packs etc all go on, and for that to be quite top level so to say, for example, “Lessons” on a night of classification lessons. Then to have a further detailed plan for the month which just shows parade evenings and shows what each class are doing and who is teaching it.
Originally I was just going to use a monthly calendar, but I’m not sure it will get enough detail on it to show what lessons each class is actually doing.
I think it depends on what you mean get enough detail and what sort of detail?
A ‘rolling year’ planner is OK but I would advise against amymore detail than a month, or you will find yourself bogged down. Like all of us you have to enjoy your time at the squadron and let the staff do their bit with the cadets in terms of training/instruction.
If there is different dress just ensure the cadets are briefed over the preceeding week. IF you say specifically what is happening on the night and for any number of reasons it doesn’t/can’t, it doesn’t look good. All the cadets need to know is that on the night they are doing classifications, first aid, leadership, FMS etc, not the fine detail.
We have both a calendar for weekend events and a parade night training program. The two should work together, so if you know you’re going on a fieldcraft exercise on a Friday then we like to have the Wednesday before as a kit check.
We publish ours in 3 month blocks, but look for big things coming up to put on it.
I have an excel spreadsheet which shows the training programme for each month on a different tab.
The tabs list dates vertically and shows our 2 parade nights and the weekends, though we sometimes add in additional days if necessary.
The parade nights are split vertically into classification groups, with another column for shooting groups. We show the general activity, being fairly specific but never tying us down to particular lessons, for instance. We also don’t use it to allocate instructors to particular classes either. We also specify the dress for the evening, with the default being 2C if not otherwise specified.
Weekend events and additional days are shown as narrow rows that hold a general description but the detail for these is generally found on separate event forms.
Finally, along the right hand side I mark school holidays with a yellow bar and camps as a vertical block.
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Bits of the programme for the year can be filled in whenever things are known and I normally start this towards the end of the previous year for major events. Individual goals are fleshed out a few months in advance and the months should be detailed at least 1 full month in advance, though we normally manage to work 3-4 months in advance. I like us to be able to “lock” a month in advance, so I would hope to be making no changes to May now unless absolutely necessary - everything further in the future is still malleable.
I try to post 3 months at a time on the squadron noticeboard and put pictures of the programme up on our FaceBook group. I also put up the latest revision of the “key dates” page which shows all of the major events until the end of the year so that people can hopefully plan ahead.
We have an Annual planner that our Adj currently maintains, which has all wing/region dates included on which makes it easier for us to plan additional weekend activities that won’t then clash, with athletics for example.
For parade evenings we have a programme that is broken into each classification group so you can indicate which lessons each group will undertake, this is colour coded based on the uniform using some clever conditional formatting in excel, and is currently in a portrait, however I personally feel that landscape is a better option, as they’re is then additional space at the bottom of the page that can be used to remind cadets about upcoming weekend events etc.
PM your email address, and I can send you a copy of both options.
Splitting the cadets into their classifications along the top, and the dates down the side. I think its fairly easy to read (and pretty).
I then export it as a PDF and post it on the Sqn Website and print it out to go on noticeboards around the squadron.
In terms of filling it out, same as incubus, I try and work 3 months in advance but expect to make changes each month as I get a better idea as to how well cadets are progressing through subjects etc.
If you want a copy of my excel spreadsheet, PM me.
We do a 12 month plan which we write when the wing diary is issued in November/December each year - that is basically a best-guess of what is going to happen during the year and is obviously subject to change but at least it gives you a good idea of what the Sqn is going to do.
We then have an excel spreadsheet to plan each individual month (1 month per tab) which, again, we thrash out at the end of each year. The Training Officer then uses the Excel version as a template for the ‘pretty’ version which is produced on a monthly basis and completed in week 3 of each month. The draft version is emailed to all of the staff so they can comment and request changes - once they are happy, it goes firm.
In terms of displaying it, we do an A3 colour print of the ‘pretty’ version for the NCOs Mess, the Main Hall, the Orderly Office and the OCs Office. We then put an electronic version on the website (see http://www.861sqn.org/index.php/training-programme/) and on the closed Facebook group so all of the cadets/parents have easy access to an electronic version off Squadron.
Until recently, we did the standard paper-based event lists which would go up on the notice board. Cadets would then check they could attend and then add their name to the lists as required and we would then make selections. The problem with that is that we didn’t have access to the event lists off-Sqn and the cadets didn’t have access to event information at home. So, to counter that and reduce the admin burden, we have developed an Event Management System based on a social network software package called Oxwall which is installed on our website. Cadets create an account and then log in to look at the upcoming events and digitally sign up for them. Basically, they go to an event and then click ‘I’m Attending’ from the available options and that’s it. We have added modules that allow us to upload event documents as well such as JIs. Its been up and running for about three months and it has been really successful and the cadets like it. As a spin off, as each cadet creates an account they enter their email address which gives you an up to date list of emails for them which is also helpful. Happy to upload some screenshots if people are interested.
We also realised that due to the operational tempo of the Sqn, we wanted a way of doing task tracking properly so we have been using producteev (www.producteev.com) to allocate, track and complete tasks. This has been a real god-send as it allows you to stay on top of returns electronically and can be access via smartphone/tablet/desktop etc. So I can assign tasks to staff and then track their progress through to completion - great for demonstrating in AFIs that we are giving the cadets access to all opportunities. You can upload files and post links (to Sharepoint stuff etc) which is really helpful. Obviously, we don’t put anything sensitive on there.
[quote=“xab” post=17348]We do a 12 month plan which we write when the wing diary is issued in November/December each year - that is basically a best-guess of what is going to happen during the year and is obviously subject to change but at least it gives you a good idea of what the Sqn is going to do.
We then have an excel spreadsheet to plan each individual month (1 month per tab) which, again, we thrash out at the end of each year. The Training Officer then uses the Excel version as a template for the ‘pretty’ version which is produced on a monthly basis and completed in week 3 of each month. The draft version is emailed to all of the staff so they can comment and request changes - once they are happy, it goes firm.
In terms of displaying it, we do an A3 colour print of the ‘pretty’ version for the NCOs Mess, the Main Hall, the Orderly Office and the OCs Office. We then put an electronic version on the website (see http://www.861sqn.org/index.php/training-programme/) and on the closed Facebook group so all of the cadets/parents have easy access to an electronic version off Squadron.
Until recently, we did the standard paper-based event lists which would go up on the notice board. Cadets would then check they could attend and then add their name to the lists as required and we would then make selections. The problem with that is that we didn’t have access to the event lists off-Sqn and the cadets didn’t have access to event information at home. So, to counter that and reduce the admin burden, we have developed an Event Management System based on a social network software package called Oxwall which is installed on our website. Cadets create an account and then log in to look at the upcoming events and digitally sign up for them. Basically, they go to an event and then click ‘I’m Attending’ from the available options and that’s it. We have added modules that allow us to upload event documents as well such as JIs. Its been up and running for about three months and it has been really successful and the cadets like it. As a spin off, as each cadet creates an account they enter their email address which gives you an up to date list of emails for them which is also helpful. Happy to upload some screenshots if people are interested.
We also realised that due to the operational tempo of the Sqn, we wanted a way of doing task tracking properly so we have been using producteev (www.producteev.com) to allocate, track and complete tasks. This has been a real god-send as it allows you to stay on top of returns electronically and can be access via smartphone/tablet/desktop etc. So I can assign tasks to staff and then track their progress through to completion - great for demonstrating in AFIs that we are giving the cadets access to all opportunities. You can upload files and post links (to Sharepoint stuff etc) which is really helpful. Obviously, we don’t put anything sensitive on there.[/quote]
As ever Xab, at the forefront of things! Could you send some details about both as they sound excellent!
I tried an event management system on my Squadron website, but have to say it didn’t work as well as I expected. I hope yours works well, but after a trial I went back to paper on wall.
The Oxwall installation on the web server was simples as we have a ‘one click install’ feature through the websites cpanel backend. Producteev is just a web service available for anyone to use whenever - just go to the website and sign up and try it out.
[quote=“xab” post=17361][quote=“themajor” post=17360]Already looking at Producteev it looks really useful, will be selling it to the OC/Adj this evening.
Will definitely be using personally though.[/quote]
Yeah its really good - makes life a lot easier if you use it properly
Edit - Sorry - by that I mean getting all of the staff to use it! Then you can use it properly![/quote]
I can’t even get the staff to use the FB page never mind this!
Though I am playing around with it myself just now and it does look good!
I suppose, with all new things, it depends if you have the full support of the Sqn Cdr and whether or not they are forward thinking (and up to speed with how to use IT) - if they are interested in the initiative, then they will push it, if not they won’t.
