Coaching Archives - MightyData

Are You Ready for Coaching?

February 14, 2013 by Anders Monsen Leave a Comment

Consider team sports. They consist of players on various surfaces and environments (fields, courts, pitches, etc.). The player performs the actions that directly affect whether the team wins or loses. Although not directly involved in the action on the field, virtually every sport includes a coach, someone who comes up with the game plan. Even in individual sports, the athlete who tends to go alone often experiences a jump in performance when consulting with a coach. Competitive runners and swimmers rely on coaches to plan and organize, even though some plans may change in the midst of an event. Even individuals whose careers are not dependent on racing discover that coaching provides unique benefits and insights, even while not making daily use of those services.

Sports analogies permeate almost every sphere of our non-sports activities, from work to politics, family to entertainment. In the business world, coaches play similar roles. Whether working alone or in a team environment, there are benefits to having coaches look over your shoulder as you encounter unfamiliar situations or to affirm ideas and defeat doubts.

MightyData provides a full-featured range of services around FileMaker Pro, from development through consulting, instructor-led training classes, and coaching. There is often a delicate balance between training and coaching. One might say in the context of FileMaker development (or any software development), that training is the first step on the road to becoming a developer. Basic training focuses on users – people relatively new to the product and from the perspective of a user. Subsequent training, especially in the FileMaker Training Series (FTS), goes far more in-depth and covers development tools and certification requirements. Not every developer seeks certification or even the broad scope of FTS training. Coaching fills this void, targeting specific areas.

Are You Ready or Not?

How do you know if you are ready for coaching? First, you must be motivated to learn. You are not simply handed a fish, but guided in the process of becoming someone who can fish, to cite another analogy. By considering coaching, you acknowledge a thirst for learning and a desire to improve. Coaching is not an admission of defeat, but a validation of your skills and your desire to take them further. A coach may suggest solutions and approaches to problems, but ultimately the implementation and understanding lies with you. Flexibility comes with any coach/developer relationship. As in sports, individuals may clash; sometimes the player refuses to budge, other times, the coach remains set in certain ways and fails to see other options. Both the developer and coach must take an open approach.

Another critical skill is communication. How do you articulate the issues or problems? MightyData’s coaching is mainly a virtual affair, conveyed via email and screen sharing using GoToMeeting. Can you state the problem so that others understand both where you are coming from and where you want to go? There is always a goal in mind, so vague generalizations tend to lead to fuzzy coaching as if the coach surveys a dusty nebula of issues, rather than sharp stars. Can you interpret what the coach tries to communicate? Sometimes the coach may assume certain things about the problem and suggest a solution that doesn’t quite fit the problem, and the developer needs to mention this to clarify any misunderstanding.

In my experience, I think a coach enjoys giving back knowledge, which is why we coach. We share in the excitement someone feels when he or she has that “aha” moment as something once murky becomes clear, the realization of learning some of the tools FileMaker contains and how they work. If you are looking to take your general FileMaker knowledge to another level, I suggest a broader training curriculum. If you are ready to hone your developer skills and have the willingness to learn and ability to communicate, then you are ready for coaching.

Preparing for Your First FileMaker Class

June 23, 2011 by Martha Zink 2 Comments

This blog article isn’t about giving you homework before class starts. Well, at least not really. When you jump into any FileMaker training class, the amount of technological knowledge can be overwhelming. It helps if you step into the classroom with the right mentality. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Picture Your Rainbow

It’s hard to learn something if you don’t know why you need it. Building a database for the sake of just building one won’t get you very far. Instead, think about a business need, or even a personal need, for a database. Some common examples include: contact management system, invoicing system, recipe database, inventory, etc. Think of a database as doing something the “easy” way. Imagine having to write all of your business’ receipts on carbon copy paper! A database could remove the paper from the process, allow you to email receipts to customers, and keep a history of all items purchased.

Know Your Business (aka Think Like a Human)

FileMaker solutions, like any other software, work as well as you build them. The key to building a successful database is to know your business process and your business needs. Before you even get into the FileMaker jargon, think about your business as a flowchart and what it takes to complete the process. It even helps to come to class with those ideas written out, as you’ll have something to reference as you learn new FileMaker skills.

Think Like a Computer

Knowing your business is all about understanding people, flow, and processes (and even a little bit of office politics). Once you have that information, you’ll want to start thinking about your process in “computer speak.” While this is something you’ll learn throughout your FileMaker training, it helps to be prepared for it. “Computer speak” simply means that you’ll have to think logically, rigidly, and in pattern-form. A good example of this is in my article about Parsing Like a Pro – in order to get FileMaker to do something, you have to TELL FileMaker what to do, how to do it, and what to look for. Being a developer is mostly about being an interpreter/translator from humans to computers.

Think In Analogies

It’s nearly impossible to build a curriculum that covers the needs of every student in the class, unless it’s a class of one. With that said, be prepared to use analogies or examples to tie the material taught in class to your example. If the trainer talks about Customers and Invoices, think about these compared to Students and Grades. Don’t get stuck in the objects or items. Take it to the next level and think about what the items represent and how they relate and/or function together. Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions! Trainers want you to walk away with material you can apply. If something just isn’t clicking, ask for another example or ask how it would apply to your scenario.

Prepare for Mental Overload

Don’t come into the class with the expectation of walking out and knowing all there is to know about FileMaker. As a trainer, my goal is to teach you what I can and expose you to things that might be out of your initial skill’s reach so that you can attempt it later. My goal is to tell you that anything can be done, whether it’s just through FileMaker or with the help of other technologies. Regardless, know that you’ll walk out of the class feeling a bit overwhelmed with knowledge and possibilities.

Set Your Expectations

My advice is that when you’re thinking up your ideal database, put things into 3 categories: Can’t function without this, Important but not required, Nice to have. By prioritizing functionality, you don’t get bogged down with the details. You’ll also find yourself building something that will be functional enough for actual use, so that you can start using your system and continue growing and building the database.

If you keep the above in mind, you’re preparing yourself for FileMaker success! Learning a new technology, or even learning more about an existing technology, is far from easy and takes a lot of work and practice. However, being organized and prepared will lead to a successful outcome as you venture onto your new FileMaker journey.

Good luck!

The Art of Training

April 5, 2011 by Martha Zink Leave a Comment

I advocate accomplishment, whether it’s through development of a database solution for a customer or training a student on becoming a better developer. While the former requires attention to detail, knowledge of the FileMaker product line, and the agility to solve problems, what does it take to advocate accomplishment from the perspective of a trainer? Step into to my world…

Training isn’t about standing in front of an audience. It’s not about teaching out of a book. Training is all about understanding student needs, interacting with the students, and being a flexible trainer. Ah yes – and patience. Lots and lots of patience. As developers, we fall into the trap of thinking “this stuff is easy,” especially when covering the basics. I mean, we do this stuff day in and day out. As a trainer, we have to remember what it’s like to know little to nothing about FileMaker. We have to remember that terms like “modes,” “views,” and “scripts” are not part of our students’ everyday vocabulary. It’s our job as a trainer to walk developers through, what can be, a steep learning curve.

With patience comes flexibility. There have been many times where my class outline goes flying out the window when I realize the class could get more out of a different topic. Even if I keep to my outline, my examples and/or approach will change depending on my students. If I’m teaching a finance group, I use transactions and accounts as my real world example. If I’m teaching schoolteachers, the student/teacher model becomes the focus. When teaching a group from different organizations, I do my best to use at least one example from each person’s work background. Not only does it help the student learn, but also it makes the class feel customized and tailored. Who doesn’t love that feeling?

The one technique that holds true to being a good trainer is to always wear your excitement and passion for FileMaker on your sleeve. Students have come up to me and said, “Your excitement is contagious!” and that may be one of the best compliments ever paid. I teach others about the powers of FileMaker and ease their fears of creating databases by letting them know that I’ve been there, that I will help them through it, and that my classes are meant to help them move forward with the development.

So what is the art of training in a nutshell? Remember what it’s like to be new to FileMaker, take the time to understand what your students want and need, and remind your students (and yourself!) that you do what you do because you love it.