From February 2020 until May 2021, I worked for insightsoftware as the technical support manager for the company's newly-acquired Longview product line. Within my first five weeks on the job, I was tasked with developing, designing, and implementing a six-week bootcamp for four new technical support engineers. The bootcamp was originally intended to take place live at two locations: the insightsoftware headquarters in Raleigh, NC and the Longview office in Markham, ON. However, when the border closed on March 13 due to COVID, I had to quickly redesign the entire training so it could be effectively delivered remotely via Zoom.

In creating the bootcamp, the biggest challenge for me was that I was new to insightsoftware and knew nothing about the Longview corporate tax software product the technical engineers would be supporting. Luckily I was able to make two trips to Canada before COVID hit, so I could meet with product experts including the four experienced technical engineers on my team, as well as customer training and implementation specialists. I identified, collected, and assessed existing content, such as user guides and video tutorials, customer onboarding training modules and workbooks, and knowledge base articles. I then located third-party e-learning materials on customer service skills and consulted the legal department to determine compliance training requirements.

 

I constructed a training curriculum and schedule using a blended approach incorporating virtual instructor-led product training workshops, individual hands-on guided activities using the product and system tools, group discussions and interactive role plays to practice customer service skills, and shadowing sessions with the experienced engineers. Each week ended with a stage gate assessment. As manager of the new hires, I also monitored and coached them on their progress weekly. Despite the extra challenges of COVID, all four new technical support engineers successfully completed the bootcamp and began working their first support cases, with guidance from the experienced engineers.