HUD's Web Management Operating Procedures

Section 2: General Procedures

L: Training HUD Staff

The more time Web Managers spend teaching HUD staff how to use the web, in general, and how to use our websites, in particular, the more help you'll get doing your job. When HUD staff know how to use the websites, they can help each other and help our customers find the information they want and need to solve their problems and achieve their goals. In addition, holding training sessions with staff can help you learn more about what works - and what doesn't - with our websites. And training sessions may spawn brainstorming that will produce new and better ways to communicate with our audiences.

Departmental Web Team Duties

The Departmental Web Team works with Web Managers to identify and plan training for HUD staff, both in Headquarters and the Field. When possible, the Departmental Web Team conducts training for HUD staff.

Responsibilities of All Web Managers

All Web Managers are responsible for providing regular training to the employees in their jurisdictions.

Setting Up Training Sessions

Staff training sessions can be formal or informal - try both.

• Go visit the managers in your organization or send them email, offering to conduct a training session for their employees on how to use the website to help customers.
• Schedule a meeting room and send out a note to all the employees in your organization saying you'll have ½ hour training sessions the first Monday of each month. Give each session a theme (e.g., how to use search engines) or just do general drop-in sessions.
• Find out when organizations are having staff meetings and then ask the manager if you could do a quick 10-minute presentation on how to use the website, at the end.
• Send out a note to the employees in your organization and offer to answer their questions by email. Sometimes that's a good way to strike up a relationship with someone who needs a little more training.

Be sure that you end each session encouraging employees to help one another use the web. And be sure you tell employees to promote HUD's web products!

Tips and How To's

• Encourage questions and be ready for anything - you cannot assume staff have any knowledge of the web or HUD's sites. Be ready to address any and all needs. You may want to consider creating different levels of instruction - beginner and more advanced.
• Think about your audience beforehand, and provide resource lists with direct links to useful materials for that audience.
• Be ready - you'll probably get both questions about the web and basic technical questions that have nothing to do with the web. Know how to direct staff to the answers, if you can't provide them.
• Encourage staff to contact you later with questions or ideas
• You want to encourage ideas and suggestions. You'll probably get suggestions for things we've already tried or things that already are in the works...but you also may get some exciting new ideas.
• If you get a question that you can't answer, be honest enough to say you don't know. But try to help them find the answer.
• Yes - you will get complaints. You can't please all the people all the time. Be open and honest in your response - and don't promise what can't be delivered.
• Be ready to provide general information on design and navigation as well as information specific to an employee's job. Provide resources on hud.gov and hud@work that all employees can use - glossaries, bookshelves, etc.
• Encourage employees to think about what they can do differently - many staff don't realize how many things there are that can make their job easier and more interesting and save time (making copies, etc.)
• Be ready to toot our own horn a bit - staff usually have no idea about the good work we do and use that as a segue to say hud.gov is their site and it serves to show the good work they do for the public
• Be very familiar with our sites - internal and external.
• Use every training session as a focus group. Pay special attention to what staff need or can't find or wish, or...

You can find a sample agenda for a staff training session in Appendix H.