Working for Someone Who Doesn't Train Well / And/or Am I Rusty?

Just because someone is the boss does not make them a good trainer, especially if he had an assistant who knew the forms and the system- he may not have made the leap to training you.

I would suggest that when he makes a request of you, that you confirm, by repeating back to him, what he requested and asking for clarification if needed. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions regarding the paperwork....You didn't walk into the job with full knowledge of all their paper.

Basically, you need to train him how to be a trainer. Open communication, courtesy, and your already capable self and you two will be working wonderfully together in no time!!!!

God Bless

Hi P.,
My hubby just graduated with a degree in Organizational Leadership, and he says there's really an "art" to training someone.
It sounds like the two of you have opposite communication styles, and since he's the boss, you are left to be the one trying to figure out what the heck he wants! (lol)
Try and take a step back, and figure out how he "gets" information (does he like written or spoken info?); is he a leader or a follower (leaders don't micro-manage, but hire people to get it done for them); is his office organized, or controlled-chaos?
If you can get a better idea of his personality, then you have a way to tell him, "Look, I'm not getting it. Give me help with..." and be specific. Don't just run in with an armload of general complaints and frustrations.

Good luck!
t

It sounds like there is simply a learning curve with the more difficult situation; no matter who they bring in, it will probably take time to learn all the different forms, companies involved, etc.

If you just keep at it, and show initiative in doing so, you should be fine. Every week make it a goal to ask fewer and fewer questions.

Good luck.

Don't worry too much about the cause. Just start asking many many questions to clarify what you think he wants. Be open. Tell him you want to give him what he wants but you want to be clear what that is. He may want you to intuit because he isn't a good communicator. So he may very much appreciate you helping him get into words exactly what he wants.

Assume nothing. Ask a million questions.

MOST business owners, supervisors, and managers are horrible trainers. They seem to assume that new people already 'know' this stuff. I worked for a guy several years ago who trained me for about an hour and a half and had several differents products and services and said 'there you go -- go sell'. What an idiot!! I had little grasp of what was expected of me and was never shown any forms that he just expected me to know about.
After 2 weeks of total frustration I went into his office and had a talk with him. I asked how many years he had been doing this type of work, he replied over 10. I then told him he should be very knowledgable but even though I knew a lot about the products he carried I had a lot to learn. And an hour and a half of training wasn't enough. I had been training in Martial Arts for over 5 years by that point and had become a Black Belt. I offered to loan him a uniform and take him to a school and spend an hour and a half training him in Martial Arts and he could come back and show his staff what he had learned. HE FINALLY GOT IT!! He realized that you barely scratch the surface in an hour and a half.
Even though this is a good job and it fits you well, somehow you need to be able to get it across to this man that he needs to show you step by step what is expected of you. And he needs to be open for questions for the next several months. If he can't see that then he will become a monster to work for, he will begin to blame you for not knowing things.
Good luck I hope you can make him understand, it does sound like a great job.