For the past several weeks I’ve been delivering and helping deliver some ITIL awareness training for a few clients. Evergreen provides a really solid and complete set of ITIL course and presentation materials, but as an instructor there are always a lot of challenges to think about. For example, in a traditional classroom ITIL training format, such as for an ITIL Foundation Exam, some of the students will already be pretty familiar with ITIL and key ITIL concepts and terms.

Then, a majority of the class will probably be only slightly familiar with ITIL, or this class may be their first exposure.

So we have to find a way to teach to everyone’s level of knowledge and keep it interesting and relevant for everyone. One way I like to do that is by asking a lot of questions: about the students? positions, backgrounds, ITIL experience level and the company and its ITSM operations in general. The more I know about the shop, the better I can translate the ‘official ITIL’ into real-world meaning.

You’ve heard the jokes about teachers - there are the nasty comments like ‘those who can’t, teach’ (which seems wrong to me - the best teachers are usually those who have been there and done that). But the one I use for inspiration is the certainty that I never know what question a student will ask, what challenge to the accepted ITIL conventional wisdom will come up - so I had better be at my best every time I stand up in front of a classroom. So, in my case anyway, teaching forces me to know the subject better than I otherwise would.

Till next time, keep up the good work - and ask yourself ‘if I had to teach what I do to a newbie, how would I do it?’

Scott Braden

Download Evergreen’s white paper on ITIL awareness training at “ITIL Awareness Training”.

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