ASK LTEN
Have a question for Ask LTEN? Submit them to AskLTEN@L-TEN.org
Welcome to “Ask LTEN,” our bimonthly column devoted to answering your questions and connecting you with life sciences training experts. Here we share questions submitted by LTEN members, with answers sourced from the appropriate experts.
Do you have a training-related question? Want to provide an additional answer to these questions? Questions or comments can be submitted to AskLTEN@L-TEN.org. We won’t use your name if you prefer anonymity.
Question:
My brand team regularly updates the messaging and core materials that are baked into our new-hire training workshops. What are some simple steps to ensure our training materials are always up to date and approved for dissemination in advance of every new-hire class?
Answer:
That’s a great question – thank you! We asked Nicole Ainsworth, senior manager of sales training for Horizon Therapeutics, to share a response:
Here are three simple steps:
- Focus on Framework: Leverage the approved brand materials, such as visual aids, reprint carriers and FAQs, as your content sources and build your workshops so they function as a framework for the content. Include only logistical information and guidance (i.e., instructions and time allotted for each presentation, discussion or activity). Depending on your organization, your workshops may still require review; however, given that the workshops won’t include product or medical information, messaging or sales direction, there view time should be much shorter.
- Be In the Know: Regularly meet with sales and marketing leaders so you can plan for, rather than react to, changes in strategy, messaging and training needs. Foster relationships outside of the brand or business unit meetings, and you’ll find the “grapevine” may provide you even earlier insights into forthcoming changes.
- Promptly Review & Revise: When you learn of anticipated changes to a content source, promptly review the associated workshops, determine if revisions are needed to the activities, logistics and timing, and update accordingly. Given your workshops are strictly frameworks, the updates will likely be simple and quick to make!
Question:
How do I get published in Focus?
Answer:
We’ve been hearing this question more frequently since LTEN Focus on Training magazine went monthly. So we asked ourselves to share some thoughts on writing for us:
LTEN has many ways to share your knowledge and experiences with your industry colleagues. There’s this publication, LTEN Focus on Training magazine, of course, and there’s also newsletters, white papers and the Bonus Focus online articles section of the L-TEN.org website.
Writing for LTEN publications is an easy process. If you have a specific idea you’d like to turn into an article, you can reach out to us to share your thoughts. We’ll find an appropriate home for it in our publications and work with you on logistical items like deadline and length.
Don’t think of writing for LTEN as a daunting task – we’ll do our best to make it easy for you. We also accept articles of all sizes and lengths, including Guest Editor columns for Focus magazine and Ask LTEN questions like this one. There are many ways to share what you know, what you’re working on and where you think life sciences training is headed.
Tim Sosbe, editorial director for LTEN, is your first point of contact for any questions around writing or sharing opportunities. Reach out to Tim at any time at tsosbe@L-TEN.org, and he’ll help you get started.
If any of our LTEN Focus on Training magazine readers has a question or are interested in joining the conversation on a previous topic, feel free to share with us at AskLTEN@L-TEN.org.
