Skovrum

A training notebook for L&D teams

By Skovrum Admin · · 2 min read

Trainers' notes scatter across notebooks, spreadsheets and chat. What changes when a learning and development (L&D) team keeps one shared training notebook.

Every trainer keeps notes. The question is where those training notes end up, and whether anyone else on the learning and development (L&D) team can use them.

Where trainers' notes usually live

Ask a learning and development team how they track learners in live training and you'll often hear some version of this:

  • a paper notebook or a personal document for what happened in each session;
  • a spreadsheet for attendance, maybe another one for certifications;
  • chat messages to a co-trainer about who needs extra help;
  • a report written by hand at the end of a program, pulling all of the above together.

Each piece works on its own. Together they make simple questions hard. Which learners missed the topic we covered on Tuesday? Who hasn't been observed yet this week? Whose certification runs out next month? Answering means opening four things and trusting they're up to date.

What a shared training notebook changes

A training notebook (a trainer's notebook the whole team shares) is a place where every note knows what it's about: a class, a session, a topic or a learner. Because of that, the notebook can do the joining-up for you.

Notes stay with their context. A note written during a session belongs to that session and that class. An observation about a learner shows up on their profile. Nothing has to be copied across later.

Attendance becomes useful. When attendance and the session's topics are in the same place, "who missed what" is a list, not a research project, and tracking each learner's progress needs no LMS. You can plan a catch-up for the next session and mark topics as covered.

Co-trainers stay in step. When two trainers share a class, each sees the other's notes and the questions still open, so the second trainer doesn't start the day cold.

Reports come from the record. A class report or a learner handoff draws on what was written during the program, so it takes minutes instead of an afternoon. See class reports.

What to look for

If you're choosing a training notebook for your team, a few questions help:

  • Does it know about learners? A note about a person should be findable from that person.
  • Does it fit the pace of a live session? Taking attendance or writing a quick observation should take seconds, on a laptop or a tablet.
  • Can learners stay out of it? For live training, learners rarely need an account. If they do, every new hire becomes a login to manage.
  • Can the team share it safely? Roles should decide who sees and changes what, and private notes should stay private.

How Skovrum does it

Skovrum is built around exactly this: classes, sessions, learners and the notes between them, for corporate trainers and L&D teams. Learners never sign in. The help center walks through how the pieces connect, who Skovrum is for says where it fits, and the demo shows a sample team's week, notes and all.