Noooooooob!!!

If you, or anyone you know is a gamer the word 'noob' will be familiar to you. It is yelled at people who don't know what they are doing, ask stupid questions, hold things up or get everyone killed in the MMOG (massively multiplayer online game) world. It does exist, it's on wikipedia.

You can't yell 'Noob!' in a meeting (or try it and let me know how that works out for you), and you certainly can't howl it at your manager. How long CAN someone be a noob before they are just supposed to know? In theory I suppose by the end of their probationary period, or maybe 6 months? And if this is a manager, how much damage are you doing to the business and your personal reputation in the mean time?

I have worked at an organisation where you were new until you had been there for 10 years. In another place the longest serving member of staff had been there for 11 months. Both organisations worked and worked well. There were cries of 'it's not like the old days' in both. The knowledge transfer was covered within the team of the fast turnover organisation, and there was a great training folder that got new starters up to speed fast.

As a trainers surely it is our responsibility (in conjunction with the line managers) to nurture the noobs so they know what they are doing, they ask the right people the questions and don't hold things up. I'd like to think outside of the military no one is getting killed. It's just unfortunate the rest of their jobs get in the way and they can't take in everything at once.

The excuse 'I'm still getting the hang of this' or for that matter 'I just need more training' will only keep you safe for so long. At some point the individual has to take responsiblity and admit mistakes and set them right. Then put into place sytems to ensure it doesn't happen again. This may be called performance management!

I've been in training for 6 years. Not a lifetime, but enough to know what I am doing you'd think. But no, I am still a noob.
Just don't tell my boss.
I'm trying to cover it with an air of capability.