How it started
I didn't know how much I would love teaching and training until I fell into it by accident.
My working life began as a legal secretary and PA, long before "digital transformation" was a phrase anyone knew about or used. Somewhere along the way I discovered that teaching came naturally to me, I really enjoyed it and I was good at it. Nearly 40 years later and I'm still doing it.
Where it went
In my nearly 40 years in this space, I've worked as a Systems Administrator, IT Lecturer, trainer and consultant, designing and delivering courses for people at every stage of their working life: new joiners learning on the job, people returning to work after a break, and established teams navigating major system changes. All of the above have helped to shape who I am today and how I like to work with others to make their learning journeys fun packed and relevant to them and their needs.
In more recent years, I've added change management within digital transformation to my skill set, helping organisations roll out new systems (including Workday, Intapp, and SharePoint) and supporting staff through that transition. This has included writing internal and external communications, building training materials and videos, and working closely with stakeholders and senior managers to make sure the change lands well, sticks and is of use to users of the systems.
In addition, I've also had the chance to speak publicly about this work, on panels, podcasts, and at business events. I love sharing what I've learned about change, training, and building a business on my own terms.
Where it's going!
Outside of training, I'm a keen traveller, always on the hunt for a good new restaurant, and I love photography, theatre, and interior design.
Time with my grandchildren, and learning whatever new skill or software has caught my attention, covers the rest.
If you want to know more, get in touch here.
Meet Sharon Gordon
As a web designer I have had the opportunity to consult on, edit, design and maintain sites for the legal sector, modelling agencies, photographers, a shed and fencing company, a motor mechanic and clothing retailer.
My mantra is “learning must be fun, accessible and easy to understand for it to be of true value to the learner”. Therefore, I pride myself on being an engaging, patient and thorough trainer who is passionate about working to a high standard. I am TAP and MOS certified, have my CertEd and am COLF trained.
As SG Web Craft, I can show people how they can best use their existing software to save time and possibly money to carry out their day to day tasks by looking at what they are currently doing and finding an alternative way of working that will give them more time to work on the more complex tasks in their day to day.
I also create training videos and quick guides for them to keep once I have gone.
Career Acheivements
When I worked for a very large law firm many years ago, I was part of a team of four IT Trainers who were involved in a global, big bang roll out of three major application changes for the firm. These were Windows 8, FileSite and Microsoft Office. As well as writing the course content, creating the course and other training materials, preparing the printing of all documentation for delivery to the world wide offices, I had to arrange my travel and accommodation to the relevant offices, liaise with the local teams for a room for training, which was sometimes a makeshift training room that was normally a meeting room and had to be adapted and the necessary equipment sourced so that when I got there, I could then arrange when the training sessions were taking place, who would be attending and any follow that was required or needed and all within a specific time frame. Then I would return to London and do all of the above again for the next office and destination. This was a very intense period. However, I found it extremely fulfilling and rewarding and I felt I was integral to the training going smoothly and well for all concerned. Getting great feedback too was the icing on the cake and made all the travelling and work involved worthwhile.
Another achievement I am proud of within my career is my ability to understand and interpret very technical terms and language and then write the information in a way that can easily be understood by anyone in the form of a quick reference guide or mini training guide. I find it very easy to immerse myself into an application and then work to get the information assimilated into a quick guide for someone to follow the steps. I am also an extremely patient person when it comes to training others and I really do enjoy watching people's faces when they finally understand what I have taught them.
My last achievement that I am very proud of is that I trained and mentored a young black guy who wanted to change his career from customer service type roles to being an IT Trainer. I helped him source a company who would train him so that he could obtain his first IT training certificate. I also helped him fund the course and I mentored him through the training and helped him with his last assignment that he would be assessed on, which was for him to run a 20 minute training session and video it and hand it in with some paperwork. This was done during the pandemic, hence the video option. Normally, this would have been done in a classroom setting. Thankfully, he passed and obtained his certificate for part one. I am now helping him to secure his first role as an junior IT Trainer. Hopefully, he will get a suitable role soon. I would love to do this with other people too.
