In our branch the ability to bring people to a productive pace is very important and can be a daunting process. The amount of knowledge to be learnt is considerable and a good strategy has to be in place.

In the case of JIT, where we pursue that each and every individual reaches a high self-sufficiency level, it is very important to have a very solid set of skills and competences. While some skills and knowledge can be acquired by means of self-learning, I would like to make a point why there is always need for formal training.

When a developer has a formal training, new skills are developed and the existing skills are improved, this makes the individual more efficient at the job and capable of handling different responsibilities and challenges.

In the case of Camunda training, (in reality this applies to any technology), the two main advantages are, the structured technical knowledge and the development of social competences and skills. The set of social competences are important because normally it takes more time to develop them than the technical knowledge.

In detail some advantages can be listed as follow:

• Uniformity of knowledge, training helps to fill in the possible gaps and grey areas that were not covered with self-learning. Camunda trainings provide a uniform level of knowledge by giving an extensive overview of all strategic areas.
• Better communicators, training provide ideas and the big picture of a topic and that brings clarity when expressing ideas. Camunda trainings provide not only technical knowledge, they improve social competences like communication and team leadership because one has to control a group and provide expert knowledge.
• Better strategic decisions, people have a better idea how to prioritize work because their decisions are based on concrete clear knowledge. Camunda trainings provide a very well structured knowledge, this makes easy to think on a strategic level.
• Better engagement, when a person feels they know their thing, they participate more in the decision making process of the company, they provide constructive feedback and they are willing to receive as they know the value of knowledge.
• A business enabler, a developer can see better opportunities for development which brings opportunities to the entire company, this is possible because the developer can see beyond a simple problem, he is now armed with the skills and mental tools to improve their productivity.

Finally, while self-learning is always a good choice and indeed has a lot of benefits, formal learning has the advantages described before, at the end of the day, a mix of both might be the best way to go.

Written by @Gerardo Manzano
Team Lead @Mario Fleischhacker