Teaching staff to use AI works when it’s about one real job from their own desk, practised on their own work, with a one-page guide and someone to ask afterwards. The test is simple. A month later, without anyone reminding them, are they still using it? If not, they were shown AI. They weren’t taught.
Why most AI training doesn’t stick
Most of it looks the same. Someone shows an impressive demo that has nothing to do with anyone’s job, everyone nods, a link goes round, and on Monday the work gets done the old way. Nobody had time to practise. Nobody knows who to ask when a result looks wrong. And by the next month the tool has moved its buttons.
The problem isn’t the staff. The training was about AI, not about their job.
How I teach it
- One job, one person. The person who actually does the job, not the whole company at once.
- Their own work. Last week’s quotes, real emails, real meeting notes. Never a made-up example.
- How to check the result. This matters more than how to ask. I show what mistakes look like: a wrong price, a fact the AI made up, a tone that isn’t yours, a promise you would never make.
- What to do when it’s wrong. Fix the material it works from, so the same mistake doesn’t come back tomorrow.
- A one-page guide. How to start, what to paste in, what to check, and what to do about the three most common problems. One page, so it actually gets read.
- Someone to ask. The questions come in week two, not during the session, and they can ask me.
- A check after a month. Is it used? What still goes wrong? Then I update the material and the guide.
Three rules I give every team
- Whoever sends it is responsible for it. “The AI wrote it” is never an answer to a customer.
- No customer’s personal information goes into a tool the company hasn’t set up. Use the company account, never a personal one.
- If you fix the same mistake twice, say so. It means the material needs fixing, not you.
What owners can do
Use it yourself first, on your own work, so you know what you’re asking of people. Give your staff time to practise in the first two weeks, when the new way is still slower than the old one. And ask about it: “Did AI help with this one?” in a weekly meeting does more than a policy document.
Teaching is part of every month I work with a client, because a workflow nobody uses is worth nothing. If you haven’t picked the first job yet, start with where a small business should start with AI.