We know that learning something new isn’t always easy. So whether you’ve just joined Codecademy for Teams, are making your way through a 14-day free trial, or are adding new team members to an existing account, we’ve put together a few tips to help your team members make the most of their first week with Codecademy.
Ahead is a checklist of 3 simple things your team members should do in their first week. Hot tip: Make it even easier for your team by scheduling a block of time to get set up and started with Codecademy (more on that later). Read on for additional strategies that you can use to help your team stay motivated.
3 things your team should do in their first week
1. Decide what to learn
Where should your team start with Codecademy? They may already know what they want to learn. For instance, maybe they’re eager to learn Python so they can understand the large language model trend or go beyond Excel for data tasks. If they’re looking to learn a specific language, they can easily find the right course in our catalog.
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If they aren’t sure where to start, we recommend they get started with a skill path. Skill paths organize the content in Codecademy into roadmaps that are structured to take a learner through everything they need to acquire a specific skill. They make it easy to know what to learn and in what order.
Following a skill path will keep your team focused on need-to-know information and help them visualize an end goal. Check out a few of our most popular skill paths below and click through to see the full syllabus.
If you’re still stumped, there’s a course Choosing a Programming Language that will fill you in on your options and guide you in the right direction. The good news is beginners really can’t choose the “wrong” language when they’re starting out. Programming languages share concepts, so once you know one language, switching to another one is easy.
2. Set a weekly target
The big picture outcome — mastering a new tool or landing that big account — can often seem overwhelming. When we feel this way, we’re more prone to giving up on a goal. Setting weekly targets in Codecademy enables your team members to break down a large goal into smaller, achievable ones, helping them stay commited.
To set a weekly target, go to “My Home” in your Codecademy account. In the progress dashboard, you can edit your weekly target and enter how many days a week you want to learn. Each week, we’ll show you how many days you’ve logged into Codecademy and how many weeks in a row you’ve met your target.
Not only does setting a weekly target help your team build momentum, but looking back on how far they’ve come can be just the boost they need when motivation wanes. We use skill XP to measure progress in specific domains. Your team members can find their individual skill XP in the progress dashboard for a tangible, visual representation of everything they’ve learned.
As a team leader, you can also get a closer look at your team members’ individual progress. Use exclusive Codecademy Teams analytics and reporting features to measure team growth, make better data-driven decisions, and enhance learning outcomes.
3. Dedicate time for learning
Check your team calendar right now and find 30 minutes to get together. During this time, you can get set up and started working on Codecademy lessons together. You can even send around this blog article as a pre-read for your meeting! Onboarding to Codecademy Teams is a breeze, and this exercise also gets you in the habit of fitting learning into your already full calendar.
Help your team reach their goals by setting them up to make continuous small improvements. Here’s how:
- Designate meeting-free time. Work with your team to carve out time in their busy schedules. Even daily 15-minute increments add up to meaningful training time over a couple weeks. Read this article for more advice on how to set a realistic learning schedule depending on your individual goals.
- Make it easier to focus. Our brains aren’t so good at switching from thinking about one thing to another and then back again. Ensure the time your team has to learn is quality time. Let them know it’s totally cool to put up a “do not disturb” message on Slack or sign out of email. Better yet, lead by example and block off time on your own calendar for learning and development — managers need to learn, too.
- Set a weekly check-in for the team to share their goals. When people share what they plan to accomplish with others, it makes it harder to give up.
Tips for keeping your team motivated
Start by sharing how excited you are that they’re learning tech skills — it’s a big deal! Your enthusiasm will be sure to rub off on them. To keep motivation high, here are a few things you can do.
- Follow a common schedule. By learning the same topics at the same time, everyone can review the content and troubleshoot problems together. Plus, it helps with accountability.
- Get others involved. Recruit others in the company to mentor. For example, see if the Engineering Team at your org can help out by answering questions, sharing details about their own career paths, and cheering learners on to the finish line.
- Start a Slack group to share tips, ask questions, and post reminders. Having a larger community keeps excitement up and reminds learners that they have support.
A solid start benefits everyone
We’re excited your team is upleveling their technical skills with us — and it’s only just the beginning. As they get more comfortable with code, there are other benefits you’ll witness over time.
For starters, knowledge of code ensures a shared language for cross-functional collaboration and empowers employees to innovate on their own, boosting the quality of products and services.
The long-term benefits aren’t just product-related, either. Learning technical skills develops your team’s problem-solving skills and strengthens work relationships as they go through the process of learning together.
Helping your team get off to a good start will pay off now and down the line. We can’t wait to see what you learn together!
This blog was originally published in February 2021 and has been updated to include new details and purchase information for Codecademy Teams.
