What Do You Do for New User Orientation?

An anonymous reader asks: "What do you do for new user orientation? I started at a company as part of a very small help desk / MIS department. Part of my job is to give orientation to all new computer users for the entire company (no more than 10 new users a week). Right now I have to sit with each user, go over logging in, passwords, email, outlook, Microsoft Office, and so on. This takes between 30-45 minutes. What do other IT departments do? I was thinking of a Flash presentation or website, and maybe even a short orientation movie. What ideas have you tried and how well did they work?"

Comments

Orientation?

[MyLongNickName]

It involves duct tape, Vaseline, five rolls of toilet paper and the trunk of a mini-cooper.

But we don't call it "orientation", we call it "hazing".

Re:Orientation?

[phunctor]

First I orient them in a generally inverted position, suspended by one ankle over the edge of the observation deck. Then, when I begin to actually believe their frenzied promises to RTFM, I re-orient them to a feet-down, head-up position and send them on their way. Help desk calls are down 87%, possibly due to the unfortunate slippage rate amongst those who fail to convince me that they will in fact RTFM. -- phunctor "mmmm, crack!"

Here's what I do

[Centurix]

I sit them in front of a computer, don't tell them anything and I poke them with a stick if they do something wrong.

Get a co-worker to just start screaming and crying

[antifoidulus]

about how he "lost his lifes work and will probably get fired because he didn't listen to the IT guy."