3 Reasons Experienced Salesforce Admins Need to Challenge Themselves

Right now you might be just getting started on your Salesforce journey, or you might be a few steps in. After reflecting back on my career, I realized that I’ve been “doing Salesforce” for almost 13 years. That means if my experience were a person, it would be a teenager. And, like most teenagers, it sometimes thinks it knows it all and sometimes refuses to listen. But, with a little direction and some attention and care, it’ll be back on track and making me proud in ways I never thought possible.

So, where are you on your Salesforce journey? Are you are just getting started when everything is new and there is much to learn? Or have you been in this so long you are on autopilot? For those of us who have been on the learning journey for a long time, logging into Trailhead can sometimes feel like “ Maybe I’ll just focus on the new modules.” Or, “I already know about that topic, so I’ll skip this webinar.” In fact, I was fortunate enough to be chatting with a friend who has a vast knowledge of Salesforce, but has only completed a few Trailhead modules. I was shocked to learn they only had a few badges! It got me thinking though— I bet more experienced Admins might be in the same boat. Regardless of where in your learning journey you are, I’d like to offer three reasons you need to challenge yourself— and how you can use Trailhead to do it to keep your career growing.

1. A beginner’s mind offers a valuable perspective

For experienced Admins it can feel like we have explained some features to users at least a million times. Like Accounts, Contacts, or Opportunities for example. I bet if I asked you right now to tell me about Accounts in your org you could answer without hesitation.
That’s why I like to go through Trailhead and take the modules that cover features I already think I know about. It gives me a fresh perspective. Take the Accounts & Contacts for Lightning Experience module. I love that it includes best practices for managing accounts and contacts. Pro tip: that is some great copy to borrow and send to your salespeople or post weekly as a reminder. The beginner’s mind approach means looking past your experience and refreshing your knowledge as if you’ve never seen the topic before.

2. Keep your skills sharp

Do you remember the last time you set up lead assignment rules, or reviewed the Queues set up in your org? As an Admin, there were some things I would set up and not have to revisit for a while. However, over time I might forget some cool functionality about that feature, or there might be new updates to that feature that have been released since you last used it.
Just the other day I found a little extra time on my hands so I dove into the Path & Workspaces module on Trailhead. Even though I had done the demo in the Admin Keynote that involved Path, this module helped me keep my skills sharp about all of the features of Path, not just the ones I had used in the demo.

3. There’s more change than an arcade machine

With three releases a year (and I don’t even need to tell you how many pages of release notes) there is a lot of change to keep up with. Change doesn’t always mean new things, either. It includes updates to existing features, too. I looked at the Salesforce Mobile App Customization module and despite all my experience and time in the ecosystem, I was not familiar with Global Quick Actions and difference with Object-specific Quick Actions! Keeping up with change can be tough, but with a little bit of prioritization and focus, it is easy to tackle the new learning while adding new tools to your #AwesomeAdmin tool belt at the same time.

If you follow any sports team you know that the greatest athletes practice. And they practice everything, taking nothing for granted. From football, to soccer, to auto racing, those great athletes look at every skill in their industry and study how to improve it. Why would we as Awesome Admins do anything different? You owe it to yourself to work the trails and modules that you think you know into your learning journey. And don’t just click through them, but take in the knowledge in each module and consider how it is making you even more amazing at your career!