You are not alone.

Former Premier John Brumby is urging new MPs to undergo training when they first enter parliament to give them the best skills to be a minister.

Mr Brumby, who was premier between 2007-2010, says parliament is well overdue for reform and that there is far too little skill training in the ministry, especially when compared to top 300 companies and superannuation boards and trustees.

Having left parliament, Mr Brumby says it is clear "from the outside looking in" that reform of the institution is needed.

"Every other sector of the community has had reform in the last decade, or two decades, reform in governance, reform in the way they run things. The only exception in our society is the parliament," he said.

"You can become a minister of the crown, you can be in charge of a department employing 30 people having never employed anybody in your life, having never known about Occupational Health and Safety and management."

Mr Brumby, who has written a book, The Long Haul: Lessons from Public Life, said under his plan all MPs should do a basic training course on governance, management and occupational health and safety.

There should also be a requirement for training days each year he said.

Mr Brumby cited his experience as a superannuation board member, which required trustees to undergo a five-day course, such as one provided by the Australian Institute of Company Directors or the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees.

"You have to have the highest possible standards. Everyone else has had to improve their standards and practises," Mr Brumby said.

"You expect them to perform well in the job and expect them to be proficient."

He also believes parliament as a whole needs reform, including making question time less adversarial with shorter answers in a similar fashion to the British House of Commons.

Mr Brumby who was part of several conscience votes wants more "free votes", which he believes will give backbenchers the greater chance to make a contribution and enhance debates.

Reflecting on his time in government, Mr Brumby said his Labor government got the policy right but failed in implementation.

"It is one thing to have a good plan but the bigger challenge in many ways is actually implementing it."

In particular, he says his government "over promised" on public transport which was a decisive issue in the 2010 poll.

And with that he offers advice to Premier Daniel Andrews: start early and get the strategy right because major policies take time to develop.