Ingraining Training: Optimizing ROI with the Right Tools and Teams

Training is often viewed as an add-on, something that takes place after a new solution has been implemented, a “by the way, training is available for anyone who needs it” kind of thing. Needless to say, this is probably the wrong approach.

Training should be ingrained from the project's outset to get the most out of any new application. This crucial service should be baked in at the beginning, and programs should be prepared throughout all stages of the project (ensuring training is fine-tuned to the solution as it has been built).

We loop in our trainers early, allowing them to start asking and answering basic, critical questions to prepare a recommended training plan:

• Who needs to be trained?
• Where are they located?
• What different departments do they work in, and how many users are in each department?
• Have any past training approaches been effective?
• What kind of resources will they use when they get stuck?

And so much more.

Ideally, we can work with clients to strategize a solid training plan from the start of any implementation and drive success by the time users need to get into the system. This plan usually means focusing on three moving parts: people, processes, and places.

People

There are specific questions an organization must ask itself around personnel before engaging in training.

Who in your organization will need training? How many people do you need to be system-ready, and by when?

It is easy and often tempting to say “everyone,” but your marketing teams likely do not need training in your finance and accounting systems — your HR staff likely does not need training in marketing automation, etc.

You want to create training programs catering to departmental needs and associated system features. For example, do not train your tennis players to golf. Training is most effective when it matches the user's daily life and feels applicable to their work.

Second, what are the skill sets of users who will require training? How tech-savvy are they? Training that is either too basic or too technical does not get paid attention or gets lost in translation and benefits no one. Ensure training programs match your users' knowledge, experience, and roles.

Third, who is going to deliver the training? Do you have an internal training department that is prepared to build training materials and deliver training across the organization? Will you rely on your Learning Management System (LMS) to host training courses and videos to provide self-serving learning paths?

Even if you rely on your internal training department to lead, remember that your training team has a lot to learn about the system before they can share their knowledge and excitement with your users.

Your trainers will need to be deeply embedded in the buildout of your solution and attend demos where they can become familiar with features and new processes. If they don’t have the bandwidth to be embedded in the project, be sure to plan for the implementation team to deliver a concentrated ‘Train-the-Trainer’ effort so trainers can get up to speed before it is time to trickle down information to end-users.

Processes

Success in a new training program almost always begins with a look back at previous training: What kinds of programs worked well in the past? More importantly, what did not work? Do users benefit from self-guided programs, hands-on tutorials, in-person training, or live but remotely led training?

Also, what kinds of resources were the best fit and used by your users? Don’t print out hundreds of pages of documentation that end up in the recycle bin: find out how your users “consume” training before designing any kind of materials and programs.

We recommend starting with a training assessment to answer the questions above to identify the “must haves,” “nice to haves,” and the wish list for your next training.

Additionally, as the training workstream gets in flight, ensure you provide opportunities for ongoing assessments so users are not left behind. This may include quizzes, pulse checks, assignments, or other means that help evaluate knowledge retention and skill development. Feedback from all assessments can also be used to identify areas for improvement to be built into future training sessions.

Places

Location, location, location! This is not about choosing the right room for training (though making it feel like a fun place to be rather than a basement classroom always helps). It is more about having training opportunities that occur online, in-person, or a hybrid means of training. Factors to consider are:

• Accessibility
  Online training (whether in an e-learning environment or a live but virtually led class) may offer greater accessibility and lower cost if your team is spread out, but it may also limit engagement and may not provide adequate space for Q&A and troubleshooting.

• Interactivity 
  In-person training sessions typically allow for more immediate interaction between instructors and learners and better success with hands-on learning. If going the e-learning route, be sure to have a skilled LMS course author on your team who can enhance your online courses with opportunities for interactivity and more active learning.

• Resources 
  Online-only training typically reduces the need for resources and overhead costs (travel, catering, etc.), but engagement can suffer. In a training program where e-learning is the only training opportunity provided, be sure to involve Change Management throughout the implementation. Ensure that users get a steady drip of communications about the new system well ahead of time about the system and the training opportunities that will be available to them.

We are proponents of a hybrid model — some in-person, some online — which provides the best of both worlds, provided you know how to avoid the pitfalls of hybrid training.

Are you ready to discover the best training model for your technology and your teams? We are here to help find the best strategic fit for custom training that gets the job done but does not break your budget. Contact us to discuss recommendations for your training options and plan an appropriate strategy with the right methodology and deliverables.

Our trainers will build a curriculum unique to your new system, identify classes and topics being covered, and make sure everything feels useful and any gaps are addressed. We employ day-in-the-life-of training, where a user can leave feeling they have the pieces they need to be able to complete their processes on the new system on any given day at work and not more than needed.

With Argano as your implementation and training partner, ROI on platforms and people is practically a given.

Written by:
Avey Venable
Delivery Manager, Training & Change Management