How to maximise your training investment
By InQuo’s Susan Rodgers
Every business, at some stage, upgrades their systems or changes their processes to meet new business requirements. And changes - regardless of their scale - need careful planning to maximise the return on the investment.
Perhaps you’ve already made the big decisions? Maybe you’ve selected a new software supplier and a package that’s going to streamline all of your business processes?
But powerful software is only as potent as the end-user.
Have you considered an effective training programme?
Not everyone is going to use the software in the same way. Teams might access different interfaces or use the software to serve separate business functions. And there might be critical parts of the system that you’ll assign to power-users only.
Training can make or break an implementation, so, in this article, we’re going to explore the interrogative questions that any trainer should consider when formulating a realistic and appropriate training plan.
The five Ws
The five Ws is a recognised set of interrogative questions to pose when gathering information or solving problems. And, in the context of training, your answers to the five Ws can help guide the shape and scale of your training plan.
The five Ws are:
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
However, the five Ws are incomplete without ‘how’. When preparing a training plan, we should consider who and what, when and where, and why and how. But not necessarily in that order.
Why and how
Why and how is about recognising business need; aligning the capabilities of the new software package with the processes it’s going to serve. Ask yourself: Why do we need the training and how is it going to be delivered?
WHY
Initially, the why element seems completely obvious: your colleagues require the training; otherwise, they won’t know how to use the new system. But there’s more to it than that.
Consider the complexity of the software: is it easy to use, and is it similar to what they’re currently using? Does the new software integrate with your existing systems or replace them? And does the new system manage the back-end processing, or will it add an additional operation to each process?
Considering the why helps us address the scope of the training.
HOW
How naturally follows on from why. If, for example, your new system is particularly user-friendly, you might consider a half-day training session a waste of resources. Perhaps a simple “How To" intranet page might suffice. Or you might be able to integrate the training into a team meeting.
However: it’s easy to underestimate the level of confusion even the most simple of new systems can generate. System-users generally have a deep understanding of how systems work in practice, so you might consider a consultation with current system-users; trialling a training approach before rolling it out to everyone.
CONSULTATION
You shouldn’t necessarily choose your most effective power-users for your trial; go for a good worker with an average knowledge of existing processes.
Or select a range of abilities. Find out the questions they have regarding the training programme you’re suggesting: they’re likely to find cracks in the plan, which you should welcome. It’s better to identify issues at the development stage than waste training time with untested materials.
A consultation process might highlight that a more formal programme of training is needed: classroom sessions, smaller groups, or even one-to-ones.
OTHER HOW QUESTIONS
Consider the required duration of your training sessions? Could your delegate the training to team leaders? How will you ensure that everyone attends? And how will you evaluate the success of the roll-out?
How is about the practicality of the proposed training programme. It should be a serious consideration prior to roll-out.
Who and what
Once you’ve ascertained why and how, it makes sense to consider who needs the training, and what the content will be.
WHO
Bear in mind that training everyone in every aspect of the new system is likely to be counter-productive. You might overwhelm half of the group, and create a deluge of questions from the others. This approach is unlikely to prove a valuable use of time.
Identifying who needs to know what is imperative, because not all users are going to need the same training. There may be parts of the system that fee earners require (time recording, for example), whereas your accounts team may need training on a completely different division of the same system.
TRAINING-SPECIFIC GROUPS
It might be appropriate to split users into training-specific groups. This will help you define what each group needs to know, dependent upon their function within the business.
CLASSROOM
If you’re considering classroom training, is there a limit to the number of people who can attend each session? And if you’re taking large numbers of people off the floor, do you need to arrange provision and support in the office, or can you afford to put a team out of action for the duration of the training?
WHAT
What refers to content and approach and has a direct influence on where and when.
Is the training, for example, to be didactic and lecture-based with handouts, or will there be practical and interactive elements? Lecture-based is likely to require less tech than the practical and interactive approach, influencing where it’s possible to locate the training.
But is lecture-based the best approach? If you’re training people on new systems, might it be more appropriate to make it practical, requiring access to computers and the systems you’re training them to use? Will you base your training online with an interactive online quiz to drive the delivery, or do you need a trainer, Q&As, and some form of summative assessment? Will there be documentation to reinforce learning? And will there be any element of refreshment or quantitative training, later on, to assess how people are using the system?
What, therefore, is about content, and who is about customising that content.
Where and when
Once you know the why and how, and the who and what, we need to consider where and when.
WHERE
Where is dependent upon your how and what: how you're going to deliver the training and what the content is. Are you approaching it with one-to-ones, team meetings, or classroom training sessions?
If you’re looking at the one-to-one or small group approach, consider whether it’s appropriate to train each individual at their desk? But how do you prevent interruptions such as emails and phone calls?
AUDIO
It sounds obvious, but if the training programme includes video, do you have the facilities for sound and vision in the training room or at the desk? On rare occasions, we've found ourselves in a training room, only to discover that the projector doesn't work, and the training relies on slides. There’s always a way around any problem, but it undermines your authority in the training room if the tech lets you down.
If your video contains sound and you're running one-to-ones in the office, how do you prevent disturbance to other colleagues?
ACCOMMODATION
If you've decided on a classroom approach, can you accommodate it in your building, and do you have the equipment to deliver an interactive session? Or are you taking the training off-site?
WHEN
When doesn’t just refer to the calendar, but the life-cycle of the training. Do you train your staff before the system is implemented, during the implementation, or once it’s gone live? And is the training going to take place during the working day, or will you ask people to attend outside of usual business hours?
DURATION
Consider whether your initial consultation identified an appropriate duration for the training. There’s nothing worse than padding out the time, especially if you’re asking staff to stay after hours, or cramming a day's workshop into a lunch hour.
Finally…
If you’re using a reputable training supplier, they’ll guide you through the five Ws and the how; but you should know what to expect of them. Remember, training is not just a thing that happens; it requires careful planning to maximise the return on your investment. Wherever you're asking people to change the way they work, consider what they need and how you can deliver it. You’re asking users to adapt their approach and engage with new processes, so a robust and well-considered introduction is essential; ensuring the buy-in from staff that you need to help maximise the efficacy of your new software.