PRESS INFORMATION - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 22.04.2003

 End-user training

The Cinderella of enterprise application implementation? 

Successful corporations are almost entirely dependent on electronic information to support their key business processes. With enterprise application functionally continuing to push the envelope of understanding, many organisations fail to exploit the latent value in their solutions. The software industry’s mantra of ‘ease of use’ is only realistic for some 20% of the available functionality, leaving users to struggle with the remaining 80% in order to make productive use of the software. Tony Jessop, of independent consulting company Solass, and Kim Marmon of the learning solutions company Learn IT, explore how end-user training can be fully integrated into an implementation plan, thereby increasing end-user acceptance and productivity significantly, and ensuring an earlier and improved return on investment. 

In the euphoric rush to complete the implementation of an expensive enterprise application solution, and prove to management their money has been justified, the training of end-users is frequently left to the closing stages of a project, and in some cases ignored altogether. Such disregard for the importance of training all users as an integral part of the project results in poor user acceptance and delays the deployment of the solution throughout the business. Poorly trained users often ignore, misuse or under-utilise new technology. They require up to six times more support than properly trained users, take five times as long to reach the same skill level and make double the number of errors. Consequently, the projected business benefits of the new solution are postponed, or even lost altogether.

Align to the business needs

The origin of the word ‘training’ often says a lot about traditional attitudes. It is derived through the French ‘traîner’, which originally comes from the Latin ‘trahinare’, meaning “to drag behind one”. To extract the full benefit from any enterprise application, it must be aligned with the business needs, supporting and exploiting business processes and information. This can only be achieved when all the users see themselves as an integral and inseparable part of the solution itself. They should not be ‘dragged’ along, but must thrive in a culture of self-driven learning. 

Embarking on the development of a full and complete learning programme from the outset of the project is crucial in the communication and acceptance of change. Enterprise applications touch almost every aspect of the business, and even beyond into the operations of suppliers and customers. They are a powerful vehicle for change, and so by aligning the learning programme with the development and deployment of the application, new working practices can be successfully communicated and instilled in the workforce from early in the project. This allows time for discussions to take place on ‘best practice’ in both the use of the software and the business processes, so that when the application is finally deployed, users are not only familiar with operating the software, but also how it supports the business processes. 

Seek external specialist skills

The effort and planning required to educate large numbers of users, potentially thousands, is frequently underestimated. The conventional method of training the trainers and then expecting these people to impart the right level of knowledge to the rest of the organisation is fraught with risk and therefore often unsuccessful. 

During many implementations time is precious and resources are short, so assigning key members of the implementation team to build a learning programme is simply not feasible. However, comprehensive education is critical to the overall success of the project. Therefore, it is crucial during the planning phase to identify capable people who can build the education programme, handle the administration, quickly solve issues and build working relationships between the users and implementation teams. Since these skills, and the necessary support tools, are often unavailable or do not even exist within many organisations, the project should seek expert, external assistance to develop and manage the learning programme. 

Pool business knowledge with expert skills

Generic courses can be used to develop a basic level of software competence, but the real issue is how do people and businesses apply their software effectively to their own working environment? The solution is to ‘pool’ the business knowledge in the organisation with the application and IT experts. 

Professional education consultants work with both business users and the IT experts to create relevant learning solutions that allow users to extract the maximum value from the software investment. In addition, the resulting programme will support the business goals, encouraging people to collaborate more effectively and helping to integrate remote staff, customers and suppliers. 

Introduce change gradually

Creating a culture where users want to learn starts well before they ever consider what courses they need to undertake. A campaign to introduce the changes that are taking place, starting with basic outlines and working up to more detailed information, should be introduced at the earliest stages of the project. The chosen medium may range from posters to an Intranet, but the gradual process of familiarising users with the change is the same. 

By the time they actually come into contact with the software, users should be aware of why the changes are happening, how they will be affected and what they need to do to embrace the changes.

Develop a Learning Delivery Framework

A learning programme must be structured around the actual needs of the users in performing their day-to-day tasks. Working with line managers, education consultants will build job competencies for each role. These can be tested and adjusted through interviews with representative users. This allows a structured learning programme to be developed that revolves around the business processes and which addresses what each group of users actually needs to know to perform their jobs. The resulting learning events can then be designed so that they are tailored to the business needs and take peoples’ capabilities through agreed and measurable improvement milestones. 

Experienced education consultants draw on proven methodologies and lesson plans to build courses that ensure key messages are communicated. They are also able to advise on what blend of education works best for the particular knowledge to be imparted – for example, classroom courses, workshops, one-to-one coaching. 

Particular attention must be paid to the increasing numbers of mobile and dispersed workforces. Traditional modes of knowledge transfer and learning are not always feasible or cost-effective for these people. The solution is to deliver an agreed development plan through an accessible and affordable medium. In most companies, this can be achieved using Intranet/Internet technology, which provides cost-effective access to a broad range of quality learning content in a wide range of formats, including HTML, multimedia and streaming video. 

The Learning Delivery Framework gives complete control over the learning curriculum for each role in the organisation, the development plan for each individual, and the tracking and reporting of progress against agreed corporate, departmental and individual goals. The result is true ‘J3’ learning:

• Just in time

• Just enough

• Just for me

Manage the education process

Developing the learning programme is only half the battle. In an organisation of tens-of-thousands of users, a comprehensive and robust system must be deployed that allows users to view course schedules and book courses to suit their workloads. If individuals are to take responsibility for their own learning, then the supporting tools must be capable of guiding them down a learning path, helping them to identify courses that can address their own weaknesses and assisting them in gaining new skills that could lead to enhanced benefits or even promotion. 

Building a scheduling system on the company Intranet or Extranet ensures that content can be kept up-to-date and that it has a familiar corporate look and feel. Using a dynamic scheduling process enables learning events such as one-hour ‘desk visits’ to be viable, as users can easily request them, immediately see the availability and make a booking. 

Learning is a continual process

On completion of each learning event, users must be encouraged to discover what other learning assistance may be available for the subject covered. Learning is a continual process whose boundaries stretch far beyond the ‘classroom walls’. A Help Desk should be provided where specialists are available to guide users through issues or to suggest other learning events they might want to consider to improve their skills. In addition to telephone support, real time collaboration tools such as NetMeeting can be used to deliver valuable and timely assistance. 

Effective communication

Finally, the overall communications strategy for the education programme can determine the success or failure of a project. A well planned strategy needs to raise the profile of the project and ensure sufficient awareness is communicated. It is important that the message is consistent, fits with the project objective, is appropriate to the user and is plain speaking. Contrary to some opinions, it is impossible to communicate too much information. 

The right approach to communication should take into consideration the project needs and objectives as well as the audience and their attitudes. Success can be partly gauged by the users understanding of the project and what is expected of them. They should be knowledgeable of the courses available, the content, booking procedures, learning venues and how to obtain additional information. 

Armed with all this information in a culture that encourages change and learning, users will be accomplished in employing the new solutions productively, confident in the knowledge that it will enhance and improve their own working practices and possibly open the door to new opportunities within the organisation. The new application will be seen as a success, delivering the desired improvements along with a healthy return on investment.