I am a technology fan. I love technology. One of my favorite TV programmes as a kid was the BBC’s Tomorrows World which showcase new tech every week. I enjoy trying new things and finding out what works but strangely I am not addicted to gadgets! I like to try things out and see if they will make a difference, not just get it because it’s the hottest new item. Maybe this is because for me there has to be a point to the technology, it has to answer a need, or create it. The point’s always the same: does it make my life easier? does it make my work easier? The new thing may be a great idea, but if it’s badly implemented it is going to increase my work not decrease it and chances are no amount of training is going to change that.
But if it has been well thought out and implemented the new tech- say a web based accounting package for monitoring your bank account, some training is going to mean you are able to get the maximum use very quickly. My advice to anyone developing an application of this nature is spend at least 25% of the development time ensuring your user -experience is geared towards training simplification and that your training material supports it.
My advice to the user, whether an individual or a company installing a new system, spend at least 25% of the first month of use in training. Many companies often spend thousands on a software package and not a cent on training, then wonder why they are not attaining the desired ROI. Outlook is a great example of the failure of companies to ensure optimum use of a man tool of the company.
Here is a scenario which is played out in hundreds of companies all over the world: It’s Monday morning and the new employee arrives, straight out of college and eager. They get a desk, they get a computer, they get a login and email via Outlook. They may get asked if they have used it before and about five minutes help logging in and they are off. Well not quite, what’s missing here is that they may know how to use outlook to some degree but do they know how to use it the way the company does? So, now the company has someone who is learning as they go and making mistakes which need correcting by another member of staff who is then taken from their work.
Now think about implementing a company- wide CRM or accouting package and not providing any training, just letting the staff teach themselves. Just how inefficient would that be? Sounds like madness when you see it written down here like this doesn’t it? Yet it happens. Dont let it happen to you, use good change management techniques. Ensure you understand what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how you are going to do it. Make new technology work for you and remember that your new technology is only going to work as well as the people who are using it.
July 23, 2009 at 1:38 am
Good point about training and change management. I’ve got a “but”, though … hasn’t Google and iPods shown us that truly intuitive software/gadgets are possible. I didn’t get trained to use my Mac, I just started playing around.
Now that might be just me, and I’m not sure whether such an approach would work on a large scale. But the principle is that we learn when we want to lean, when we know what problem we’re trying to solve, rather than following a prescribed learning path.
July 23, 2009 at 1:51 am
That is a valid point Simon, and yes people will learn what they need to accomplish a action, but often no more than that. Also owners/ freelancers will generally spend more time doing so that an employee. Also I would suggest that in a large implementation it is risky to leave it to the intuitive nature of the app, rather reinforce it in the training. I am a big fan of appropriate training, not one size fits all. A good change manager should take learning styles and culture into account.
Thanks for the comment.