For clients such as the London Borough of Sutton, Contender StreetScene improves their ability to deal quickly with requests such as fly-tipping clearance, pothole repair, tree inspections, graffiti removal and street lighting faults.

The challenge faced by Optimum was that the end users came from a variety of paper-based systems, and autonomous processes and had not previously worked collaboratively. To ensure a successful outcome, the training approach required a full understanding of the users’ varying requirements as well as knowledge of the kind of training exercises that would build their confidence to accept the reasons behind the change.

The course materials were generic in design, however, the exercises and examples were tailored to reflect the users’ specific working areas, for example Parks, Highways or Waste Management. The reference guides had to be flexible enough to incorporate minor changes to the process and still provide good guidance to new users.

The courses also had a dynamic element so that they could be continuously developed and improved. Questions were collated throughout the training sessions and the most frequent requests were then incorporated into the training courses.

Optimum was also aware that, once the main training programme came to an end, there would be an ongoing requirement to continue to train new staff. The documentation proved so successful that new starters at the London Borough of Sutton were able to ‘self-teach’ by working through the existing reference guide.

This approach ensured that users continued to learn the correct way to use the system, maintaining consistent working practice (such as data input) and protecting its long-term effectiveness. The Borough was able to take over any future updates of the training materials working from a centrally stored master set.

By selecting Optimum, the London Borough of Sutton benefited from their specialist user-focused training expertise. Optimum put together a team of trainers, who drew on their extensive experience of working with this system, to meet the users’ requirements. Their professional skills ensured that the quality of service was maintained well beyond the original training programme.