End user training plays a critical role in the success of any business system implementation. Despite many industry experts confirming this, the end-user training phase is still frequently overlooked until it’s too late.
Here are some of the five tips you need to consider:
1 – Understand project team training
It is important to understand your training options and be aware of what type of training has been included in the contract with your implementation partner. Typically, this will include a few days of generic system training, which consists of an overview of the new solution. This is aimed at your project team who need to understand the system’s capabilities and how it can be customised for your business.
The expectation is that knowledge will then be cascaded from the project team down to your entire workforce. However, in our experience, this rarely produces the desired outcome.
2 – Understand employee (end-user) training
Your entire workforce will require customised, role-based training using your customised system build, with the business processes and any positive change messages included.
A generic overview of the entire system will leave them confused and resistant to change, leaving them to find workarounds
3 – Time the training programme right
End-user training deliverables need to be developed alongside user acceptance testing (UAT) in order to minimise the risk of potentially needing to reproduce them. eLearning in particular should be created as close to go-live as possible. UAT will be a critical time for your project team likely to be busy with the final preparations for go-live.
We would recommend that training delivery should take place no more than three weeks before go-live or staff will forget what they have learned.
“Training your employees how to use a new business system effectively is critical to the success of any implementation or upgrade project.” Joanne Harrison
4 – Appoint super users
It is important to try and build an internal training capability, securing this in-house skillset for future requirements. However, as part of this, we would suggest including internal super users who are not part of the core project team.
Many successful business system projects use a mixture of internal resources and an external training consultancy. The internal resources provide the business knowledge whilst the external consultants specialise in producing role-based training deliverable quickly and efficiently, using proven templates.
5 – Plan your training programme early
Don’t underestimate the tasks involved in the end-user training phase. Scoping, organising, developing and delivering the training programme is a substantial amount of work and should be treated as a distinct sub-project within the overall project.
Planning early will enable you to understand the effort involved and consider the resources that are required, minimising the risk of budget and timeline overruns.
Optimum can provide bespoke end-user training programmes for any business system, including ERP, CRM, Finance, HR and Bespoke. Get in touch to learn how we can help design, develop and/or deliver your training programme.
An effective training program is key to the success of your ERP system implementation.
Contact us today to ensure a successful roll out.
