I recently had the opportunity to attend the
American Society for Training and Development’s (ASTD) International Conference
and Exposition. It was a wonderful learning opportunity. I have so many action
items to implement, and I am excited about the opportunities. One of the key
take-aways from the Learning Transfer Guaranteed session by Fort Hill was that
the purpose of Learning and Development is to drive business outcomes. If we are not delivering performance
improvement directly linked to the business outcomes, we are probably not
adding value. Read that again. That is a strong statement to make.

As a technical trainer I’d like to think that
link is easier to make. Organizations are implementing systems that are
intended to improve performance or enable a strategic objective. If people are
not using those systems optimally, then the organization is not getting the
full return on their investment.

There is also the people side of the
equation. Change is hard. People don’t always want to learn a new system, but
if the system is delivering value it’s not going anywhere and the people using
it must adapt. Facilitating that change is a key role of a technical trainer.
Technical trainers help people learn systems so they can do their jobs easier
and faster. That is certainly valuable!

Whether you are implementing BI, upgrading,
or maintaining a system but adding new users, you should consider how training
fits into your overall project plan. The goal of training when rolling out any
new technology is to minimize a loss in productivity. Ideally, after the users
have successfully adapted to the new system, you will experience an increase in
productivity.
 

Not training your users could be more costly
if they experience a loss of productivity or worse yet, choose not to use the
new system because they have not been adequately trained. A case study of a BI
implementation revealed that users who were not provided formal training did
not have the time or desire to learn on their own (http://www.information-management.com/news/2238-1.html).
 

If you are in the dark about how to create a
training strategy, it may be a good idea to start by thinking about your
training goals. What do you want your users to learn? What do you want them to
be able to do once they complete the training?

You should also consider the needs of the
user. If they are technically savvy, self-directed training solution might be
the answer. If they need some more hand holding, consider an instructor-led
course.  Other factors will determine the
type of training you may provide, such as number of users and the time you have
available.
 

You should also consider customizing the
training to your organization. This can make training more effective and
memorable (http://www.techrepublic.com/article/plan-your-end-user-training-strategy-before-software-roll-out/6045557).

After all of the work you’ve done to implement a
new solution, training be the last thing on your mind, but for the success of
your project, it is a milestone worth marking.