Training has an extremely important role to play when it comes to an implementation of any solution or product. Training empower the users to use the new systems effectively as well as efficiently.
Now it all depends on how you deliver it!
Coming up with another deep experience and learning around the Training & Communication while implementing SAP Successfactors, to share with all of you.
Let’s join the pieces of puzzle to make a clear picture!
Create a Training Plan! This plan must include all the major details like Dates, Agenda, Series & Sequence of Sessions, Target Audience & Delivery Method. The client must agree with the plan as the Process Owners need to ensure their availability to be able to conduct the training with the Consultant. Another important part of scheduling the training is that the sessions must be conducted after the UAT (User Acceptance Testing) and at an appropriate time prior to the Go-Live, to ensure that when it’s time, the users are able to use the system with ease and comfort! Give them the power to travel through the change!
Contact & suggest the Process Owners to be specific in choosing the Target Audience for whom you will be organizing the training. Once agreed, the Process Owners can create a list of users to be included in different training sessions by splitting the audience based on their role in the organization. For example, conduct dedicated sessions for Employees, Managers, HRs, Admins, etc. Doing so will help you to focus on particular areas and modules that are important for the specific users. You may also adopt the TTT (Train the Trainers) concept, where the target audience are huge.
Request the Process Owners to conduct parallel activities to make arrangements such a booking a room, technical requirements, etc.
You might need to conduct multiple sessions, so don’t worry about repeating the activities again & again, rather feel privileged that as a Consultant you have got a chance to make a difference in someone’s professional career. Make the client comfortable! They will always remember you
Now is the time to look into minor details. Develop the Training Materials to be used during the Training Sessions. These documents must include the background and overview of the change that is going to impact the different roles like Employee, Manager, HR, Admins, etc. Start with what users are already practicing, taking them through the change and introduce the new practices to be followed. While the Process Owner explains about the process, the Consultant should walk the audience through the system.
The training materials to be used after the Go-Live must be created for all the roles and they can in form of the Quick Reference Guide, Walk Me, Recordings, FAQs, etc. These materials will support users as and when they need clarification while using the system after the Go-Live.
Remember to secure material on client’s privately accessed (only available for trainers/relevant owners) share-point until approved by client, else people might start referring to them at quite an early stage.
The Role vs Activity Cards must be created to clearly specify the activities to be done by an individual role in the organization. This will not only set right expectations but also help the audience understand their responsibilities clearly. You can call it as an extended part of the Training Material. These cards can be utilized during training sessions to give a quick overview on the responsibility of the users in the system.
These served really helpful, allowing the audience to relate with the process as well. Look for some examples below:
Let's talk about the System Walk-Through in a little detail. Make a story-line and take the audience through the system, demoing around the different processes to be followed from the system standpoint. It is extremely important that you communicate in a way that the audience could relate the system steps to their process, as system is just an enabler! Don’t forget to show them exciting functionalities and features. For an instance, my client really liked the drag and drop functionality in the calibration session
Always make sure to have dedicated Questions and Answers sessions during the Training. The audience will definitely have questions around the part of processes to be conducted through the system and Yes! The new functionalities they will be using going ahead. List down the questions which you think will need some offline discussions or that you need to check with other teams, before commenting directly in the training session.
This can be done the other way round as well. Put down polling for the audience and ask them questions about the processes and demos given to them. You will know if the training is going effective or not.
Plan how to deliver the training, it may be in-person or handled remotely. Generally the onsite, in-person training are more effective, as you can directly communicate with the audience and you have more understanding if they are able to connect with the training content and demos. If the training needs to be conducted remotely through a Webex for example, then make sure that you test the connectivity prior to sending out the details. Ensure to have a good coordination with the Process Owner. Your positive attitude and good communication skills will make remote training successful!
Hands-On Session is another important element of training. Once you have completed providing the system demos, make sure you have some time slots for letting the audience perform the same activities in the system themselves. Doing this will not only make them clear with the concepts of how to work on the system but will also make them confident enough to support the other users after the go-live. Such sessions also give rise to a lot of questions by the audience, which I feel is really good, because this is when the audience is actually taking away concepts from you.
If the training is in-person then you are good to go with the hands-on session for the attendees, else you may use Train the Trainer prior to the remote sessions for the successful delivery of the hands-on, asking the onsite trainers to support!
Request the Process Owners to gather the feedback and suggestions from the audience! It’s something that helps the organizers to improve the further training experiences. An email can be sent out asking for how they feel after the training. Do take them seriously into considerations!
After the Training, a Debrief Session should be held by all the organizers, where you should discuss:
Discussing the above points will definitely take you towards improving the audience’s training experience!
Now it all depends on how you deliver it!
Coming up with another deep experience and learning around the Training & Communication while implementing SAP Successfactors, to share with all of you.
Let’s join the pieces of puzzle to make a clear picture!
Create a Training Plan! This plan must include all the major details like Dates, Agenda, Series & Sequence of Sessions, Target Audience & Delivery Method. The client must agree with the plan as the Process Owners need to ensure their availability to be able to conduct the training with the Consultant. Another important part of scheduling the training is that the sessions must be conducted after the UAT (User Acceptance Testing) and at an appropriate time prior to the Go-Live, to ensure that when it’s time, the users are able to use the system with ease and comfort! Give them the power to travel through the change!Contact & suggest the Process Owners to be specific in choosing the Target Audience for whom you will be organizing the training. Once agreed, the Process Owners can create a list of users to be included in different training sessions by splitting the audience based on their role in the organization. For example, conduct dedicated sessions for Employees, Managers, HRs, Admins, etc. Doing so will help you to focus on particular areas and modules that are important for the specific users. You may also adopt the TTT (Train the Trainers) concept, where the target audience are huge.Request the Process Owners to conduct parallel activities to make arrangements such a booking a room, technical requirements, etc.
You might need to conduct multiple sessions, so don’t worry about repeating the activities again & again, rather feel privileged that as a Consultant you have got a chance to make a difference in someone’s professional career. Make the client comfortable! They will always remember you
TTT is an education model whereby individuals identified to teach, mentor or train others attend training themselves. Some may already be educators or trainers and are supplementing or reinforcing their skills, while others are receiving training for the first time.
Now is the time to look into minor details. Develop the Training Materials to be used during the Training Sessions. These documents must include the background and overview of the change that is going to impact the different roles like Employee, Manager, HR, Admins, etc. Start with what users are already practicing, taking them through the change and introduce the new practices to be followed. While the Process Owner explains about the process, the Consultant should walk the audience through the system.The training materials to be used after the Go-Live must be created for all the roles and they can in form of the Quick Reference Guide, Walk Me, Recordings, FAQs, etc. These materials will support users as and when they need clarification while using the system after the Go-Live.
Remember to secure material on client’s privately accessed (only available for trainers/relevant owners) share-point until approved by client, else people might start referring to them at quite an early stage.
The Role vs Activity Cards must be created to clearly specify the activities to be done by an individual role in the organization. This will not only set right expectations but also help the audience understand their responsibilities clearly. You can call it as an extended part of the Training Material. These cards can be utilized during training sessions to give a quick overview on the responsibility of the users in the system.These served really helpful, allowing the audience to relate with the process as well. Look for some examples below:
Let's talk about the System Walk-Through in a little detail. Make a story-line and take the audience through the system, demoing around the different processes to be followed from the system standpoint. It is extremely important that you communicate in a way that the audience could relate the system steps to their process, as system is just an enabler! Don’t forget to show them exciting functionalities and features. For an instance, my client really liked the drag and drop functionality in the calibration session Always make sure to have dedicated Questions and Answers sessions during the Training. The audience will definitely have questions around the part of processes to be conducted through the system and Yes! The new functionalities they will be using going ahead. List down the questions which you think will need some offline discussions or that you need to check with other teams, before commenting directly in the training session.This can be done the other way round as well. Put down polling for the audience and ask them questions about the processes and demos given to them. You will know if the training is going effective or not.
Plan how to deliver the training, it may be in-person or handled remotely. Generally the onsite, in-person training are more effective, as you can directly communicate with the audience and you have more understanding if they are able to connect with the training content and demos. If the training needs to be conducted remotely through a Webex for example, then make sure that you test the connectivity prior to sending out the details. Ensure to have a good coordination with the Process Owner. Your positive attitude and good communication skills will make remote training successful!Hands-On Session is another important element of training. Once you have completed providing the system demos, make sure you have some time slots for letting the audience perform the same activities in the system themselves. Doing this will not only make them clear with the concepts of how to work on the system but will also make them confident enough to support the other users after the go-live. Such sessions also give rise to a lot of questions by the audience, which I feel is really good, because this is when the audience is actually taking away concepts from you.If the training is in-person then you are good to go with the hands-on session for the attendees, else you may use Train the Trainer prior to the remote sessions for the successful delivery of the hands-on, asking the onsite trainers to support!
Request the Process Owners to gather the feedback and suggestions from the audience! It’s something that helps the organizers to improve the further training experiences. An email can be sent out asking for how they feel after the training. Do take them seriously into considerations!After the Training, a Debrief Session should be held by all the organizers, where you should discuss:- What went good
- What needs to be improved
- What are the Learning
- Discuss and talk about the ways to implement the feedback/suggestions
- Future approach for the Training Sessions
- Anything else from within the organizers?
Discussing the above points will definitely take you towards improving the audience’s training experience!
I really hope this blog will help all of you in streamlining your training sessions and best utilization of your valuable time.
These are most important points from my experience, more are warmly welcome !!!
Happy Learning
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