Overview
According to an article at medium.com, the average business worker uses 9.4 applications as a part of their daily work. Most users, however, barely know the basics of most of these applications, learning by watching the people next to them, from the quick and dirty onboarding session, or from a lot of frustrating trial and error. Poor software adoption is one of the biggest reasons software implementations fail to achieve their objectives, and a poor learning experience is one of the biggest contributors to poor adoption. The good news is that through the power of the web, connecting with others, and a growing vendor focus on providing comprehensive training options, it’s easier than ever to build expertise.
In this post, I’ll share several tips for success among the three parts of the learning cycle: getting started, the learning experience, and continuous improvement.
Getting started
Not placing an emphasis on learning is where most organizations fail. It’s often out of necessity that organizations don’t set aside time and money to invest in their teams, yet it’s often one of the best investments you can make. It builds efficiencies, it reduces turnover, it reduces risk, and it builds momentum where success begets success. Just like most aspects of life, this is where leaders can model the right behaviors. When leaders take learning seriously by attending learning sessions and even leading them, it signals that it’s important. This doesn’t have to be expensive – after all, knowledge is one of few things you can share without giving up anything. Lunch and learns, book clubs, and ask-me-anything (AMA) sessions are three inexpensive ways to get teams together to learn. Including learning in some form as a core value is also important.
Asking why
Before jumping into any in-depth software training, it’s important for everyone affected to understand why the software will be/is used in the first place. While it might seem obvious, there are likely a large group of would-be users that weren’t involved in the software evaluation. Remember, people don’t naturally like change, so communicating the individual and organizational benefits is key. Users might be scared that software will replace them, but that’s rarely the case – usually software is installed to empower them and enhance their capacity. Setting clear expectations is a key component. As a best practice, tie learning to SMART goals that are used in evaluating performance and awarding bonuses and raises.
Identify all the training options
Understanding how your users learn best and all the different options that vendors provide can be quite beneficial. If your team is ambitious and loves trying new things, maybe self-paced training is best. Are they stubborn when it comes to new initiatives? Maybe a more hands-on, instructor-led training is more appropriate. Maybe a mix of both is the right approach. If the product vendor has limited options, look to third parties that implement and support the software – they may have more appropriate options better suited to a continuous learning approach. It’s also important for training to be realistic for your organization’s size, industry, location, and culture. If your software has a sandbox/testing/training environment, that’s an ideal place for practicing the first go round or two.
The learning experience
There are three key ways that people learn:
- Education (reading and listening)
- Exposure (watching and observing)
- Experience (practicing and doing)
It’s widely accepted that all three are important and build on each other, but there is no substitute for experience. Experience is often required for admission, which can be a catch-22, so education and exposure are still important. Build out your training program expecting learning to come from experience. Continuous feedback is crucial here, as are leveraging mentors and coaches along with supervisors and managers.
A strong foundation
Ensure that all users receive a consistent baseline training so that everyone is on the same page. Often a “crash course” is available that helps users learn how to navigate the software, the training program, the user manual, and the user community (if one exists). This “teach a man to fish” approach is vital because things can change quickly and frequently, and knowing where to go to find updated information is very helpful.
Focus on responsibilities
Once a solid foundation is set, users can start to specialize. An 80/20 approach works well here – spend 80% of the time on the 20% of the software users will be most involved with. The other 20% can be spent on areas users are less likely to use – maybe complimentary areas or those they may be asked to backfill during coworker absences. Often there are “learning paths” – pre-defined coursework based on the different roles and responsibilities users will have – and the ability to track progress. Consider gamifying it and creating some friendly competition! Develop and leverage experts to build checklists, cheatsheets, policies, procedures, and process guides. These crucial resources are only as good as how well they are communicated and how easy they are to find.
When you get stuck
Chances are you’ll come across something you don’t know, and that’s okay. This is where being resourceful makes a huge difference. Your order of operations may be a little different than mine, but here’s my usual flowchart:
- Check the online user manual
- Check the vendor community/discussion boards (if those exist)
- Search the web
- Ask internal experts
- Ask external experts (consultants, your social network, or the vendor support team)
If you reach out to others, share what you’ve tried so far so they don’t waste time doing the same thing (they’ll likely appreciate your initiative too). #3 above is vastly underrated – I’ve taught myself several programming languages and applications entirely by searching the web and leveraging the mountain of wonderful content people have published.
Continuous improvement
Even with the best training and planning, you’ll encounter scenarios you weren’t prepared for. They’re part of the experience. Don’t be afraid to fail and keep in mind fail really just means Future Attempt In Learning. Things change frequently and quickly these days, so subscribe to newsletters and other announcements to keep up with important updates.
Learning as a habit
When it’s done right, learning and the desire to learn should be a habit in general, not just for a specific piece of software, but f or everything in life. Check out a separate article on building good habits – it certainly applies to learning. Following the five P’s of building habits (Purpose, Plan, Priority, Practice, Patience) will help set up your learning initiatives for success. A renewed focus on learning might be a cultural shift, and habits are a great bite-sized way to effect change.
Conferences and events
Don’t discount the power of conferences and other live events as an effective ongoing learning option. While they can be pricey, some of my best learning experiences have been from the top-notch content, meeting experts and people in similar roles, and sharing best practices. They exist for a reason – to bring people together and generally focus on education – and because of that, they can be efficient at learning several topics from several different perspectives. They also tend to offer a lot of continuing professional education credits if you have certifications that require them.
Certifications
Speaking of certifications, your vendor may offer them and if they do, support your team in obtaining them. Recognize and reward them when they complete the requirements and earn meaningful certifications. These are a great way for employees to develop themselves and for employers to build credibility for recruiting, compliance, or other purposes.
Summary
Learning software appropriately is vitally important, and we’ve discussed several best practices for ensuring that it is done effectively. Start with a clear plan and purpose. Attack learning in a variety of ways. Focus on what’s important. Know where and who to go to for help. And most importantly, don’t stop learning. I’ll add one last thing here – pay it forward. Leave things better than when you got there, and learning for the next wave of team members will be that much more effective.
Do you have any stories of good, bad, or ugly experiences when you had to learn a new software application? What worked well or do you wish had been different? Let us know in the comments below!
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