Software And IT Systems Training: Getting It Right For Business Success

In this age of rapidly evolving technology, implementing a new software or IT system can have a positive impact on a business, providing a foundation for its development and improvement. But on the other hand, if the employees are not ready for this change, it can do incremental harm to an organisation. The change process should be well-planned, otherwise the results can disrupt the smooth operation of the organizational processes.

Implementing a new software is a well thought-out process for an organization, as a lot of investments are funnelled into buying the necessary licenses and the required hardware to support it. According to a survey conducted among the stakeholders, it was found that a number or factors affected the decision of buying the organizational software. The topmost factor was the Price of the software. The next factors were the integrated Features, the capability of the software to align to existing systems within the organization, Support provided by the software company, and the Ease of use of the software. What does not surprise is decision being driven by the cost factor. However, what surprises is that the least important factor has such a key role to in the acceptance of the software. If the software is not easy to use, most users are bound to struggle with it, resulting in the poor utilization of the product and in the long run, that is the poor ROI from the new venture.

While it is difficult to change the focus of stakeholders, it is quite possible to increase the ease of use of the software, through effective software systems training opportunities. For implementing new IT systems, most organizations have specific goals to achieve in terms of Return on Investment. In order to meet those goals, you should have specific and measurable objectives for what each employee will be able to accomplish with the new product. While creating the Software & IT systems training, these goals have to be kept in mind to ensure the training is appropriate and on-schedule. It is also important to set achievable and simple targets. To start with, the training goal should just be focussed on to get employees to start using the software, not to turn them off by associating it with challenges. Ultimately, if the product you chose solves the needs of your business and employees, it should be easy to use after they understand its functions

• Keeping it to the point: The first thing employees need to know is ‘why is the new software being implemented’. In other words, they want to its benefits. The training module should sell the benefits of the new system with honesty– what it will do for employees, customers, and the organisation. Here technology-aided learning can be of use, as an e-learning course can introduce employees to the system as a whole, as per their convenience. The e-course should introduce the concept of the system and how it suits the current processes, the changes and the retentions. It is also a good idea to use real case studies to contextualise the new system in daily activities. The organizational LMS can track this course to ensure that all the employees are faring well on the course and are ready to embrace the new system.
• Presenting content in Learner-friendly manner: The software systems training should show the utilization of the new IT system. A screen capturing tool, for example Camtasia, can be utilized and exported to video format to run a description of the functionalities of the software. The script of these videos should be well thought-out and the emphasis should be on the important features and be less self-explanatory. These learning videos can be catalogued and made searchable on the organization LMS, so that the learners can access them freely and learn from them, multiple times if necessary. The videos should be short and crisp, not more than 2–5 minutes
• Support the Learners: Support has to be provided even after the learners have completed the entire e-course. To start with, scheduled webinars can be a good way to provide ongoing support. In addition, upskilling opportunities can be provided by the identified early learners and allowing their peers to learn from them across the social network of organization. This increases peer learning and boosts the morale of both advanced learners and of those lagging behind.

Any kind of change management is about communication, education, and modeling behavior and the software systems training should imbibe all three. They have to engage minds and demonstrate the practicalities of using the system. This is truly the first step towards a positive ROI on software investments for all organizations.