how to build campus training program_white paper_august 2015_final (1)

How to Build Campus-Wide Training

Navigator Management Partners Whitepaper – August 2015

By Patricia Slabach and David Garcia

Exceptional consultants. Sustainable results.

Navigator Management Partners How to Build Campus-Wide Training

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WWW.NAVMP.COM | [email protected]

Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................3 Identifying the Target Audience .........................................................................................4

Analyzing Software Tools ........................................................................................................ 5 Setting Up the Training System Environment......................................................................... 6

Scope ................................................................................................................................7 Course Catalog ........................................................................................................................ 7 The Syllabus and Curriculum .................................................................................................. 7

Time ..................................................................................................................................9 Begin With the End in Mind – The Go Live Date ..................................................................... 9 Preparation of Materials ......................................................................................................... 9

Resources ........................................................................................................................ 10 The Project Team .................................................................................................................. 10 Client Support & Subject Matter Experts ............................................................................. 11 Training Tools ........................................................................................................................ 11 The Master Calendar ............................................................................................................ 13

Training Delivery .............................................................................................................. 13 Measuring Effectiveness................................................................................................... 14 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 15 About Navigator .............................................................................................................. 16

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Introduction

The primary goal of a campus-wide training program is

to inform, prepare, and train a large audience of

university faculty and administrative staff. The

underlying and more important goal of any training

program is to gain acceptance and adoption of the

system and to foster positive attitudes and acceptance

of the organizational change surrounding the new

software.

A successful training program is a critical success factor

for the implementation of software. The user

community needs requisite skills and knowledge to

perform their jobs effectively and efficiently. With any

new software will come changes in business policies,

operating procedures and even the now-enforceable

departmental policies, which can be mandated by IT

System business rules that translate from functional

requirements. This paper describes how to prepare

faculty and administration staff in the core

competencies of a software system and contribute to

the achievement of an institutions’ management

objectives.

To understand how to create an IT Training

plan, the following areas should be

addressed:

Identifying the Target Audience and Business

Needs

Analyzing Software Tools

Training Program Scope, Time and Resources

Setting up the Training Environment

Creating the Budget

Defining a Training Curriculum

Building Materials

Training Delivery

Measuring Effectiveness

Creating the Sustainable Training Program Model

Following the strategies outlined below provides a guide

on how to train your institution anytime, anywhere with

online resources and outlines how to set up and manage

specific instructor-led training units.







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Identifying the Target Audience

In setting up the training program it is best to begin

with asking the question – what does a fully trained

campus look like? This is accomplished by matching

the user community and their roles to the system

functions they will be performing. Job titles may or

may not describe a one-to-one map related to the

system, but it is a good place to start.

For example, a research administrator who supports

faculty and grant submissions in any capacity will need

to be trained in those areas specific to proposal and

budget creation. It is wise to train as many users as

possible, even when their duties are only part-time

support or backup for the administrator. Another

recommendation is to train supervisors and managers

of users, so that they can also learn and are able to

support their staff.

Identifying the target audience and the number of

persons in each group will be crucial to determining

how many users will need to be trained, what courses

to offer each user group and, is a deciding factor in

how many classes should be offered of each type.

Throughout this paper we will refer to the user groups

as we explain how to create the course catalog,

schedule instructors and build the training calendar.

User groups and can be categorized into four main

types:

1. Aggregators: persons who create and maintain

data in the system,

2. Approvers: persons who approve documents in

the workflow,

3. Viewers: users who are allowed to view any

data but not make any changes,

4. System Administrators: persons managing the

system configuration, hardware, software, data

stewardship and support.

To further define these user groups:

Aggregators

An aggregator is a person who collects things, in this

case, data to be entered and managed in a computer

system; for example, if the system creates invoices, who

is involved in the processing of the data in the

environment? Can you identify the names and

departments where the users are located? In research

administration there are department administrators who

create and maintain documents, and all those persons

need to be trained as aggregators.

Approvers

Those persons who must approve documents need

specific training. These users may be mangers,

supervisors, deans, department chairs and fiscal officers

and will require less training, but more targeted

instruction. Schedule short demos for this user group as

they have less time to devote to training. Follow-on

videos and demos of the system will also aid this user

group.

Viewers

Persons who can view the system will need less training

but should also be identified as a training user group.

Viewers are casual users who will not need hands-on

training, but will need to be aware of how to view,

search and print, for example. It is recommended to







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have campus-wide offerings such as drop-in demos

and videos of the system for this audience. Having

demos in a large auditorium is a good way to inform

viewers about the new system and show features and

functions. It also is a way to communicate about

when the organizational change is coming and help

them prepare.

System Administrators

Managing master data, such as maintaining names and

addresses, running reports, and trouble-shooting

issues are tasks of the system administrators. Special

training will be needed for this group, and they should

also be included in aggregator training. Both formal

and informal training is appropriate, but keep in mind

training guides and hands-on training might only be

given to a small number of users. Schedule these

training classes in non-prime time slots, and around

campus training, whenever possible, to save prime-time

training for campus end users.

In summary, building a successful training program for

delivery is dependent upon knowing your audience.

How many users need to be trained? What courses do

they need to be trained on? Will the user community

participate in hands-on training; self guided training

manuals or a combination of both? Understanding the

number of persons in each user group will give the

training team necessary information to plan the

training materials, determine the training method and

finally training delivery.

Analyzing Software Tools

In building a training plan, having the needed software

tools is one of the first considerations. For most

institutions, using the existing software suite, such as

Microsoft Office, Word, PowerPoint and Excel will not

add to the costs of the project. Find out what existing

training tools are already licensed and available at your

institution before making new purchases for LMS,

Video or On-Line learning software.

Learning new tools will add to the project timeline

and budget because the team will need to learn

software. It is important to pick training tools early in

the project, and the training delivery vehicle,

such as live training, videos, online help, demos

computer based training, or quick reference cards.

Commonly used video and simulation software are

Articulate Storyline2, UPK, Camtasia, and Captivate.

Learning Management Software is essential for a large

institution’s management of hands-on training

scheduling. For a large institution, imagine the overhead

of managing up to two thousand persons and three

hundred classes for a training program without the aid of

an on-line scheduling system! Your institution will most

likely have an LMS system in place, or there may be a way

to tap into the University Student Enrollment System.







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Setting Up the Training System Environment

Security Sign-on User Id’s

To set up the user security for training, set up new

user ids for at least three times the number of

persons needed for one class. At Navigator, our

experienced instructors recommend a class size of

fifteen persons and a ratio of seven persons per

instructor and assistant. Configuring forty-five

training ids gives the institution the flexibility to

have three of the same or three distinct classes with

fifteen persons per class.

Navigator does not recommend using actual

production system user ids for the training class. Using

training user ids also give the trainer the flexibility to

add or remove system roles and permissions as

needed.

Figure 1 - Defining Training User ID's

Class1

•Userid1-15

Class2

•Userid16-30

Class3

•Userid31-45







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Scope

Course Catalog

An important first step to defining the training scope

is to establish the course catalog and devise the

“what” (the course material) and the “who” (the

audience) and the “how” (the medium) by which the

material is to be delivered. The catalog is the basis for

all other activities and drives training delivery.

Navigator recommends having persons with business

knowledge, extensive subject matter and functional

system expertise when defining the course catalog.

When designing what courses are to be delivered,

decisions are also made as to whether the material is

best delivered via a demo, hands-on training,

instructional video or a self-guided training. For

example, the course catalog could be 18 courses – 3

demos, 7 hands-on courses and 8 training guides for

self-study.

After making decisions on what larger subject matter

material is to be delivered, defining the detailed topics to

be delivered in each course is next. What are the

objectives for the course and what are the learning

outcomes? Objectives and learning outcomes serve the

basis for measuring the training effectiveness.

Defining the course detail nails down a critical success

factor – the course length. Whether the course is 1 hour,

3 hours or 1 day will be dependent on how much

material needs to be covered, at what length. Do you

need time for exercises, questions or practice time? Is

the student an experienced employee or is new to the

job? These questions will help define both the length or

the class and the pace of the learning.

The Syllabus and Curriculum

Each course should be defined in a syllabus, with

the course name, course length, course outline and

the expected learning outcomes. The syllabus

should include a description of the training

audience and whether or not there are pre-

requisites for the course. List the course medium in

the syllabus; for example, if the course is offered as

hands-on classroom training, computer based

training, video, executive-focused demo or a

campus-wide demo.

Building the curriculum for each training group is a

collaborative process between the system

implementation project team and the training team. An

institution’s working group of advisors with subject

matter expertise can also be instrumental in helping

establish the topics, flow and content of the training and

help define what users need to be offered what

courses.







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Figure 2 - Course Catalog, Course, and Topics

Here is a way to map the course catalog to the campus audience by identifying what training groups should be offered

what courses.

CLASS Viewers (2000) Aggregators (350) Approvers (95) System Administrators (35)

Course 1 - All About the System X X X X

Course 2- Create Transactions

X

Course 3 - Search & Print X X X X

Course 4 – Advanced Budgets

X

X

Course 5 - Routing & Workflow

X

Table 1 - Mapping Courses to Training Target Audiences

Course Catalog

Course 1

topic a

topic b

topic c

Course 2

topic d

topic e

Course 3 topic f

Course 4 topic g

Course 5

topic i

topic j







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Time Begin With the End in Mind – The Go Live Date

Training is like planning a dinner where the food is

being prepared and should be served at just the right

moment. Begin with the end in mind; that is, when

does the dinner need to be served? When does the

system go live? How many users do we need to train

and on what subjects? After defining the courses and

audience to train, the training team can determine

how many classes and how many instructors will need

to be provided.

The challenge will arise if the system go-live date

changes, for example, the system is not ready for full

implementation. The training team should be agile and

prepared for changes in the go-live schedule, but

should set a plan in motion, based on a firm date.

From the schedule listed below, begin planning at least

six months in advance for the delivery of a large campus-

wide training program, depending on the number of

topics and courses.

Here is a suggested project schedule:

1. Analyze System & Topics – Nov - Dec

2. Course Catalog Completed - Jan 1st

3. Courses Mapped to Targeted Users – Feb 1st

4. Begin Demos and Campus Communications - Feb 15th

5. Schedule Training Rooms and Instructors - March 1st

6. Open Course Registrations - March 15th

7. Begin Back-Office Training (Pilots) - April 1st

8. Begin Training - April 15th

9. Go Live - May 1st

10. Continue Campus Training May 1st – Jun 30th

11. Move to Regular Training Schedule - July through

December

Preparation of Materials

Preparing materials will include rework and numerous

reviews to get just the right content for the campus

training. The system might not have all the features

working properly when the training preparation

begins, so developing final screen shots and exercises

will be a challenge! Customizations to software may

also involve rework and reviews. Allow for ample

time to prepare the training guides. Be flexible and

plan to make revisions as the material is developed.

Be sure to include review and rework time into the

project material preparation estimates.

As a stand rule of practice, it is important to get a sign-

off process in place between the training team and the

campus reviewers, so that the material can be closed out

and moved to a permanent document storage area and

so training guides can be ready for the first class.







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Resources

The Project Team

Navigator normally assigns a project manager and/or

lead consultant. Other consultants can be sourced

onto the project, and their duties defined based on the

skills required for the tasks. The client’s training

coordinator will provide assistance and eventually take

over the day-to-day training after the initial go-live.

Team Roles

Here are the roles needed to a staff a campus

training project:

Project Manager /Lead Consultant - Project manager

to assess scope, develop statement of work and

execute the work plan, create and maintain the hours

and expenses, monitor the budget and manage

personnel resources.

Consultant/Trainer – Experienced with the system and

as an instructor, creates training materials, and leads

training delivery. Along with building training, the

consultant often also serves as subject matter expert

to the back-office staff.

Consultant – Experienced with the system but not

serving as an instructor, this resource will be needed

depending on the scope of the project, and where

there is a large amount of documentation to prepare.

This resource can provide staff augmentation for the

client and give transitional help-desk support during

peak go-live periods.

Web Master/Developer – This person designs or is able

to update existing web-content for the new training

offerings and documentation.

Video Creator/Editor(s) – The team member with

subject matter expertise in creating and uploading video

content. The video creator can provide draft video and

audio content; an editor can be instrumental in

producing the finished content.

A word about Instructors … care should be taken to find

the best and most qualified instructors for a campus

audience. At Navigator, we recommend providing

“seasoned” instructors with both system knowledge and

training experience; consultants who have instructed

adult learners and who can, by their resume and

background, will quickly gain the respect and trust of the

institution and trainees.







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Client Support & Subject Matter Experts

Implementation of a training program is a partnership

between the institution and the Navigator Consulting

group. The following roles are imperative to the

success of the project:

Client Program/Project Director – The client program

director will work at an executive level to oversee the

scope, time, and resources of the project. The program

director will work closely with the Navigator project

manager to identify tasks and manage organizational

risks.

Client Training Coordinator – The client training

coordinator is the conduit for the existing training

program, tools and techniques. A successful

organizational change management will depend on the

client training coordinator’s ability to take over the

program after the initial training is completed.

Client Subject Matter Experts - Beyond the IT System,

the training team is dependent on a group of client

subject matter experts (SMEs) who know the

institution’s business practices and standard

operating procedures. The SME can be an active

member of the training team, and may even teach

sections, giving the students a chance to ask questions

and give comments directly to the SME. This creates a

comfort level for dialogs later in the training. Subject

Matter Experts are, by the nature of their work, also

good one-on-one advisors.

Technical and Functional IT Support – The training

team will, at times, interact with the technical

developers and functional analysts for solutions to

issues, security and in setting up the training

environment. The training consultants should avoid

taking on testing duties or attempting to solve system

issues, because if the training team gets involved with

implementation tasks, it will be time-consuming and

distract them from their primary duties of preparing

and delivering training.

s

Client Program Director

NaviMP Project Manager/Lead

NavMP Consultant/Trainer

NavMP Consultant(s)NavMP Web

DeveloperNapMP Video Creator/Editor

Client Training Coordinator

Technical /Functional Project Managers

Subject Matter Expert(s)

Figure 3 - Personnel Resources – Client and Navigator Teams







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Training Tools

Here is an example of the training resources needed

for a campus-wide training program:

Training Guide – defined as briefly as possible, this

guide is the companion to a hands-on training class.

Here is instructional information delivered in class is

explained in detail that the student can read on their

own, or follow in class. Care should be taken not to

create a full System User’s Guide, since this would be

out of scope for training on the system and should be

defined by the software project, either as online help

or as part of the system offerings. Each course should

have it’s own training guide.

Training Exercises – provided for hands-on or self-

study trainings, these are step-by-step guides on how

to create transactions, maintain data in the system, for

example, after the training session is completed, users

have a chance to practice what they’ve learned, on

their own in a safe environment with an instructor

they to answer any questions. An approach that works

very effectively is to do exercises together with the

students in class, making an effort to keep everyone

working hands-on along with the instructor. If anyone

gets behind, stop and make sure they catch up with

the class.

Quick Reference Cards – Often, a quick reference will

outline a procedure or set of facts using a set of

minimal step-by-step instructions and, perhaps, lists of

critical values or key conceptual diagrams. The idea is

that a quick reference provides a structured means to

help an employee perform a task. Quick references are

typically a user-friendly shape or format to make them

maximally easy to use on the job.

Videos – Just in time, a short video is worth a lot to a

new user who is looking for help or a simple

introduction to the system. Not be meant to replace a

training course, unless a full computer-based training is

to be designed.

The Training Website – Is a one-stop-shop for end users

and the training web site housing training

materials/artifacts, to support the training initiative.

The website contains materials such as: project

information and timelines, training guides, videos, quick

reference cards, FAQs, and Forms. This web site is

designed for easy of use and simplicity utilizing main

tabs across the screen, followed by a left hand

navigation tree.

Figure 4 - Sample Training Website







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The Master Calendar

Create a shared training master calendar, using a tool

such as in Outlook or Google Calendar to manage the

classes, rooms, instructors and assistants and subject

matter experts scheduling. Organization is important

because your instructors, consultants and subject

matter experts may be delivering training in multiple

campus locations.

Use the LMS schedule to drive your calendar locations

and times. Allow for 1 hour before and 1 hour after the

class in the schedule to have time to set up and tear

down the training room or auditorium.

Training Delivery

Plan time for the instructors to prepare training data,

computers, and make the room ready, as well as for

follow-up time grading training exercises, answering

questions and resolving any system errors outside of

class. Keeping records of attendance and test scores

will prove valuable resources later in measuring

training attendance and effectiveness.

The program also needs to be able to add classes or

have cancellation of sessions. Keep your instructors

informed well in advance if they might be needed for

an additional session, with respect to their time and

schedules.

In a full day class, the students will appreciate frequent

breaks and a full hour for lunch, if possible. Start and

end sessions on time and prepare a detailed agenda for

the class. Open a dialogue between the class with

instructor and subject matter expert introductions.

Invite questions and comments from the students

throughout the class session. Leave extra time for the

completion of exercises and for the final exam.







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Measuring Effectiveness

Attendance and Participation

Perform weekly measures of both training attendance

and participation by class. If attendance numbers are

not up to expectations, we recommend sending

targeted communications to encourage more campus

research stakeholders to attend. If classes have wait

lists, add classes for the overflow. In the chart below,

the Advanced Budget Class might be well attended, so

add more classes for this topic, as long as instructor and

training room availability exists.

Early in the registration offerings, the training scheduler

may also need to cancel classes if there is a low

registration. Caution on canceling sessions, be mindful

of the persons who have already registered and,

if possible, contact those persons directly to

reschedule them in a different class. This

extra measure of customer service is usually

well received and appreciated by the trainee.

It also gives the instructor a chance to

introduce him or herself before class starts.

There is a six-eight week window of interest and

participation for training classes on a new system, so

schedule classes two to four weeks before and four

weeks after go-live. Then, each week, assess how many

more classes need to be scheduled, based on

enrollment and waitlists.

Figure 5 - Measuring Registrations and Attendance

0 50 100 150 200 250

All About the System

Create Transactions

Search and Print

Routing and Workflow

Advanced Budget

Attendance Measurements as of 7/1/2015

Attended

Registered

Seats Offered







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Measuring Training Effectiveness - Final Exercise

Each trainee should be able to show proficiency in the

system and be able to work his or her own with little

assistance from the instructor, before leaving the

hands-on class.

Create a final exercise and measure of the training

effectiveness by class. Then calculate an aggregate

score for the attendees. Monitor the pass/fail rate and

% scores to each person. Identify the trainees by

having them use their own name as an identifier in one

of the data points.

In a final exercise there might be twenty to thirty data

points that the trainee is expected to be able to

complete successfully upon which to be graded.

As a precaution, if pass/fail ratio shows that the

aggregate score was below 70% the training team

should consider additional offerings, such as lab

sessions or department focused drop-in sessions, if

needed.

Learning outcomes effectiveness can also be measured

in a trainee survey, given at the end of the class. A

Survey can measure subjectively the value of the class,

length of instruction and the effectiveness of the

instructors.

Conclusion

The guidelines stated in this paper will help in the

management and delivery of Campus-Wide IT Training.

Navigator is a leader in higher education consulting

services; with our tools, techniques and talent we can

help your organization deliver a successful program.







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About Navigator Management Partners

Navigator Management Partners is a management and technology consulting firm founded in 2001. The Navigator

team is comprised of top-performing, experienced consultants. We bring years of expertise in Strategy, Program and

Project Management, Business Process Design, Organizational Change Leadership, Business Intelligence and

Analytics, Technical Architecture, Information Risk Management, Financials Management, Human Capital

Management and Supply Chain Management. We have experience in a wide range of industries, including Energy and

Utilities, Government, Financial Services, Insurance and Banking, Healthcare, Education, Manufacturing, Retail, and

more. Through collaborative partnership, we advise clients on solving tough business challenges in ways that improve

operational performance and drive sustainable results.

Navigator is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio and has offices in Baltimore, Phoenix, and Atlanta. Learn more

at www.navmp.com.







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