Training Strategies

In developing the training strategy for the portal, consider that there will be many different users with the need to learn different things at different times. It is tempting to put together a week-long user training course that presents everything in one giant download of knowledge. Unfortunately, this is a very ineffective way to promote knowledge retention and therefore user adoption of the portal.

Experience suggests that users retain knowledge best when it is relevant to their immediate or near-term needs. Think of this as just-in-time training.

When users are first introduced to a new portal, the most important thing is for them to be able to find data. This implies that they need to see how to navigate the site, search for data, and understand the information resources that are available to them.

As they get more comfortable with the site they will need skills that enable them to contribute and structure information and collaborate with other users. These users may need to understand documents, metadata, wikis, and blogs. If they will be participating in SharePoint’s publishing workflows they will need to understand their role in the approval process.

Some users will progress to the point of becoming power users, site owners, or content organizers. These users will need more specialized training. When scheduling the training for users, keep in mind what the nature of their interactions with the portal are and will soon become. Do not attempt to attempt to teach a novice user how to attach metadata to a new document. This information is of no use to someone who does not know where, how, or why to contribute such a document or even what metadata refers to.

The training resources provided need to match each user's learning style as well. Some users are quite comfortable sitting down with a technical manual and reading cover to cover. These users will be happy with any type of training offered. Unfortunately, they are the exception, not the rule.

Most users will have very limited time to invest and that investment needs to pay off quickly. This means you need to provide multiple channels that match their preferred style of learning. Some users will prefer a hands-on approach that uses a tutorial format to lead them step by step through a certain process. Others will want a task-based approach that offers the help they need at the moment they need it without leading them on unneeded tangents.

Users will have different roles within the organization and different levels of interest. Top executives are notorious for refusing to learn new IT tools. Find ways to engage these users without requiring them to learn skills beyond those normally associated with using a web browser. This leads to classifying users with different roles in the portal such as casual users, power users, and content organizers. We will discuss the training appropriate to these different audiences in the next section.

When designing training, remember that the goal is to help users leverage the tool to its fullest extent and value. Ensure that this training includes not only technical details of how to use the product in general but also the standards and practices that your organization has adopted through the governance plan. Engage the curiosity and desire to learn that most users naturally bring to this process even if they are not aware of it.

Audiences

The community of users of the portal can be broken down into many audiences. Each of these audiences will have a shared set of interests and needs with regard to the system. By identifying these audiences and creating training with their needs in mind, we can create a program that is optimized to minimize the time investment of users while maximizing the value they and the organization receive from it.

While the audiences ” we are referring to here are not the same as those used with SharePoint ”s audience targeting feature, there may well be some overlap in their definitions. Audience targeting can be very useful in delivering just-in-time information to end users while the go about their work.

The audiences we will define will be broken down into two dimensions: portal user roles and site user roles. These categories are somewhat arbitrary and your organization will very likely need to define more roles that correspond to the users in your environment. These listing are presented as a starting point for developing your customized training plan.

Portal User Roles

Portal user roles define the relationship between a user and the portal as a whole (see Table 5-2). These roles are generally aligned with the skill sets that the user has and how they use them to create, maintain, or manage content in the portal.

Site User Roles

Site user roles define the relationship between a user and a particular site or site collection (see Table 5-3). These roles are aligned with the user ”s need to contribute or manage data within a content container such as a site, list, or library.

Levels of Training

As noted before, not all users need to understand every feature of SharePoint or the portal in order to use it effectively. Design training materials around the skills that need to be learned. Keep in mind the existing skills of the user and the roles the user will be playing in the portal.

The following sections describe some common levels of training that organizations often create.

Basic Portal Usage

This level of training is for users that have never used the portal before. Topics should include

• How to access the portal
• How to navigate from one content area to another
• How to search for information
• How to request help
• How to report a problem

Collaborating and Contributing Content

Once users are ready to move from consuming to producing content, this level of training should include

• How to upload new or updated documents
• How to use document versioning
• How to create new team sites and pages
• How to assign metadata to content
• How to use discussion boards

Using Social Media

If SharePoint ”s personalization and social media features are enabled in your environment, this level of training should include

• How to add and use content tags
• How to rate content
• How to access and use your personal site (My Site)
• How to use the colleagues feature to create a social network
• How to update wikis and blogs
• How to use online presence to connect with other users

Publishing Content to the Portal

This level of training only applies to users that will be contributors, designers, or approvers on sites that use SharePoint ”s publishing features. Topics should include

• How to create and update a publishing page
• How to submit content changes for approval
• How to design and use page layouts
• How to approve and schedule content for publication

Managing Security

Farm level security will be managed by farm administrators, but managing security on sites and site collections is often delegated to site owners within individual business units.

• Understanding site and site collection permissions
• How to create a SharePoint security group
• How to assign permissions and permission levels to users and groups
• How to assign appropriate permissions to different user roles
• How to manage sandboxed solutions within the site collection

Feature-Specific Training

Beyond these levels of training will be many sets of skills that apply only to users of certain features. For example, only users who need to create custom business processes will need to understand workflows and forms. Only users who will be using or creating business intelligence dashboards will need to understand how dashboards are constructed.

The sets of training required will vary based on the services deployed in your environment. When a new service is deployed (see Chapter 4), the training plan should be reviewed to ensure that any required training materials have been accounted for.

Delivery Strategies

Delivering training in a portal environment can often be difficult because users tend to be very busy. The intent of most portals is to make users more productive, so asking those users to cease being productive to learn about it can create an inherent conflict.

In the following sections, we will examine some strategies that can help optimize the delivery of training around your portal.

Remember the Basics

Training is a continuous, ongoing and recurring endeavor.

• As long as the portal exists, some form of training will be needed.
• New users will always need to be brought up to speed.
• Existing users ” skills will always need to be updated and reinforced.

The timing of training is just as important as the content.

• Provide only the skills that are needed (no more, no less).
• Provide training at just the time the individual user needs it (no sooner, no later).
• Make training and review materials available to users for continuous self-study.

Use Multiple Channels

Because of the different roles, time-constraints, and learning styles of your users, it is unlikely that a single method of delivering training will be effective. Provide your users with a smorgasbord of training options to choose from. At a minimum, these should include

• Personal Assistance: This may include help desk support, lunch-and-learn presentations and user mentoring.
• Formal Classroom Training: While formal training is not appropriate for all cases, it still has its place.
• Books and Documentation: Many users, especially those with a technical bent, may prefer an impersonal approach for developing certain skills. These should be made available electronically at a minimum. Hard copies of some materials may also be appropriate. Some materials, such as your organization ”s governance plans, should be published and easy to find as well.
• Online Resources: We have described various options for delivering training information online including Tips of the Day, FAQs, user communities, and online tutorials. These are most effective when linked to relevant pages on the portal.

Providing users with ubiquitous training opportunities will improve their ability to acquire the skills they need to be successful. Using a variety of methods and formats for that training allows users to select the approach that is most valuable to them.

Focus on Convenience

Because most users can invest only limited time in developing the skills needed to leverage the portal, focus on making training as convenient as possible for them. This reduces the time needed to acquire skills thus increasing the individual return on that investment.

• Lunch-and-Learn Sessions: Schedule a half-hour session to present basic skills in an informal presentation. Note: Providing a free lunch is an excellent way to encourage participation.
• Online Tutorials: Buy or produce a set of 10 to 20 videos that teach an individual skill. These videos can be presented as links throughout the portal. These should be fun and helpful to the users.
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): FAQs are one of the oldest and most common forms of user training. That is because they work! By placing FAQs in SharePoint they can be automatically included in search results. A wiki is a good way to develop an FAQ since it allows users to contribute comments and new questions.
• Cheat Sheets: A simple one- or two-sided laminated sheet with simple instructions for common tasks.
• Links from Content: Within the portal ”s content, add links to training anywhere that users might need it. It is usually a good idea to deemphasize the links in some way, such as with a smaller font or less bold color. These links should be helpful, not annoying.
• Create Custom Help Pages: The SharePoint help system is designed to accept custom content. Consider using this feature to create help specific to the governance and information architecture of your portal.
• Subject Matter Experts and Mentors: Identify users that have the skills and attitude to become power users and mentors. These people can be identified by monitoring their contributions and use of social media. Treat them well. They are a valuable resource.
• Social Media: Create user communities, wikis, blogs, and any other technique already discussed to drive users to find their own answers or another user who can provide them.

It is sometimes frustrating that users often seem unwilling to commit the time and effort necessary to learn new skills. Remember to see training from the user ”s perspective. Training becomes attractive only when the perceived value of the skills outweighs the perceived investment in time and effort to be made. These skills will help them in the long term but they must be paid for in the short term. If people were easily motivated to sacrifice in the short term in support of their long-term interests, no one would smoke or be overweight.