At the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, nearly half of all U.S labor force was working from home. The pandemic spawned a ‘working from home economy’ which opened a new discussion on productivity when people are allowed a more flexible working schedule. The concept of allowing workers to do their work remotely is not going away. Companies are ready to allow it. However, technology training is crucial in enabling a ‘work from home economy’. The heavy reliance on technology presents several challenges that are only addressable through proper training.
Communication for Collaboration Why Technology Training Is So Important in Today’s Remote Working Environment
Even when working remotely, employees are likely to be part of a team. Their deliverables intertwine with those of other employees. The organization must provide a platform through which people can communicate, share presentations, ask questions, make follow-ups, and so on. The training provided for the use of the communication and collaboration platforms should be standard for all employees. If some people do not receive proper training, they might affect the overall efficiency of other team members. Common things that require training include sending messages, setting up meetings, sharing and retrieving documents, making presentations, and raising queries.
Independent Learning
Synchronous learning can be difficult when dealing with a big remote workforce. Still, the organization needs to figure out a way to disseminate information on new rules, new software, or simply retrain people on existing tools. Most likely, the organization will create learning materials and have them on a portal where employees can access them at their own time. The beauty of independent learning is that people can go through materials as often as they like. However, for this to happen, technology training for learning must be a deliberate effort by the organization.
Speed and Efficiency
In a large organization, an employee may be expected to be familiar with up to 10 software applications. If not professionally trained, staff will be trying to figure out things on the go, which creates too much room for mistakes. Taking time to train employees saves valuable time for the company and avoids costly mistakes. Part of technology training involves taking security measures to protect company data. Employees must be able to recognize potentially malicious emails, links, or other forms of threat and take appropriate precautionary actions.
Better Transitioning and Adoption of Systems
Continuous technology training in an organization ensures employees are ready whenever new technology or system needs to be adopted. When employees are well trained on the current software applications, they will have the confidence to learn new systems as well. The new system might simply be an improvement on the current one, meaning little training is required before staff can begin using it. Change management is often a problem in organizations that still rely on legacy systems.
Job Satisfaction and Career Growth
People working at your organization need to feel empowered. The organization should give them the best tools for productivity, and this includes applications considered industry standards. By adopting these, employees will feel that skills and experience gained will count towards betterment of their future endeavors. Therefore, technology training is a way to keep employees happy and fully engaged in their work, even when working remotely.
Better Customer Satisfaction Rates
Enabling people through technology training makes them better at their job. They can search for necessary information to complete tasks efficiently. This counts for so much when the work is directly serving customers. Customers can tell when services are quick and efficient. It reflects positively on the company’s image, growing both trust and loyalty.
Challenges with Technology Training
Getting technology training can prove to be a challenge when there is no well though-out strategy behind it. A major challenge can arise when the organization bombards employees with a lot of information within a short time. Managers cannot expect employees to familiarize themselves with 10 applications within a month or two. Learning must be structured, allowing employees enough time to put whatever they learn to use so that it can stick.
Generic training can also be a recipe for frustrated and disinterested employees. Personalized training is a more efficient approach because it involves training people in fewer batches. Such training also tends to affect their work directly. For instance, there is no need to train everyone on how to use a new CRM tool when only the salespeople are likely to use it.
As highlighted earlier, self-paced learning is a better approach to training as opposed to lengthy webinars. Webinars can be cost-inefficient because if people miss out on useful information, the organization might have to organize another similar event. People working from home are unlikely to stay still and concentrate on a two-hour live webinar due to distractions.
The Cost of Poor Technology Training
Failing to invest properly in training remote staff leaves the organization exposed to disruptions in operations. Untrained staff are unproductive, unsatisfied, and they reflect negatively on an organization. When attempting to launch new IT systems, a lack of training robs employees of confidence in the new system.
To properly structure technology training for remote workers, an organization must get a few things right. The first would be picking a mode of delivery. Learning can be synchronous or asynchronous. Synchronous learning is instructor led and learners must log in at the same time to attend the sessions. Asynchronous learning is self-paced, where an instructor acts only as a resource for learners in case of questions.
Next the organization must acquire the necessary tools to facilitate learning. This might involve paying for a paid collaboration platform where the learning will take place. There should also be a way of tracking learning attendance and progress. All this must be well-thought-out including the time frame within which the material will be relevant. The organization has to make preparations for renewing the material as often as necessary.
If your organization needs assistance with technology training, get in touch with Transcendent Software to help craft the best strategy. We have over twenty years of experience in helping organizations empower their employees to be productive, organized, and progress faster in their careers.