Get
subconsciously and experientially skilled in
today’s world of exponential learning.
“We just don’t know
why there is so much resistance from the users
to this software”.
Have you heard this before? For more information
on our approach to IT training read this page or
follow the links.
On this page:
Learning is primarily about
embracing a new system - at the same time becoming
disloyal to another, earlier system. Support
is needed. The techniques used in a systemic
IT training approach are designed to give this
support – the basis for the
courage we need to leave the old behind and to
embrace the new.
In many IT projects, the
people factor, training and end-user support
are largely neglected,
to a point where they may be completely overlooked
in the project plan and budget. Towards the end
of a project, somebody may start asking:
- How
are people going to use this application?
- Is there
user documentation?
- Who is delivering training
in this?
- Who is providing support for this?
Trainers often
get contracted at the last minute, and hence there
is an unreasonable expectation to deliver effective
training in a short time, typically from fifteen
days to one month.
Another common difficulty arises when the software
is continuously developed until the last minute,
which clearly influences the progress of training
documentation. I have heard of a case where the
training wasn’t ready until one month after
go live date – by which time it probably
was not needed any more!
Throughout the last 20 years, IT training has gradually
changed from a classroom “face-to-face” environment
towards computer based training (CBT) or e-learning.
I am not sure whether this has improved comprehension
and readiness of staff to work with the new software.
CBT may have replaced the overwhelming two-day
bombardment with new information, with an “in
your own time” reading marathon – which
may prove no more enlightening. In particular,
people who learn more from hearing and doing will
fall short with this approach even when the CBT “speaks” and
provides guided usage.
We may well be at a turning point, where IT training
will move back towards classroom presentation.
E-learning has it’s place, but this will
more likely be in combination with classroom training – as
a follow on and refresher course, to practice the
new skills without the pressure of production data.
| New
concept: introduce systemic principles |
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There are systems in
IT – right?
Networks, applications and users, all link-in with
each other. If one element is overlooked, or configured
wrongly, the whole system often “crashes” or
does not work in the first place. The environment
is not “stable”.
There are also systems of human gatherings, such as organisations. They
have long been recognised and studied. From systemic
organisational consulting and the systemic
organisational constellation tool, we know
that if in these human systems one element is out
of balance, it can have an impact on the whole
organisation, much like objects suspended in a
mobile.
IT systems are built to help human systems with
tasks, hence these two systems are inexorably interlinked.
We all know how stressful it can be when we can’t
access our email, our data, our IT applications.
When the IT system doesn’t work, it has an
effect on the human system - the organisation.
Could it work the other way around too? An imbalance
in the organisation affecting how well the IT system
is implemented and how effectively it is used?
We believe that IT systems and human systems are inter-related.
| Where
does our IT training differ? |
|
We include the human system,
as well as the IT system in IT training. We
do this for the following reasons:
- An IT system
needs to have its place in the organisation,
similarly to every human member
- These days softwares
are too big for the average individual to know
everything about them
- Because software is invariably
only part of a process – it
is a means to an end, an end typically defined
by, or experienced by, a human
Please also refer
to our pages on systemic
organisational consulting, business
transformation and decision
and strategy support for more information
on how to address the bigger picture.
We believe that including systemic group and individual
exercises in traditional hands-on classroom training,
possibly followed by review and support by e-learning
and online user manuals, will ease the transition
to new software.
These exercises are designed to help the user to
become “subconsciously skilled” without
being intimidated by information overload. Learning
through feeling (developing emotional intelligence)
is added to traditional learning through thought
processes, going beyond mere hand-eye coordination.
A whole of body movement and physical experience
is included to help understand the software in
its context of the entire enterprise. In this way:
- Learning
blocks can be discovered
- Individual barriers can
be removed
- The student will be able to place the
software into the broader business context
- Systemic awareness will
be developed.
Preeti Helena
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