Why poor training is killing your intranet - Andrew Gilleran
1. Andrew Gilleran | @agilleran | #IntranetNow
Why poor training is
killing your intranet
(and 6 ways to fix it)
2. Andrew Gilleran | @agilleran | #IntranetNow
I squeeze a
hell of a lot
out of
SharePoint
intranets*
* I’m a SharePoint & Office 365 Super Duper Power
User, OOTB Developer/Consultant/Trainer/Thingamajig
6. Andrew Gilleran | @agilleran | #IntranetNow
Focus…
Short, focused & regular sessions
Focus on use cases not features
Learn to do one thing well
11. Andrew Gilleran | @agilleran | #IntranetNow
So remember, training is a…
12. Andrew Gilleran | @agilleran | #IntranetNow
This Thingamjig says thank you
www.gilleran.net
Editor's Notes
BIOI build and fix SharePoint intranets and Yammer networks. I’m a SuperDuper Power User and OOTB Developer/Consultant/Thingamajig.
I also do
user adoption
coaching
mentoring
and training
to help end users get SharePoint to do what it's meant to bloody do.
Training, coaching and mentoring is a Journey – it shouldn’t stop, it should keep going. And so should training on your intranet and especially SharePoint.
Training should be ongoing – all about sustained adoption
A lot of money is spent on the technology of an intranet. But training comes at the end and seems to be an after thought. Yes, let’s do a one day training session.
And with the likes of SharePoint online there are lots of new changes coming down the tracks so there is a constant user experience and training challenge.
Half day or one to three day training sessions. People come out all dazed and confused. Too much to learn most of the time.
And a bigger issue is the problem of generating content.
2 days later they have to update something on the intranet and…
"How do I that again?"
I'll call Andrew…quicker than reading that bloody manual
The problems of intranet training and magic manuals – 1 minute
Example: Recent intranet projects for a multinational Irish plc with 6000 employees
training for both content owners was left right to the end of the project.
One full day training and 3 days of prep along with a manual of 5000 + words later and a full day session where content owners asked loads of questions about the new intranet. So to me training didn’t work at that time and needed something else.
Being a content owner must be part of an employee’s objectives or performance management. They must have targets and their line manager must agree to them.
Set different levels/grades of content owner and measure accordingly.
Level 1 - 10+ pieces of content per month
Level 2 – 5-10
Level 3 – Under 5
Short, focused training sessions (short 30 minutes ideally, 45 mins max)
Focus on use cases not on features
learn to do something specific
how to manage documents in SharePoint, how to do images
Or maybe focus on a department
One size doesn’t fit all – different training for different people
Workshops (don’t call it training)
Personal Learning Network on Yammer or other ESN tool
Yammer group or equivalent ESN for support and discussion and sharing ideas, tips and solutions - it's not down to the intranet team to answer questions all the time
Look for champions to contribute
Write a blog yourself with guides, tips, ideas and allow comments
Support site with guides, one pagers, videos, how-to’s – connects to community support
3rd party tools such as VisualSP, ContentPanda or WalkMe
Not always about showing HOW to publish but WHAT to publish
Content, value of good headlines and a strong opening paragraph. Who, what, why, where and when.
What makes a good story for example
Content & comms training – how to produce online content
Always remember people scan on screen – short sharp headlines and good visuals, bullet points, bold, headings, clear links
Usually on a desktop but increasingly now on mobile
Value of Plain English writing, lose the jargon and corporate speak
Embed PowerPoints as slideshares
Who wants to read a 60 page PDF of the Employee Handbook?
Regular short meetings
Feedback & Surveys of employees and content owners
Quick calls or emails – how you doing?
Use and understand your Metrics - seeing the changes, how often and where and what content owners- top pages in each area for each content owner- what people search for and apply it to each content owner
End of year workshops or event (half or full day) – what issues people have, ideas, solutions, training, guest speaker, examples of other intranets, best practice
Reward programmes
Formal or informal Awards end of year event or whatever for content owners - voted on by employees perhaps or by other content owners, high rated articles, most shared or commented.
Best content
Most innovative content
Most visited page
Top content producer
So remember training is a Journey it’s about sustained adoption to make your intranet work better and don’t stop believing