Rolling Out Training Initiatives

Deciding when to roll out training contributes to project success. Training initiatives should begin right before or during the implementation phase. However, in many organizations, training is rolled out months before actual implementation, creating hype among the employees about the new system and what they will be able to do with it. By the time implementation actually occurs—sometimes months later—the initial excitement and buy-in has subsided, and more importantly, users have forgotten their newfound skills. To build momentum again, training needs to be repeated—wasting time and money.

Buy-in related to change is never easily achieved within organizations. Users become attached to their current processes, whether or not those processes are productive. Buy-in does not occur immediately upon showing users the inherent value of BI because it means the entire way they do business will change. Creating a training program—and delivering that training in a timely fashion—helps users apply their newfound skills immediately, thus helping to increase user buy-in.