Training at the Speed of SaaS

Rochelle Miller, IT Learning and Development Program Manager, Woodgrain

Rochelle Miller, IT Learning and Development Program Manager, Woodgrain

Rochelle Miller began her career in education before moving into corporate learning and development, where her passion for technology found a natural home. With a strong belief in systems and process design, she bridges the gap between technical teams and end users, translating complex concepts into practical guidance. In IT learning and development, she builds scalable programs that empower employees to work confidently and effectively.

Adoption Begins with Preparation

I start by working with the technical team and understanding what changes are going to affect the employee base. We take those changes and build a training plan, starting with basic navigation of the system and working all the way through what everyone on the team would need to know. With that full scope identified, we start training the high-level team members. I ensure they have training and practice in the system to build up familiarity and comfort levels, and also gain the necessary education needed to make decisions on the processes they’re learning. The combined effort of the education session with homework and practice to see the work in action makes a big difference in the level of confidence and adoption.

One of the biggest challenges I see in many organizations is the lack of planning for the end user with new systems and platforms. Information Technology Departments are normally made of developers and infrastructure, security and project managers, and more. These teams are well-equipped for the technical side of bringing new systems into the business and ensuring everything works as expected behind the scenes.

The problem is when these teams don’t have someone connecting with the people who are going to use these new systems. As technical team members work with the software, they learn the ins and outs and it seems intuitive to them. It’s easy to forget that when the system gets turned on for the end users, they haven’t had the same amount of experience. No matter how intuitive a new system is, when we overlook how the end user is going to work in the system, we hit a hard wall and adoption can tank. By involving the end users throughout the technical change process through communication and training, we are giving them time to learn, get comfortable, and take on ownership of the work they’ll be doing.

Learning in the Age of Constant Change

The reality of today’s world is constant change with SaaS systems. Updates are occurring annually, quarterly, or even monthly, causing companies to have to keep up on a much timelier basis. Continuous learning instead of one-and-done sessions is now required, instead of a nice-to-have. The way to manage this learning need is a defined partnership between IT and specific business users, Super Users in some industries. This partnership needs to establish a sustainable audit practice that includes regular connection on changes, getting content updates created and published, and communicating to all employees affected by the changes. More involved training may be required based on the changes happening in the system, so an established technical training team is also going to be needed.

My biggest piece of advice is not to be concerned about learning a specific system. As a Learning and Development professional, keep your focus on developing your Instructional Design, Facilitation, and relationship skills. As you work with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and build content, your knowledge of the system will increase. Your value comes from your lack of knowledge in the system because you’ll be more like the people learning the system from the beginning. You’ll be able to ask questions from a different vantage point than someone who has been using the system for months or years, and this will be a great benefit to the end users.