Tip of the Week: Supporting Your Staff While They Learn New Software

Learning a new piece of software can be challenging, even for the techiest employees out there. If you don’t provide enough support during this period, it could lead to frustration, wasted time, and a general resistance to change. Thankfully, you can address these issues by examining the psychological, organizational, and training-related factors at play when learning new software.

The Issues That Impact Employee Training Efforts

Resistance to Change and Psychological Barriers

Employees might worry that new technologies will interfere with their routines, make their jobs more difficult, or impact their job security. They might react with an unconscious bias, or worse, outright disdain for the new technology. Furthermore, they might worry about making mistakes during the learning period which could affect their colleagues or the workplace at large.

You can help employees get over these challenges by educating them on the benefits of that technology. Specifically, you want to address how it makes their work easier or more efficient. This can help them feel more motivated to learn the ropes and embrace that beginner mindset, as it will make mastery over this new technology that much sweeter.

Problems with Training and Support

You should avoid the lectures, dense user manuals, and long training sessions at all costs, as they lead to disengagement, information overload, and poor knowledge retention. We recommend that you keep your training options flexible, as no two employees will learn the same, nor will they all have the same duties and responsibilities.

Bad Timing

If training occurs before you actually implement the software, then your employees won’t remember it. If this happens when your business is in its busy season, your employees might not have the time or attention to devote to learning how to use this new software.

Lackluster On-Demand Support

If you want your team to approach new technology with confidence, you should provide them with ongoing, real-time, on-demand support. This will help them engage with the tool without fear of being left stranded and without a guide.

Leadership Challenges and Organizational Issues

Your leadership must be your new software’s biggest fans if you want your employees to buy in as well. If they don’t, this could impact your team’s acceptance of the new solution.

Time Limitations

Your employees have other job duties and responsibilities that might get in the way of training and learning your new solutions. If they’re already overworked, adding training into the mix is not going to help them. They might feel even more pressured to perform, which is a recipe for burnout… and you know what they say about managing too much work; when you take on more than you can handle, all of your work suffers.

Lack of Communication

When you introduce new technology to your business, it’s vital that you keep clear lines of communication open so your team can stay in the know. If you’re not transparent about your new tools, what the timeline is, or how it benefits employees, chances are they will remain skeptical about it until you prove the solution worthy of their trust.

No Standardization

However you choose to train your team, make sure they receive the same standardized training to prevent skill and knowledge gaps within your business.

Need a Hand with Implementation and Training?

Not only can we help your business acquire and manage software, but we can also help your team with training and support along the way. Learn more about our managed IT services by calling us today at (780) 409-8180.