What Happened to My Awesome Technology Solution?

So, you spent a ridiculous amount of time researching and finally chose a fabulous software system that will change how you do business. It was going to revolutionize and improve your efficiency and communication. You were going to save money—in the long run. Your team sat through demos and training and spent countless hours setting up vendor information, developing tasks, designing templates. But now, months or maybe years later, it’s lost the WOW factor. Where are the savings? And why is my team still using a manual process for some actions? What does it mean when the operations team says, “We have a ‘work around” to solve an issue? How did you get here and what do you do?

Most software solutions have a great onboarding process, and some provide follow up training with individuals. Everyone is excited and engaged at the beginning but there is a tremendous amount of information to be absorbed. As time goes by, your team may forget some of the features that sold you on the system and may not feel comfortable asking questions.

Training shouldn’t stop after the initial sessions. Provide a method for your employees to take refresher training to not only remind them of how to properly use the system but make certain that the solution is still relevant to their job. Develop a plan for retraining internally or perhaps a better solution is to ensure that your software provider includes periodic in-depth training from their customer success division. After all, their success is tied to your success in implementing their product—make the most of your investment by taking full advantage of training and help services.