4 reasons training should be included in your move to The Cloud

1. You don't know, what you don't know

We can spend a lot of money deploying a new application to our businesses, and applications like G Suite offer so much more than just Mail & Calendar, but will your users know this? Would they go searching for Drive, Google Keep, Google Sites, Google Meet? Training can help you exploit the full apps suite and get that value for money, by helping users see the benefits you were sold when you bought the product e.g. COLLABORATION.

We constantly have users in training who say they use Gmail or Outlook at home, so they know it - by the time they leave they realise they couldn't have been more wrong, and can't believe how much they have learnt and what great tools G Suite and Office 365 are, they don't know, what they don't know.

2. Reduced risk to your project

You can come across many risks in your project; lack of buy-in, user opposition, operational risk - to name a few that training can help avoid.

Users like to feel involved in a project, like their opinion matters, this doesn't happen when they are given new applications and expected to find their own way around them with little/no guidance. Offering training can help them feel included and less apprehensive about the change. Sure you can email out (or share ;) ) a guidance doc with them, but lets face it people are busy and they want to be able to continue with their job straight away, they want to be able to ask questions about the way they work and how the new applications can work for them.

If users cannot perform their role due to lack of knowledge with a new system, you face operational risk.

3. More self sufficient users

Deploying new applications is always a very busy time for IT as well as the project team. Go live day is especially busy and the last thing you need is hundreds of users needing support as they can't even log on, never mind access their work...

If users have had our training they have usually already logged on in training, they have customised their accounts to how they want to work and they know exactly what they are doing and when inevitably a question comes up they didn't foresee, a fully trained Google Guide pops up and helps them out, whilst browsing their Google+ community. You're happy and they are also happy.

4. Create a positive buzz around the project

This is such an important step, the most successful projects I have worked on are those that have a implemented a great comms plan and delivered exciting and informative training. Extra special training for 'Google Guides' or '365 Ambassadors' can make power users feel important, (which they most definitely are!) and help spread the buzz and support.

I think all of us have been used to long and repetitive training, so Cloud training challenges that by being shorter and more interactive. The training is exciting as users are seeing cool and futuristic products they haven't had access to before, products that solve simple issues like; multiple users being in a spreadsheet, being able to send a chat message and get an instant response and access their accounts anywhere!

Users leave training feeling more confident as the sessions are catered to them and the job they do and some free Google merch definitely cannot hurt!

When they enter training...