Traditionally, this issue was solved by sequential gathering of all participants in classes where more experienced colleagues conducted training - they showed what to do and clearly explained why it was needed and how bad it would be for them if they did not learn it. The demonstration and story were necessarily accompanied by practical tasks that the students did in the classroom under the supervision of several trainers.
The coronavirus has made gathering in classrooms impossible. But no one was going to postpone the launch of the system, in the preparation of which very serious money was invested. It was necessary to come up with another way to convey knowledge to future users and develop skills to work in the new system.
The obvious decision was made to conduct distance learning with reinforcement in the form of mandatory practical assignments. But some details are important here.
First, technique. Distance learning requires computers with speakers and microphones. Not all workplaces at the plant were equipped with such equipment. there was no production need for it. It was necessary to carry out an audit of workplaces and their additional equipment in a short time.
People in workplaces were not able to learn everywhere because of the noisy and hectic environment. For such sites, temporary workplaces were organized in separate premises and a schedule was prepared according to which users were to come to these classes to participate in distance learning.
Second, the number of users multiplied by the number of business processes (~ 2500), taking into account the shift and availability of users, gave a significant number of training sessions. Business processes are different - from the simplest to the most complex. It was decided to apply a combined approach. On the simplest topics, users were asked to read the instructions and do independent tasks. For more complex ones, and where there were many users, videos were recorded. Where there were fewer users and more options for using the system, they conducted online classes via skype. And finally, for the most advanced, where there were 1-3 people, an exception was made and full-time training was conducted.
Third, in addition to training, it was necessary to provide for the implementation of practical tasks. Without this, watching videos and participating in skype training would be a waste of time - it flew into one ear, flew into the other. To do this, we formed a plan for performing practical tasks, according to which each user had to perform certain operations, for example, entering a repair task or creating a demand for materials. Moreover, they had to do this not at a time, but several operations a day for a month.
To control the implementation of practical tasks, a report was made in the system that selected transactions in the system and, by username, determined whether the employee had completed the required number of operations in the system. The plan and the fact were compared in Excel and every day, at an operational meeting of the group leaders, they looked at the results. For those people who were behind the plan, they gave information to the heads of the shops, who provided feedback and motivated the laggards.
The fourth, and probably the most important, is the formation of a vertical of responsibility for the passage of training. No one, except the company's management, can ensure the participation of employees in these events. The director of the plant understood this perfectly, so he informed the managers at all levels that people had no other option than to learn and start working in the new system. The heads of the shops were responsible to the director of the plant for the attendance, for the implementation of practical tasks, and it was their task - to ensure the passage of training for employees.
Of course, it was not without difficulties. There were doubts about the need for detailed planning and daily monitoring of the implementation of practical assignments. Of course, this required effort and time spent on planning and control. However, after a while, the system was adjusted, and the rhythm of the process ensured high-quality skills of users in typical operations.
Already during the training, there were many clarifications. It quickly became apparent that the initial roster of employees and their mandates did not match what people were actually supposed to do. No matter how we explained the essence of future tasks in the new system, when training began, we had to adjust the list of operations that need to be taught to users - someone add new ones, someone, on the contrary, shorten them. There was a redistribution of powers.
It took a lot of time to debug the report on the implementation of practical exercises. The plans were drawn up in Excel with a large number of errors - the username was incorrectly specified, the operation was written incorrectly, someone was included in the plan by mistake, someone got sick or on vacation and he needed to change the schedule ...
When the system started operating, it was found that employees make gross mistakes, which was a clear result of poor quality training. Often in such cases, the blame is blamed on the system, but when data on the performance of practical tasks is available, such discussions very quickly cease.
Of course, there are people who are more difficult to study and need a longer practice. These were helped by key users who received more in-depth training at the previous stages of the project and took part in testing and accepting the system. Key users were clearly identified by company directives, and other employees knew who to contact in case of difficulty.
There were very serious concerns about problems during the pilot operation. We have never launched a system in such a large enterprise without a single local consultant. However, in the end, the system was launched on time, the launch went better than would have been expected given the remote work. Largely due to the training efforts, due to the perseverance and colossal work that the project team members did during the preparation for the launch.