Making time is one of the biggest blocks to people committing to training, but a properly trained team is important for any business. How do you help your team find the time to keep their IT skills up to date?
Why is IT training important?
Organisations use training to inform and develop the skills of their people, enabling them to do their job better and benefiting their operation:
- The right skills and knowledge increase efficiency and boost productivity.
- A broad range of relevant skills in an organisation enables it to meet its goals.
- Businesses stay competitive by updating with modern technologies and processes and helping to implement them.
- It builds confidence and initiative within your team to try new and better ways of working.
- Investment through training makes staff feel valued, motivates them and retains talent.
Training is an investment for the future. Increasing knowledge, skills and talent within your team is essential for creating and maintaining a competitive edge. Rather than seen simply as a nice-to-have, training should be seen as an essential path to business growth.
Almost everyone in a business uses some form of IT tool, so they should be shown how to use it. It’s not always possible, or cost effective, to hire in the skills you need, so training is essential. But even when the will is there, sometimes the time isn’t.
How to make time for IT training
How many times have you heard yourself say: “there aren’t enough hours in the day”? Even for organisations that promote training and want to develop a skilled workforce, making time for training is a challenge.
When your working day is busy, client-focused work takes priority. But when this happens regularly, training keeps going on the back-burner. To avoid this situation, here are my five top tips, which I’ve seen put into practice by my most successful clients:
Ensure training is relevant for the job.
This may seem obvious but think carefully about how the training you are providing relates to a person’s role, how it will help them fulfil their role and the timing of the training. If there are clear and specific reasons to participate in the training, it’s easier to justify taking a timeout from work because it will make a real difference to them and the work they do.
Allocate time during the working day.
Show your commitment to the importance of training by allowing time for it during the working day. This doesn’t just relate to participating in a course but also time for additional preparation, background reading, revision and feedback that may be required as part of a course.
Make it convenient.
Make it as easy as possible to include training into the working day. There are many ways to train; group classes can optimise opportunities; virtual online training (both livestream and recorded) saves travel time and expense. Also, look for training that can be done in manageable “bite-size” chunks of time. Some elements can be done in shorter modules to be completed at a time of your choosing. Tools exist to fit training into your schedule.
Put training in your calendar.
Protect training by putting it into your calendar, shielding the time from competing activities and raising your commitment to attending it.
Create a learning culture.
Build a culture in which ongoing learning is seen as integral to building organisational success, creating a curiosity within teams and an appetite to learn and engage with training as a way to progress.
Making IT training effective
Technology evolves rapidly and it can be more difficult for anyone to use to its full potential. IT training is particularly important for making the most of your investment in technology, as well as your staff.
Users can also be reluctant to adopt yet more new technology, but training is the key to breaking down barriers. Even where there’s a clear reason for training, it still needs to be motivating and engaging to be effective.
Committing time to find the right training and then delivering it in a way that accommodates convenience for participants is essential if your training is to deliver results.
IT training support
At 365 Training Consultants, while we can’t make more hours in the day, we can make the most of them. We work closely with clients to find the right training solutions, addressing time and budget constraints, while maximising commitment through delivering training that’s tailored to your needs.
If you’d like to explore how our team can help your business to get the most from your IT equipment and software, including SharePoint, through group training, one-to-one coaching and consulting services, then contact 365 Training Consultants today.
