The biggest issue with SharePoint training is that employees quickly forget what they've learned. This happens whether you use outside trainers or your own IT team. In this article, we'll show you how to make SharePoint training stick for beginners.
SharePoint is built on concepts that may not be familiar to everyone. This is where holding classes is indispensable.
Bring everyone to a real or virtual classroom and thoroughly explain how SharePoint works. Lists, libraries, sites, permissions, workflows, web parts … what are they? What do they do? How do they relate to each other?
Throughout this training program, which may have several scheduled classes, focus on the overview of major concepts, features, and capabilities. Detailed step-by-step tutorials showing how to complete tasks should be presented in the other 4 training programs.
If delivered diligently, running live training sessions helps end users to fully understand how SharePoint capabilities solve document management problems.
Learn more about running live training sessions in this article.
After attending classes, end users need a place where they can find help items and tutorials whenever they need to.
This SharePoint training program consists of creating, maintaining, and growing a help site, a knowledge center.
With all the help items and governance policies on one user-friendly portal, end users have the opportunity to learn in their own time and gradually improve their knowledge of the platform.
After learning any area of SharePoint, users usually have a few questions that need detailed answers. A live face-to-face or online Q&A session is a great way to address these efficiently.
With live discussions on SharePoint, you provide end users with opportunities to learn not only from the questions that they ask but also from those asked by their colleagues. Also, since the events are live and interactive, learning gets more engaging. Your IT support team also saves a lot of time by giving answers to everyone at once, instead of individually.
Learn more about hosting Q&A sessions in this article.
With SharePoint, it's better to have help readily available within the platform itself. Users can simply click a tab to get the help they need and continue working without leaving their workspace.
This training method provides instant, one-click assistance, enabling users to effectively use SharePoint even if they're unfamiliar with it or have forgotten how. Immediate access to help removes learning barriers, making it easier to use SharePoint. Setting up a system that offers help right when it's needed is a key part of training and crucial for lasting user adoption.
Learn more about providing context-sensitive help in this article.
People can only learn so much at once. That's why it's important to have ongoing training opportunities. You could email training tips to users, allowing them to learn gradually and boost their retention.
Learn more about broadcasting daily training emails in this article.
VisualSP also offers a feature that allows you to schedule out training tips that appear within the SharePoint platform itself. This method ensures that learning is integrated into the users' daily workflow, providing timely and relevant tips just when they're needed. This approach of incremental learning helps users steadily build their SharePoint skills without feeling overloaded.
If you'd like to give this a try, you can try VisualSP for free today.
Relying solely on one of these training methods for SharePoint adoption is not enough. It's essential to integrate a variety of approaches for a comprehensive learning experience. Utilizing a blend of these methods ensures that learning is continuous, relevant, and adaptable to each user's needs. This multi-faceted strategy not only addresses different learning styles but also counters the challenge of information overload, ensuring a steady, manageable learning curve. By combining these methods, your organization can foster a more engaged, proficient workforce, ready to utilize SharePoint to its fullest potential, paving the way for a digitally advanced and efficient workplace.
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