In this instance, "training" means "transferring knowledge to an end-user"; and, “helping" means "guiding an end-user through steps while completing a task".

Helping works better than training because mastery is attained at work, not in classrooms. In other words, learning on the job is the superior way.

For an end-user, getting training is acquiring knowledge in addition to waiting for an opportunity to put that knowledge into practice. By the time the opportunity arrives, the knowledge may have evaporated from memory. Whereas, getting help is acquiring knowledge and putting that knowledge into practice immediately. When users have help at their fingertips, there is no time wasted looking through notes or trying to recall information from the past.

The major disadvantages of training end-users

Many companies struggle to grow the number of end-users and the depth of usage for SharePoint and Office 365.

Traditionally, training is the default approach to help employees adopt the platforms.

This presents problems as studies show the information covered in training sessions are forgotten, on average, 48 hours later. There are a good number of reasons for this, most notably is the fact that if what was learned is not implemented immediately, knowledge retention suffers. When this happens to many end-users, the IT support team ends up having most of their time consumed by helping end-users with “how-to” inquiries instead of spending time fixing actual problems. This burden on the IT team has always shown to be counter-productive.

Surely, training end-users can help in some instances. But, when it comes to SharePoint and Office 365 adoption, it is helping end-users that has proven to achieve organic and sustainable growth of both the number of end-users and the depth of usage of the platforms. Here is why.

The major advantages of helping end-users

Whereas, with training, there is a time gap between acquisition of knowledge and application of that knowledge, there is no such gap with helping; whenever an end-user needs help at the moment of completing a task, if you provide the help, they put the knowledge to use immediately.

However, there is a problem with this manual approach; it is very expensive to dedicate an IT team to the task of help and support for the end-users. This function is laborious, impractical, and the result is an unmanageable burden on the IT team.

If every end-user is to get help exactly at the moment of need, your company needs an exorbitant number of IT support personnel. On the business front, this is not practical. And, even if creative efforts can be deployed, hiring that many people for the task will not be sustainable in the long run.

What if you had an application that automates this task; a system that provides help to end-users whenever help is needed, instantly?

Automating help and support for end-users - Don't wait, get started now!

To solve this problem, the VisualSP Help System was born. Here is how this plug-and-play add-on application works.

• VisualSP hosts thousands of short, to-the-point tutorials in different mediums: PDF tip-sheets, annotated screenshots, screen-capture videos, and step-by-step walk-thrus. Also, you have the ability to add your own tutorials with a point and click interface.
• When VisualSP is installed in SharePoint and Office 365 environments, relevant tutorials are accessible to end-users all the time.
• When an end-user tries to complete a task, behind the scenes, VisualSP detects where they are and provides the help they need to successfully complete the task.
• If the end-user remembers the steps, they can go ahead and complete the task. If they don't remember the steps, all they have to do is click on the VisualSP tab and the appropriate guidance is readily available.

With the always available help provided by the VisualSP Help System, your end-users are able to do their jobs inside SharePoint and Office 365 on their own, independently, without input from the IT team. This solution enables self-help and a training-on-the-job experience.

Clearly, helping users works better than training. But, manually providing help at the moment it is needed, is not sustainable. Thanks to VisualSP, you can do it automatically. Give your end-users access to always available help, guidance, and support. Wherever an end-user is inside the platforms, they just need to click on the VisualSP tab and help is there.

Many organizations worldwide have implemented the VisualSP Help System and there are now over 2 million end-users that rely on VisualSP help daily. By automating help and support for end-users, they are improving SharePoint and Office 365 adoption effortlessly. So can you.

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