Why is intranet training necessary? How to get started with intranet training. Which tools can assist with intranet training?
You have been tasked with the project of putting together your company’s new intranet. After spending X amount of time adding content and designing your intranet’s look and feel, you’re finally ready to launch.
Now it’s time to dive into the next steps and ensure your intranet launch is successful. After investing so much time into building your intranet, you may have several questions, such as:
- How do I encourage employees to start using the intranet?
- Will users be able to find what they need on the intranet?
- How do I avoid being the only person able to train employees on the intranet?
The answer to all three questions is intranet training. Intranet training ensures your users will get the most out of your intranet and that your intranet launch will be a success.
Employee Training: The Secret Sauce
Because I was a long-time product trainer for another software solution prior to IC, training has a special place in my heart. During this time, I saw how crucial training was for successful software implementation for organizations.
Educated users can get the most value out of our software because they know exactly how to do what they want to do, and where to find what they are looking for. With the right tools, your employees can contribute to the growing wealth of knowledge an intranet can provide.
Getting Started with Intranet Training
From a new customer or new intranet admin’s perspective, finding the right place to start can be overwhelming. I usually suggest starting with your intranet home page. This tends to be the best place to begin as it is what most employees will interface with first when signing onto your intranet.
With that being said, your intranet home page is also the best place to showcase what is available to employees in terms of intranet training. Having some quick links on your home page to intranet training resources is an easy way to get new users headed in the right direction.
Means to Deliver Intranet Training
There are several different features built-in to your intranet to help facilitate intranet training, such as:
Online Training Calendar
Since everyone has different learning styles, you may find that some employees would rather have someone show them how to use the intranet rather than learn on their own through tutorials.
If you find this is the case, you can set up internal training sessions where you guide your employees through the intranet in person. To easily manage registration for these sessions, simply add a link directly from your home page to the Online Training Calendar application. The Online Training Calendar is so easy to use that any employee can sign up directly from your home page.
The Online Training Calendar allows your employees to view the available training sessions in a simple calendar format and fill out a registration form online. You can then use the application to monitor student registrations, send out automatic confirmation emails and monitor how full the class is getting.
Online Forms
Online Forms is a powerful tool for intranet training. Online Forms allows you to create credentialing packages for new employees online to help them get familiar with utilizing the intranet to find what they need. These Online Forms can contain embedded videos, case studies, images, and other tools which can be a valuable part of employee onboarding packages.
The Online Tests functionality within Online Forms enables you to quiz employees on what they have learned. You can utilize Online Surveys to gather feedback on how you can improve your onboarding process to make it easier for your employees to find what they need on your intranet.
Storyboard
Intranet training can only be successful if your staff are aware of it. A great way to advertise the upcoming training sessions is as a story on your Storyboard. This way you’re able to share the news instantaneously, and assess interest by the number of clicks.
The Power of Intranet Training
The intranet is a powerful tool for you and your users, and it is a crucial piece of the puzzle to increase the efficiency of employees day-to-day tasks. Offering training on key intranet tasks can help to build employee confidence so that they can get the most out of your intranet. At IC, we integrate intranet training before a new employee’s day 1 as part of our employee onboarding initiatives. This helps to ensure they are set up for success before they even arrive in the office.
Do you have specific ways you have offered training on your intranet that helped improve your employee’s experience? If so, I’d love to hear about it! Please leave your comments below.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally posted on March 6th, 2014. It has been edited for updates and accuracy.
