We recently finished a series of training days for our staff where we did preliminary training on our new Arena Church Management System. Everything we do seems to bring its own set of lessons to learn from, and this was no different. Here are some things that we discovered (or re-discovered) about training:
- As much as we technologists might like playing around with computer systems, and as excited as we might be about launching something new, not everyone feels that way. It’s important to keep in mind that we very likely might be in the minority when it comes to this, so we should remember that in our delivery, planning, etc., and not assume that others are as geeky as we are.
- It’s important to try to be as specific as you can, with realistic examples and exercises. It’s hard enough to remember your training once you start using a new system or application in earnest, but if the exercises were more theoretical than practical it will be even harder.
- As much as we’d like to think we can train everyone so that they can hit the ground running once a new system is implemented, that’s just not reality. Our own experience supports this fact. There’s always a ramp-up time of regular usage before someone is truly comfortable using something new. This certainly doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t train people; rather that we should realize that formal training is just one piece of the puzzle. We are planning some follow-up targeted training, video screencasts, and other ideas to provide ongoing training for our staff.
- Make it fun. We’re firm believers in the Fun Theory around here, and while we might think a full day of computer training is fun, not everyone does. So come up with something that can make training fun - we played trivia games after each break (What does the word Arena mean in Latin, and why?) and incorporated some small prizes.
- Have good snacks! We had soft pretzels, ice cream, and other goodies for our afternoon breaks, plus an assortment of candy, gum, fruit, etc., for the entire day. Everyone enjoyed getting to eat some candy they hadn’t had since they were kids (chewy sweet tarts, anyone?)
May 14th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
I organized staff training when we moved from Office XP to Office 2007, and I sought to make it fun and memorable:
Pre-Training Notes:
http://www.gracetruthtechnology.com/2007/04/10/office-2007-training-plans-part-1
Post-Training Reflections:
http://www.gracetruthtechnology.com/2007/06/15/office-2007-training-reflections
I’m curious about your selection of Arena…
Were you using Shelby previously?
Why did you choose Arena over Fellowship One?
May 17th, 2010 at 7:33 am
Thanks, Dave, and nice work coming up with a good solution that addressed the unique challenges you faced. Over the past couple of years we have become a much more mobile workforce, with almost all of our users having their own laptop. We still had to setup a classroom environment, but did not have the challenges that you faced with not having computers in the classroom. It sounds like you killed two birds with one stone: got the hands-on learning that was needed and made it fun.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Regarding our choice of Arena, there’s a lot to that decision (of course) and it’s a question we’ve gotten a lot. So I think we will post something soon that discusses our criteria in detail. But at a high level some of the main reasons were the features, extensibility, ability to host ourselves, and the user community. We were not a Shelby customer - our current church management system is Roll Call, and it served us well for the past 10+ years. As we searched for different solutions we really felt like Arena was something that could grow with our ministry.
Stay tuned for a more detailed post about Arena, along with some more lessons and information as we move towards our launch!