Eight steps to success Methodology

Many companies who implement SAP think that the idea of ensuring that people are able to use the new system and processes from day one is relatively simple. At SAP EUT we know that it is putting that idea into practice that can be difficult.

In order to make the whole journey easier, and to provide clear sign-posts along the way, we believe there are eight steps to success. The success of following this approach can not only benefit the end-users, but also other key stakeholders on an SAP programme.

The eight steps are:

Step 1 Pre Engagement Preparation
For training to be a success you must choose the best training provider for your organisation. You must invest time to ensure that your partner has a proven track record of delivering successful end user training engagements. They should have proof of their high quality deliverables and use skilled, experienced and dedicated professionals, who understand your business and are committed to the overall accomplishment of your programme. At SAP we have the skills and the experience to successfully partner with you in your engagement.

Step 2 Strategy and Needs Analysis
Do you want your EUT to be cost effective and a roaring success? Do you also want all your key stakeholders engaged in the End User training? Your strategy is a critical phase in the journey as it defines what success means, how it will be achieved and how it will be measured.

"Developing a learning approach that is aligned to your programme goals, using the right combination of delivery mechanisms (e.g. classroom, e-learning and coaching) and embedding training within your change programme, will ensure key stakeholders are engaged and your overall project is cost effective and successful".
You also need to understand your training needs on a more detailed level. This means looking at the "who, what, where, when, and how". says Doug McPhail. (SAP Education Strategy Consultant).

Step 3 Mobilisation
We have proven through many rollouts that a successful SAP training team needs to have a blend of different skills and should ideally combine training development expertise with SAP functional and business experience. We strongly recommend that the training team comprises a 50:50 mix of experienced SAP trainers combined with appropriate individuals from you, the customer. The team must function efficiently from day one. They should know how to use your chosen development tools and templates, who to talk to, and what their deliverables are. We advise that you invest time finding the right type of people from your business but also recognise that even high calibre resources may have skills gaps which will need addressing before starting the next step.

Sarah Tiernan SAP Training Project Manager recommends considering assessment centres to secure the best resources for your training programme, as Sarah says:
"Assessment centres, although not appropriate in every situation, not only give you the confidence that you are getting the best, but also increase the profile of the roles, which in turn generates demand. We recently ran an assessment centre for a major customer; and although it took additional effort to conduct, it led to us mobilising a highly motivated and skilled team eager to work as one".

Step 4 Training Design and Development
You need to be aware that it this is often the most challenging of all the steps to get right. This is because:

• The solution is evolving
• Subject matter experts and consultants who are critical to provide knowledge transfer to training developers are being pulled in different directions (build, test, etc), and more often than not "training" is not seen as mission critical within the early stages of the overall project
• It involves managing teams to achieve many deliverables against tight deadlines whilst removing barriers and obstacles along the way

But there are some things that can be done to quicken the development, as Stefanie Smith SAP Training Project Manager explains,

"Use of a development tool such as RWD Productivity Pak has enabled customers I've worked with to accelerate the process of developing such things as training documentation, e-learning, interactive simulations, test scripts and context sensitive help. Furthermore the tool facilitates knowledge transfer across the programme".

Step 5 Business Readiness
Failure to prepare the business for training will inevitably lead to programme failure. In short, getting the 'who, what, where, when and how' wrong could, for example, lead to the 'right training being delivered to the wrong people.'

Lack of knowledge and being told incorrect and irrelevant information will lead to your employees becoming very frustrated and their opinion of SAP as a system will become tarnished.
Elizabeth Mead SAP Training Project Manager says

"The most successful training projects I have worked on have made sure that the communication of key decisions, dates and timescales have been a key priority. This has meant that everyone has felt involved and there have been no surprises by the time training began. This in turn ensured that the implementation of a new system was a positive experience and promoted buy-in to the new project from all levels of the business."

The following diagram illustrates what types of things need to be done to prepare the business and what the desired result will be.

Step 6 Train the Trainer and Pilot
Stepping from a business role into that of a trainer can be quite challenging and it is worth making sure that your trainers have the necessary skills to deliver the training. Our train the trainer workshop helps trainers develop the skill and the confidence to train their colleagues. We focus on the delivery of SAP training and we use experienced SAP trainers to deliver the workshops who have encountered many of the pitfalls that a trainer faces.

Having a pilot of the EUT offers you a final chance to review and amend the training. It also builds confidence before going into the first phase of training delivery.

Before the training takes place you need to decide what the objectives of piloting your training are. This will depend on things like: how big your programme is; how critical certain parts of the training are to project success; the confidence you have in the quality of your trainers etc. You will need to decide if you pilot everything or just a part of the training. Get your objectives right and your training pilot will be a successful exercise and you will get useful information from it.

Step 7 Deliver
You will agree the way in which training is deployed to end users with your Education Strategy Consultant during the training strategy and needs analysis phase.

As SAP Education Strategy Consultant, Neill Crump explains "Illustrating performance gains from learning programmes is vital to demonstrate value from your investment. Evaluations, assessments, and analytical measures prove the contribution of your people in achieving your corporate objectives. SAP will help you achieve what is increasingly one of the few sustainable ways of gaining and retaining competitive advantage in a practical and effective manner."

You must make sure you know what your goals and priorities are in the way you want to deliver your programme.

Regardless of which methods are used (e.g. instructor led, or/and e-learning) it is important that you evaluate how successful the training is.

Our approach to evaluation follows industry recognised models like Kirkpatrick and seeks to answer the question about how successful the training has been.
Successful delivery can be defined using a variety of tools:

• feedback (both from trainer or trainee)
• learner assessments

You need to make sure that training evaluation includes quantitative results backed up with qualitative comments. It should also be simple to track and measure. Finally, you need to know whether that feedback equates to success. Questions like "what is an appropriate assessment score?", "what is a satisfactory rating on an evaluation sheet" need to be answered prior to before commencing training delivery.

Step 8 Business as usual and improvement
As a team we are aware that this can be the point at which the engagement between the customer and their training partner ceases and training is left incomplete in the following key areas:

• certain users not using all the system functionality from day 1
• the normal dip in user performance once systems are live
• ongoing refinements to the solution and processes
• the general attrition of skills and resources
• changes in roles and organisation structure
• system exploitation such as enhancements and upgrades

The impact of not addressing the above factors leads to, at best, unachieved business benefits and at worst, demotivated and disengaged employees, customers and suppliers, with spiralling support costs.

Successful Business as Usual planning can be the key to the ongoing success of your SAP implementation and done properly will help you realise the business benefits of your SAP implementation