Including Application-based “Use Cases” or “Real-Life Scenarios” as Part of Training for Day 1 Readiness
In a previous article, I highlighted how important it is for the end-users to receive adequate hands on experience with the new application before the Go-Live date. But the question arises – how do they go about getting that much-needed practice? Will the theoretical training sessions be good enough for them to feel independent and confident enough to use the application on their own? Even if they do feel confident, what do they use the application for? The application is still not live and, therefore, the end-users haven’t come across any use cases that they can try to replicate as their practice scenarios.
The solution to this, then, is a simple one—provide the missing element! As is evident from my previous articles, the missing link for making people Day 1 ready is the inclusion of application-based “use cases” or “real-life scenarios” as part of training.
Training for a new application can never be complete without including probable scenarios for the users to work with before they get to the Go Live date. The Instructional Designers (IDs) should script these scenarios in collaboration with the application’s subject matter experts (SMEs). The SMEs on their part should ensure that, when collaborating with IDs, they provide information on those scenarios that the end-users are most likely to encounter when using the application. In addition to scripting the scenarios, the IDs should also provide the trainers solution documents for the scenarios. These solution documents should include step-by-step procedures on how to work with these scenarios, do that the trainers can use to help guide end-users when they practice in the classrooms/machine rooms.
These practice scenarios are the actual enablers for the end-users and allow them to get their hands dirty with the application before D-day arrives. In addition, I’ll be listing out specific gains that the organization and the end users stand to gain with the inclusion of these scenarios as a training component.
With a decade of experience as a learning and design expert in education and training, Sachin has lead curriculum design and development training interventions and blended-learning for global companies with multiple moving parts and complex needs.