1. Don’t Forget the Users! Loretta Cook Digital Skills Developer, Plymouth University

2. What is a Digital Skills Developer? 2

3.  How I got involved in the CRM (Salesforce) project  Why training is important  The user journey  Key messages for you to take away include …  What went well – user benefits & impact  What didn’t go well – challenges  Questions & discussion Session outline 3

4. Our CRM project goals 4

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6. “The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do.” Ted Nelson (US Author) http://www.brainyquote.com Why user training is important … 6

7.  Don’t assume a new system will be intuitive to use  Avoid bad habits being established  Costly user errors may have already occurred  Users avoid the system for fear of making mistakes  When planning the project, consider the benefits of training and add it into your project budget Key message 1 Get the trainer on board from the start 7

8.  100 academic staff to have Salesforce licences and would require training  Some research staff would require training later  Business-critical data stored in spreadsheets and databases to be transferred to Salesforce Our users: What we were told (Nov 2014) … 8

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10.  Careers advisors expected immediate training  30 admin staff to be trained to record student enquiries  Urgency for Clearing (system not yet developed)  Student applications process to change from a largely paper-based system to Salesforce  116 academic staff to be trained (system not yet developed)  Many staff not clear about their own business processes What we weren’t told (April 2015) … 10

11. What we weren’t told (April 2015) … 11

12.  Began to gauge requirements – the true picture emerged …  Met with management to agree realistic resourcing  Funding agreed for full-time CRM project trainer  I agreed to take on this role with backfill for my post  The journey began … Getting started … 12

13.  Training for careers advisors  Very short preparation time – learning Salesforce and Employability business processes  Had lots of questions about how their processes worked with new system  Educating users means they want more features (and more training)  …The taste of things to come! May – June 2015 My first training courses … 13

14.  Trainer must be part of the project team to keep in touch with project developments  Invite to all meetings (formal and informal) with team & business areas  Can help to shape development of the project with course feedback from ‘the real users’ Key message 2 Locate me in the project team 14

15.  Large department – Student Recruitment & Admissions  Initial basic training from their supervisors but not using it  Perceived Salesforce as optional  Salesforce ‘champions’ been selected/volunteered  Arranged mandatory ‘refresher’ training courses for all staff June – July 2015 Student enquiries training 15

16. Key message 3 Embed key skills from the start 16

17. … use wildcards to avoid duplicates 17

18.  Big change, so users may be anxious – will changes affect their job security?  Make key users in business areas your training partners … understand their staff & build trust/confidence  Natural tendency to cling to how they have always worked – give them quick wins & make the benefits about them  Reinforce what they already know & improve practice – e.g. Freedom of Information, mobile device security … Key message 4 Expect some resistance 18

19. Countdown to Clearing … 19

20.  Staff had to use Salesforce  No longer optional!  System constantly changing during the training period (numerous training manual amendments & post-course emails)  80 student ambassadors to be trained in one day  Lots of new jargon to learn – on both sides! July – Aug 2015 Clearing enquiries training 20

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22.  New users learn better in a safe environment where they can make mistakes without affecting live data  Don’t underestimate the time required to maintain and prepare this  Lots of planning required for users to replicate what they will do in the live environment & build confidence Key message 5 Dedicated training environment 22

23. Student applications process before Salesforce… 23

24.  Student records system (UNIT-e) is our main source of data  Tracking, letters & reporting to move to Salesforce  Massive culture change… ... But significant improvements for the business, applicants and students  Lots of training and hand-holding Oct – Dec 2015 Student Applications 24

25. Student applications process after Salesforce… 25

26. Application processing turnaround times 26

27.  Focus moved to two large business areas  Spreadsheets being used to hold critical data  Management pressure to replace with the CRM  Complex processes with staff working across sites  Lessons learned – involved key users at every stage so they became ambassadors  But … still getting enquiries from staff in areas just trained Nov 2015 – March 2016 Focus moved to new areas & users 27

28.  Involve helpdesk staff as much as possible so they can understand the system & assist users  Taking time to support and train them reduces pressure on the trainer & the project team  Make sure they are familiar with your training site and can direct users to it Key message 6 Involve IT support staff 28

29. Help site 29

30. Key message 7 Take the training to the users 30

31.  Staff confidently using Salesforce  Information is easy & quicker to find  Business processes improved – and clearer  Substantially reduced paper & printing costs  Staff creating & using online reports for tracking  Disparate business areas beginning to see possibilities for sharing data and working together Impact & Benefits 31

32.  Using AGILE, development quickly moves to a new business area but you still need to train in the area just completed  Make sure users know where to get help  Project completion – training budget ends so what happens next?  What about training new staff? Key message 8 Set expectations for training demand 32

33.  Consider the benefits of having a trainer on board (advocacy, consistent & correct use, added value …)  Well-trained users reduces the risk of costly mistakes & damage to reputation  Stakeholders will measure project success by the system being used efficiently  Users & their managers will expect training Don’t forget the Users! 33

34. Thank you – questions? Loretta Cook  l.cook@plymouth.ac.ukl.cook@plymouth.ac.uk 34

35. 1.Do you expect all users to have formal training before using a new CRM system? 2.Are there barriers preventing users from attending training? 3.Would you need a dedicated sandbox (server/environment/organisation) for training? 4.Would you employ a Digital Skills Developer in your CRM project team? Considerations for your CRM project