An IT Question: How Far Does Your Responsibility In Training Go?

I often hear IT folks comment on the lack of knowledge of computers and systems within the user community.  When the discussion turns to training, techniques like user manuals, classes, FAQs and online help are often mentioned.  And yet our users still don't seem to have the knowledge they need to utilize the computers and systems efficiently and effectively and we are taken to task for this.  It seems as though we want to be held accountable for our efforts (providing the training) - the things we can control.  However we are often measured on the outcome (how much the users learn) - something not entirely within our control.

How far does our responsibility  go in making sure our users are properly trained?  Is it our job to simply provide the training or is it to make sure people are adequately trained?  What do you think?

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Comments

[Matthew Moran]

That depends...

If there is universallack of understanding by our "users" - those we have trained - our responsibility is increased because it seems to point to a failure in our training method. Or a huge number of dumb trainees - in which case, visit HR and help them figure it out.. ;-_

But, if it is the same users - again and again - we need to find out:

1) if they are resisting learning because they just don't want to learn;
2) is there a language/understanding barrier - requiring more remedial training or a mentor/tutor approach (by someone in their department hopefully);
3) I can't think of three but I am assuming there is another potential challenge.

Our responsibility is to gauge our effectiveness in the training we provide - increase it as much as possible - and determine when it is out of our control/out of our responsibility so that the proper department/individual can pick up the gap..

[JibberJobber Guy]

When I was a programmer I was supposed to write some documentation on an application I made. It was my first time doing this and I wrote a very thorough set of instructions. When my boss saw that I would write "left-click" she told me that if we tell the users every single little thing to do, then they'll expect that level of instruction for every single thing we do.

"to open your e-mail, first turn on your computer..."

That is an exaggeration but you get the point.

To address another side of this question, with a younger workforce that is pretty tech-savvy, and a ton of resources (user group forums, searchable (electronic) user manuals, etc.), how much training do we really need to give?

Of course there's a difference between training an entry-level clerk (needs training), a mid-career professional (I'm guessing won't need much training), and an older exec that is used to having a secretary (needs technical training)...

My two cents.

Jason Alba
CEO - JibberJobber.com
:: self-serve career management ::

[Mike]

Matt, Jason

Thanks for the comments. This is definitely one of those situations with no one right answer. It's always a judgment call depending on the situation. I guess I tend towards do as much as possible to make sure they understand and comprehend. But having said that, the "student" also has some responsibility in this too.

Mike