3. 1. The type and timing of training are dependant on many
factors. Discuss these factors
2. When a new employee joins an organisation what is the
first type of training they will experience?
3. There are two main types of training what are they?
4. What are the potential benefits to an organisation of
providing training to their staff?
5. ---NOTE---
6. There are many training methods available, state 5
7. Explain each of the above methods and state who and
when it would be suitable for.
8. What types of support are available to users?
9. Explain each type of support available
10. What factors might influence a choice of support
method?
4. 11. --- NOTE ---
12. What is an interface?
13. What are the features of a ‘good’ ‘user
friendly’ interface?
14. What features would you provide in an
interface to offer support?
15. What interface would be ideal for an ATM?
Justify your answer
16. What interface would be ideal for an ATM?
Justify your answer
5. Type of training will be dependent on:
◦ How many users need training?
◦ Is expertise available onsite?
◦ Are suitable facilities available onsite?
◦ Are external courses available?
◦ Are manuals or other methods available?
◦ Experience of the user
◦ The users knowledge and job role
◦ The level at which the staff works e.g. operational/tactical/strategic
Timing of training will be dependent on:
◦ Whether the user has used a computer before
◦ Whether the member of staff is new to the organisation/department
◦ Introduction of new hardware/software
◦ Introduction of new legislations/procedures
7. Task based
◦ Trains the user to carry out a specific routine
activity e.g. operating an EPOS checkout
Skills based
◦ Aims to give the user transferable skills that can be
used in a variety of ways
Skills updating and refreshing is also
important
8. Cost benefit
◦ Can improve staff productivity
Higher profits
Improved staff moral
◦ Training can inspire and motivate staff
◦ Shows the commitment the company has in them
Improved staff retention
◦ Many employees want to professionally develop
◦ Opportunities to further their knowledge, skills and
progression is a reason to remain in the workplace
9. When deciding on whether to provide training
or not, companies will weigh up the cost
against reward
E.g. Companies that have a rapid turnover of
staff (fast food chains) and/or many part time
staff might not reap the benefits of training
their staff
10. 1. Personal training (instructor lead training)
2. On the job training
3. External courses
4. In house courses
a. By external trainer
b. By internal trainer
5. On-line tutorials
6. Training Manuals
7. Computer-based training (CBT)
11. Personal training (instructor lead training)
◦ Often use for specialised training
◦ Expensive
◦ Ideal for strategic staff / specific users requiring specific specialist training
On the job training
◦ Learning whilst at work
◦ Observation
◦ Difficult to learn whilst still working
◦ Little costs
◦ Ideal for those who are unfamiliar with company procedures (maybe changing
departments – observe to see new role)
External courses
◦ Shared costs for many attendees
◦ Some courses (by commercial companies) can be very expensive
◦ Provides opportunities to collaborate, share ideas and ask questions amongst your
peers
◦ A good meeting point for new contacts
◦ Some are run out of office hours so no work is missed
◦ Employees are often asked to share their experiences/learning on their return
12. In house courses
◦ By external trainer
Often used to train many at once .g. when a new system is
introduced
Location of training must be considered
Expensive to higher trainer but potentially cheaper than sending
each member of staff on a course
Staff are still on site if required to work i.e. emergency (should be
avoided)
Good for team building and collaboration
◦ By internal trainer
Costs are low
Trainer has a good understanding of the organisation
Will be able to tailor the training (know the staff and procedures)
13. On-line tutorials
◦ Delivered via the internet
◦ Offered for free, paid subscription, part of a contract (bespoke
software)
◦ Interactive, visual and audio
◦ Can pause and work through at their own pace
◦ Can replay and revisit areas that cause confusion
◦ Is impersonal, can’t ask questions
Training Manuals
◦ Usually paper based/PDF
◦ Produced by the software developers/third party publishers
◦ Step-by-step exercises
◦ Selective choice of areas to focus on
◦ Always readily available
◦ Less expensive than training course
◦ Is impersonal, can’t ask questions
14. Computer-based training (CBT) Features:
◦ User follows simulated versions of the software to
deliver sequences of operations
◦ Built in marking system
◦ Makes use of multimedia
◦ Used for tutorials
◦ Game based training is growing
http://goo.gl/OCZt4
◦ Testing and assessment can be built in
◦ Distance training
15. --- NOTE ---
CBT is not simply used to train people how to
use computers it can also be used to train
people how to do certain tasks or how to
react in different situations e.g. a simulator
16. Health and Safety training – spot the dangers
How to perform a specific task e.g.
demonstrations and practical computer based
tasks on how to operate a piece of machinery
Software packages often offer computer based
tutorials
Others http://www.selfstudysource.com/
When should it be used? http://goo.gl/fgb59
17. Flexibility of where and when used (not limited to space and
geographical setting)
Ensures consistency in the training provided
You can simulate scenarios that would be difficult to replicate
Materials provided using multimedia e.g. text, audio, video
Material can be accessed using a variety of hardware e.g. tablet,
desktop, mobile
Can work through the training at your own pace
The training can be repeated until understood
18. The software can be expensive
Loss of social element to bounce ideas off of
peers
Potential of being distracted
Some packages don’t gauge the progress
made and with no human input it is difficult
to assess whether the training has been
absorbed
19. Training
◦ Providing opportunity to develop skills, learn new
things
Support
◦ Providing assistance
20. Software / On-screen help
User guides and manuals
On site technician/help desk
Existing user base
External helpdesk
Email and chat support
Remote support
Call out support
On-line support
21. Software / On-screen help
◦ First port of call
◦ Often has index and search facilities
◦ Tries to use a natural language interface
User guides and manuals
◦ Includes information on how to install, maintain and run the
software
◦ Point of support not training
◦ More suitable for experienced users
On site technician/help desk
◦ Companies interests at heart
◦ May need further technical support from experts
◦ Help desks allow technicians to prioritise requests and log regular
problems
22. Existing user base
◦ Experienced users can help those less experienced
◦ Free support
External helpdesk
◦ Helpdesk provided by the software manufacturer
◦ Usually made by telephone call
◦ Details of problems logged
◦ Frustrating for the user (logged, passed on to technical
team, call back etc.)
◦ Costs can be per call or contracted
Email and chat support
◦ Free to communicate
◦ logged
23. Remote support
◦ Contractor can access machines from outside the organisation to
resolve problems
◦ Affects level of security
Call out support
◦ Potentially expensive to have support engineer visit onsite
◦ Maybe cheaper than employing full time technician
On-line support
◦ Forums
◦ Bulletin boards
◦ FAQ’s (problem maybe logged and solved previously)
◦ Free
◦ May have to search through many threads
◦ Reliability?
24. How critical the system is to the organisation
If the company is whole dependant on the system
Expertise available within the organisation
Skill level of the employees
How different the new system is from the one it replaces
The number of employees
Is there enough work to justify employing support staff?
How complex is the setup?
How much support if provided for free?
Cost of the support
What will the support include
How quickly is support delivered
Any security issues?
25. Companies are able to provide training to
their employees but not always to their
customers.
Therefore it is essential they provide user
friendly interfaces if they expect customers
to interact with their systems e.g. ATM
machines, e-commerce
26. When customers interact with a new system
they will need guidance at the point of input.
This guidance/training could be provided by:
◦ Providing detailed instructions
◦ Providing examples, visual illustrations of what is
expected
◦ Providing video tutorials that demonstrate how to
use the interface
27. The point at which the user communicates
with the system
Refers to both the hardware and software
E.G.
◦ Think of a sat-nav system
◦ Touch screen interface (hardware)
◦ GUI (Software)
30. Menu driven interface
◦ Options are predetermined
◦ Intuitive (step by step instructions)
◦ Prompts
◦ NO TRAINING REQUIRED
Touch screen
◦ Simple to use
31. GUI interface
◦ Familiar graphics used to prompt user
◦ Structure of content familiar (top-to-bottom, left-
to-right)
◦ Search facilities and FAQ’s accessible via help
◦ Contact details present on each page
Keyboard and mouse
◦ Familiar hardware
