SharePoint Training Strategies Don’t Work

Sharepoint Training Strategies Don't Work

SharePoint’s Number One Problem is Poor Adoption

A recent IDC poll indicated that only 22% of the employee base use SharePoint on a regular basis. As if the negative ROI of this situation weren’t bad enough, another study shows that the cost of supporting SharePoint can be over $40 per person per month. According to a Osterman research study, 46% of employees say that poor training is the reason for the poor adoption.

Antiquated SharePoint Training

The typical training model for many organizations adopting SharePoint is one referred to as “train the trainer“.  This approach involves selecting a small group of middle managers in an organization and sending them to a two or three day SharePoint “boot camp”.  Upon their return, they are expected to train the other employees in their department.  While this seems like a logical approach, I believe it to be the root cause of SharePoint’s generally low adoption rate.

The “train the train​er” model fails for three reasons:

1.  The scope of the training. The idea that even fundamental “end-user” training in SharePoint can be effectively delivered in 2 to 3 days, is absurd.  The typical curriculum covers a laundry list of concepts, techniques and procedures.  It’s like trying to teach someone to speak French in 2 to 3 days. (Bonne chance!)
2. Poor retention. Studies show that newly learned techniques that are not immediately and repeatedly applied will quickly be forgotten.  This can produce a retention rate as low as 10% in as little as 30 days.
3. The limited delivery of training to only a tiny fraction of the employees. The typical  cost of a two or three day “boot camp” runs between $700 and $1400 per person. This high cost is the reason why most organizations adopt the limited, “train the trainer” approach to begin with.

The Scariest Part

When you consider the huge scope of SharePoint end-user training, couple that with terrible retention, and add to that the tiny number of people actually receiving the training it’s not surprising that the adoption rate is only 22%. The scary part isn’t the money wasted on this training model, or even the poor adoption, it’s the lost, destroyed and overexposed company information when these employees interact with their Intranet.

So what’s the answer?

Simple, Automate SharePoint Training and Help Desk Support by Making SharePoint Support Itself!