Onward with the process of building a training plan! In the recent webinar about the five question method, we talked about the five main questions that need to be answered when building a training plan. This blog entry will cover a couple of other areas, risks and open items.
Most planning documents have some form of risks section. Your Workforce Timekeeper training plan is no different. After all, we want to cover ourselves, it's natural! When listing risks remember to be comprehensive, but concise, list only legitimate risks that can affect the training program. For example: "Employees are not computer literate. This may have a significant affect on the success of the training program." OF COURSE THIS IS A RISK... and an obvious one if you ask me. Don't just mention what the risks are either; note mitigating options as well. So lets try this again: "A significant number of employees are not computer literate. An introductory course on computers is strongly suggested. The creation of an introductory computer course may not be the final solution to this risk, but is a proposed solution, and that is the key. The purpose of these risks is not to cover ourselves, it is to look forward, to see where challenges may arise, and to anticipate what the solutions will be. Hannibal once said "We will either find a way or make one." this sounds a little dramatic, but it is non the less correct. Note the challenges, but focus on the solutions.
During the process of planning for your training program, it doesn't take long to figure out what you need to successfully deploy your training program. Ideally, you will have everything you need, but in the real world that isn't the case. Whereas a risk is something that poses a threat to the success of the program, an open item is simply something that must be completed before the training program can be completed successfully. Open items are clear, and all members of the implementation team are aware of them. The key is timing. just as with risks, open items should be followed by the timing of the item's completion. By incorporating the timing in which the open items will be completed, the training plan comes into better focus. This focus will help everyone building the training program.
Good luck with your Kronos training program.