Executing Training

Enabling your stakeholders with the skills and knowledge they need to get the most from Sales Cloud is an essential component for success. A high level of adoption is always the goal.

In Chapter 2, Defining the Approach, we learned about the pillars of organizational change management and how training is a component of that. We learned about the types of testing that are commonly used in Salesforce projects, along with the importance of developing a Training Plan and the different types of training that you might choose to include in it.

This chapter gives you the information you need to create a Training Plan for your implementation and the practical considerations for creating and delivering the training. We start by exploring some of the practical considerations when planning and executing your training.

We’re going to cover the following main topics in this chapter:

• Training in practice
• Developing your Training Plan
• Creating training...

Supporting tools and information

To execute training, you will require access to the Salesforce environment designated for creating and delivering training. This will be defined by your environment strategy. Depending on the training materials you are creating you may need a word processing tool, a tool to create screenshots, and a tool to capture, edit, and caption voiceover videos. If training is being delivered virtually you will require an online meeting tool such as Zoom or Google Meet. If you are using Trailhead as part of your training mix you will need to register for a free Trailhead account.

Your organization might have a Learning Management Tool or e-learning tool that you are planning to use as part of your training. If so, you will need access to these tools to create content.

Training in practice

The mix of training that is planned and executed for each implementation depends on a number of factors, including the complexity of the solution, the organization’s Salesforce maturity, and the time, budget, and skills available. As with a software solution design, there is no single perfect way to deliver training. You are looking to take the best approach based on your solution, the audience you are training, and the time, skills, and resources available.

There are some common principles and best practices to keep in mind throughout the process of planning and delivering your training program:

• Involve content creators early – The people creating the materials should be involved as early as possible. This allows the materials to be created in parallel with other implementation activities and keeps timelines tight, as training can be completed shortly after system changes have been completed.
• Creating quality materials takes time ...

Developing your Training Plan

In Chapter 2, Preparing for Success, we learned about the role of a Training Plan and what it would typically include. In this session, we are going to explore how to create a plan for your specific user case. Your organization may have a process or template they use for planning training. If so, you should consider adopting those. If not, you can use the planning approach covered here.

As we learned in Chapter 2, although the format of Training Plans may vary, they contain a core set of information that describes what they aim to achieve and how they are going to achieve it. The initial steps to create a plan are as follows:

1. Define and agree on the objectives.
2. Gather information to confirm training needs.
3. Design the training program.
4. Identify resources.
5. Create the materials.
6. Communicate the plan.
7. Prepare to deliver.
8. Monitor progress.

To develop your plan, you will need to gather information. The following...

Creating training materials

Creating well-structured, concise, high-quality training materials is a skill in itself. It is easy to leave the creation of training materials until the very end and underestimate the time it requires. Tasks such as creating screenshots and editing errors out of video recordings can take a deceptively long time.

The following are some tips on creating content:

• Content creators need a good understanding of the functionality; along with access to developers to ask for clarification on the functionality.
• Content creators need an environment with representative data to take screenshots or record videos.
• Screenshots and training should not display any sensitive data, particularly customer names and contact details such as emails or phone numbers.
• People learn when they are enjoying themselves and having fun; so including icebreakers and quizzes helps to reinforce learning.
• It is more time-consuming to edit video content than rehearse...

Delivering training

There are a number of things to consider when delivering training. The considerations differ depending on the method of delivery. We will consider these in turn, starting with instructor-led training.

Instructor-led

When delivering instructor-led training, you need to consider the following:

• Breaks: It is important to have regular breaks. It will help keep attendees focused if they know in advance when the breaks are as they will know when they can make calls and check emails.
• Ground rules: Sharing ground rules for the training at the start lets everyone know what is expected of them. This might include attendees shutting down email or silencing devices.
• No or silent devices: This will be influenced by your organizational culture, but you may consider asking attendees to hand over their phones at the beginning of the session. At a minimum, you will want to ask people to put their phones on silent.
• Parking lot: Explain the concept of a parking...

Summary

In this chapter, we learned about the considerations and best practices when planning and delivering training. We explored some of the common considerations when approaching the development of a training program before considering the types of questions to ask to gather information to create a detailed plan. Finally, we looked at creating training material and delivering training. With this information, you will be able to create and deliver an effective training plan for your Sales Cloud implementation.

In the next chapter, you will learn how to plan the deployment of your Sales Cloud Implementation.

Further reading

Salesforce training:

• Trailhead: User Training and Enablement

  https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/user-training-and-motivation