Hey there. Welcome to Elevated. I'm Brandy Lawson, and today we're talking about the make or break element of software implementation that most businesses totally botch. Training and support. It's like buying a Ferrari and then never learning how to shift out of first gear. Training isn't an event. It is a process. Just because there's a single day of vendor training and delivery of login credentials does not mean that the team will experience the value of the system. Think about it like learning to cook. Would you expect someone to become a chef after one cooking class? Of course not. You'd practice basic techniques, gradually adding complexity. Have someone check your work and keep reference materials handy when trying new recipes. Yet somehow we expect our teams to master complex software after a single rushed training session. Today we'll look at building a training and support system that transforms your team from software survivors to software superstars without overwhelming them or breaking your budget. Effective software training evolves five key components that build on each other First. Staged learning. The biggest mistake I see is trying to teach everything at once. A better approach is to break training into capability blocks, starting with just the basic client intake functions for week one. Then adding specification development in week two and visualization tools in week three. This just in time approach prevents the overwhelm that causes people to give up. Your training checklist can map out this progressive sequence, identifying what skills are foundational. Versus advanced. Remember, mastery comes from repeated use of core functions before adding complexity. Second, diverse learning formats. People absorb information differently. Some need to see, others need to do, and some need to understand the why before the how. The most successful implementations I've seen offer multiple paths to competence, and now there are tools like Google's Notebook, LM that can help. You can create your own training ecosystem from a live training for visual learners. Take the recording and transcript and feed it into Notebook lm. Then ask it to create step-by-step written guides for those who prefer reading short video tutorials for visual reference and podcast style audio training for the hands-on learners set up practice sandboxes. This multi-channel approach ensures everyone can learn in their preferred style. Third real world application. Generic training examples, rarely stick. Your training needs to use actual scenarios from your business, the types of kitchens you design, the cabinet lines you specify, the approval workflows you follow to get started, collect your five most common project types and create training scenarios around each one. This will make the learning immediately applicable rather than theoretical. Your team will see exactly how the software can improve their daily work and not just how it functions in general. Fourth Progressive support systems Day one. Training needs are different from day 30 needs. Initially, people need intensive immediate help for basic functions. Later. They need access to advanced techniques when they're ready to expand their skills. The most effective support systems I've seen start with dedicated office hours where experts are available for immediate help. Then transition to self-service resources, like internal knowledge bases, and finally create channels for peer-to-peer skill sharing where team members can learn from each other's discoveries. Finally, measure and validate competence. How do you know if your training is working? Most companies never check. Your training checklist should include specific capability, milestones, and ways to verify them. One way to do this is a simple skill verification checklist for each role. For example, for new drafting software designers had to demonstrate they could create a design, generate specifications and produce client ready renderings without assistance. This wasn't punitive, it was celebratory. Recognizing their progress and identifying any remaining gaps. Let's walk through a possible training and support system for a mid-sized kitchen and bath design firm implementing a new project management software. It is a 60 day training blueprint with clear phases, first foundation phase, days, one through 15, day one, core concepts. Workshop like two hours, all staff. Then days two through five, role specific sessions about an hour each by department days, six through 15 daily, 15 minute team huddles to share discoveries and frustration. Yes, the support here needs to be dedicated experts available all day for immediate questions. Then we verify the training through basic navigation and daily task checklists. Next up is the application phase. These are days 16 through 30. We'll have weekly role specific workshops focusing on real projects, also internal power users assigned as mentors to colleagues. Then create quick reference guides based on common questions. Yes, the support here is scheduled check-ins rather than that constant availability we had in the first phase. The verification is complete role specific workflow without assistance. Then the mastery phase days 31 through 60. Here we offer advanced feature workshops for those who've mastered the basics. There are innovation sessions where team members share discoveries and workarounds. Also cross training between departments on interconnected features. The support here transitions to peer-to-peer help channels, and weekly office hours. We verify their ability to train others on core functions. Pro tip here. It's beneficial to create a question parking lot where people can post issues they encountered. This not only provides visibility into common stumbling blocks, but allows creation of targeted mini training sessions addressing real problems rather than theoretical ones. This week, create your training blueprint. Head to fiery effects.com/choose and download the worksheet if you haven't already for your next software implementation or to improve adoption of your current system. Build out a comprehensive plan that goes beyond the initial vendor training. Focus on these key elements. What capabilities need to be learned and what sequence, what training formats will you offer for different learning styles? How will you create practice opportunities using real business scenarios? And what support resources will you provide at different stages? Finally, how will you verify that skills have been successfully acquired? Remember, the true cost of inadequate training isn't just the unused potential of your software. It's the frustration, inefficiency, and or resistance that builds when your team lacks confidence in the tools they use every day. Next week we'll shift to real world application as we examine how one design firm revolutionized their project management through strategic software selection and implementation. Are you rethinking your approach to software training? Great. Maybe you know someone else who needs this too, just share the link.