{"id":58306,"date":"2020-09-29T06:00:35","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T10:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/?post_type=articles&p=58306"},"modified":"2020-09-24T16:24:17","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T20:24:17","slug":"great-training-organizations-integrate-technologies-seamlessly","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/trainingindustry.com\/articles\/learning-technologies\/great-training-organizations-integrate-technologies-seamlessly\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Training Organizations Integrate Technologies Seamlessly"},"author":52,"featured_media":58307,"template":"","tags":[3155,4976,5323,215,5382],"class_list":["post-58306","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cptmcert","tag-great-training-organizations","tag-gto","tag-learning-technologies","tag-technology-integration","global_topic_tax-learning-technologies"],"acf":{"sponsored":false,"gated":false,"gated_content_type":"","file_attachment":null,"gated_content":"","form_instruction_header":"To access the full article, please fill out the form below:","pardot_html_embed":"","author_override":true,"author_name":"Hope Williams, CPTM","author_image":38451,"author_bio":"Hope Williams, CPTM is an associate editor at Training Industry, Inc.","excerpt":"Enhance your approach to integrating learning technologies while strengthening relationships across business functions","main_content":"The learning technologies on the market today<\/a> offer learning leaders and their organizations powerful capabilities, ranging from creating and developing learning programs to delivering and reinforcing training to tracking and reporting the impact of learning efforts. However, if you stopped and asked a training manager, many would probably tell you they spend more time struggling against these technologies than leveraging them to streamline processes and drive business results.\r\n\r\nFor over a decade, Training Industry, Inc. has done just that \u2014 stopped to ask thousands of training professionals regarding the capabilities and best practices of great training organizations. And, although technology integration is ranked sixth on the list of process capabilities for great training organizations<\/a>, it is still critical to the success of effective learning organizations.\r\n\r\n\u201c[Technology integration] helps to keep everyone connected to the information they need,\u201d says Kenneth Baucum, CPTM, organizational development manager at SageNet. \u201cThe days of having paper binders full of information are behind us. We need to be able to have access to that information quickly.\u201d\r\n\r\nWhile a little over 26% of the training managers Training Industry surveyed feel technology integration is critical to their training organization\u2019s success, only 10.5% feel confident in their ability to implement effective integration practices. Let\u2019s explore a few ways learning leaders can enhance their approach to integrating learning technologies while strengthening relationships across business functions and increasing accessibility to the information employees need most.\r\n

Build Relationships With Your IT Department<\/h2>\r\nMuch like training departments, information technology (IT) teams are often viewed by stakeholders as cost and order fulfillment centers rather than a value-adding function of the business. However, Dr. Bill Brantley, CPTM, senior human resources specialist at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, says, \u201cYour training is what gets your leaders there; your IT is what\u2019s helping keep [the business functioning]\r\n\r\nUndetectable technology integration is the goal. However, frequent communication with and a firm understanding of the needs and goals of your IT department are the means of achieving seamless integration. \u201cBy forging that relationship and building that trust between IT and [human resources (HR)] and the rest of the business, [you enable] everyone to communicate more clearly [and] understand what the left hand is doing with the right and for everyone to be on the same page to help collectively work toward those business goals,\u201d says Baucum.\r\n

Ensure Communication Between Technologies<\/h2>\r\nThe outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic<\/a> was shortly followed by the appearance of terms like \u201cZoom fatigue\u201d to describe the burnout employees experience after a full day of virtual meetings and interactions. Similarly, Brantley says, employees also experience \u201ctool fatigue\u201d: \u201cIf I want to do this, I have to go to this system. But if I want to do this, I have to go into another system \u2026 By the time I\u2019m finished, I\u2019ve got about 10 different systems with their own different interfaces open. And I\u2019ve got to remember how each one works.\u201d\r\n\r\nThis situation creates a significant strain on employees\u2019 ability to focus on the task at hand, as they\u2019re required to multitask among platforms. Great training organizations \u201ccut down the cognitive load\u201d for employees by ensuring technologies are compatible and operate symbiotically<\/a>, says Brantley.","full_width":false,"content_band":[{"acf_fc_layout":"social_callout","blockquote":"Undetectable technology integration is the goal."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_area","wysiwyg":"Additionally, communication between technologies ensures that learning leaders are not mining and duplicating the same data and metrics. Brantley says that often, learning leaders have \u201cthese pools of data that are isolated and separate,\u201d but to effectively track learning and prove impact, learning leaders \u201cneed to know what [learners have] taken, when they\u2019ve taken it and what they\u2019ve done on it so [leaders] can say, \u2018They\u2019ve mastered this.\u2019\u201d\r\n\r\nIn the context of the coronavirus pandemic, communication between and optimization of technologies and platforms ensures that learners spend less time on technical difficulties, easing stress and increasing productivity for remote workers.\r\n

Don\u2019t Become Distracted by the Latest and Greatest<\/h2>\r\nAt the end of the day, it isn\u2019t about buying the flashiest or most modern technologies with the sleekest interfaces. In fact, Baucum says, \u201cAnytime we had an integration that went poorly, it always came back to not focusing on the business need or the users\u2019 need. It ended up being a hastily made decision to buy something that was cheap and easy without actually going through and figuring out what the needs were.\u201d\r\n\r\nHowever, \u201cif you do stop and you ask the right questions of your stakeholders, of the users of the platform, and you build \u2026 with those people in mind, it works a whole lot better,\u201d says Baucum. Taking the time to ask stakeholders questions ensures that learning leaders have a clear understanding of the problem, helping them to align technology solutions to critical business needs.\r\n\r\nAt Amtrak, infrastructure and the need to comply with government regulations place unique and difficult constraints on the training technologies and methodologies available to learning leaders and their learners. Trent Bartholomew, CPTM, lead instructional designer and course manager for safety, compliance and training at Amtrak, shares, \u201cWe took technology that does exist and figured out how to adapt it within our confinements.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe adds that not only will mobile devices on the warehouse floor \u201cget you fired at Amtrak,\u201d but workers are often \u201cin the warehouse with no Wi-Fi.\u201d As a result, training managers at Amtrak turned to Blackberry handhelds, equipped with refresher videos on technical processes and surveys and assessments, to check competency<\/a>. These devices are not the latest in handheld technology, but they meet the needs of Amtrak\u2019s workforce.\r\n\r\nBartholomew\u2019s advice? \u201cFigure out what [your] needs are. We know the limitations, so what can we use within those limitations that still gets us down the road where we need to go?\u201d\r\n\r\nAs a process capability, technology integration supports the infrastructure driving and connecting your training organization \u2014 especially in a predominately remote work environment. By maintaining frequent communication with IT teams, ensuring compatibility between technologies and interfaces, and remaining focused on introducing only technologies that are strategically aligned to business needs, great training organizations can achieve seamless technology integration."},{"acf_fc_layout":"social_callout","blockquote":"Optimization of technologies and platforms ensures that learners spend less time on technical difficulties, easing stress."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_area","wysiwyg":"[hubspot type=\"form\" portal=\"47185625\" id=\"31abc617-027a-47ea-a085-16e2fd6a2d32\" version=\"v4\"]\r\n\r\n