We noted lots of divergence between presenters on the topic of whether or not it makes sense to train end users on Microsoft SharePoint. For one presenter on the topic of Project Management with SharePoint, the answer was a clear “no.”
To give this presenter her credit (the presenter was Ms. Linnea Lewis of the Denver Public Schools System), she framed her position statement around a “should“: “How much training should an end user require to use SharePoint 2010″? Within this hypothetical context we can certainly see why her answer was a clear “none” to “not much”. After all, we are in the age of very “dumbed down” technology; for example, WordPress for blogs, FaceBook for “social networking.” Ten minutes into either of these “tools” and I’m up and running, right? Therefore, ought not this same “instant on” experience be modus operandi for SharePoint and our end users? Ms. Lewis apparently would answer “yes” to this question as would a number of the attendees to her presentation who voiced support for her hypothesis.
We respectfully disagree. We don’t think SharePoint has much in common with WordPress or FaceBook. This post is not the place for us to flesh out this argument, but we do need to state our case. Evidently, we weren’t alone on this one. A presentation on SharePoint training at Bristol Myers Squibb and another on the state of SharePoint at Biogen Idec both treated end user training as not only a mandatory feature of operational SharePoint at these businesses, but, further, as a key tool to extract greater value from SharePoint as a tool for these enterprises. Without training, both presenters made clear that SharePoint would have no where near the high value feature of enterprise operations as is the present case.
Our SP101 – The Basics: SharePoint End User Training for Readers, Members & Subsite Owners delivers important, highly useful computer procedures succinctly to an otherwise computer neutral audience who are told to do something with SharePoint but don’t really care to know why.
If you reverb with our perspective and would like to learn further about how video tutorial content can benefit your SharePoint plan and, most importantly, your users, then please do reach out to us. You may reach us at (630) 786-7026, or Contact Us to further a discussion about our video training content.
As ever, use this link to place an order for an annual subscription to SharePoint-Videos instructional content
© Rehmani Consulting Inc, 2012 All Rights Reserved