The brief

To design a training programme which assisted an office-wide migration to the latest Windows and Microsoft Office versions. In particular, training had to be focused on Cairn's business objectives and targeted to suit varying staff usage and abilities.

The solution

A blend of demonstration sessions, floor walking and workshops:

"Lunch and Learn" demonstration sessions

The most common business disruption caused by a migration can arise from staff's inability to perform day-to-day operations as previously familiar interfaces and specific software functions change. Demonstration sessions tackle this specific issue:

• 1 hour duration over lunch in Cairn's boardroom (including free buffet style lunch)
• Accommodate up to 30 staff
• Tailored to focus on the areas of most concern
• Highlight the most relevant new features
• Include a Q & A session
• Used as a vehicle to outline Cairn's organisational "best-practice" ideas

Floor walking

Trainers were deployed to move around the office responding to individual queries, problems, and other migration related issues:

• Natural progression from demonstration sessions
• Immediate response to real-time problems
• Alleviates pressure on the IT department during transition period
• Effective monitoring of migration success and staff attitudes

Workshops

Workshops provide the perfect solution for staff who cannot afford the time to attend a whole day's training, or for those staff who only require to learn a specific aspect of their software. Lasting between 1 and 2 hours, the workshops covered targeted specific elements of the Microsoft Office software, the topics having been identified by working closely with key individuals to assess Cairn's business objectives as well as overall skills gaps:

• Each session concentrating on 1 particular aspect of software
• Maximum of 6 staff per workshop
• Mix of instruction, exercises and discussion