Metropolitan Water District of Southern California - Creating Effective Technology Training

When working in modern technology, the typical situation encountered is various features not being put to use by the user. Although training programs try to teach people those features, the reality is a majority of the training will be forgotten.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California recently implemented a comprehensive update all of their computers, but they ran into the problem of preparing 2,000 people for the rollout of a new technology. Users were comfortable asking for the kind of training they were used to and wanted daylong training with a live instructor. The method, however, was unnecessary and extremely costly.

The company devised several ways to conduct training in a just-in-time manner, allowing people to access training whenever a specific problem arose. Web-based online videos explained how to use the software, and the training was broken out into components. One piece focused on preparing individuals before they received their new computers. Once they got their computer, users were trained on the operations of the new system and a number of help resources were made available for any problems the user may encounter.    

When individuals were up and running on their new computers, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California focused on training new skills using both online demos and instructor-led, classroom training. The rollout has proven there are opportunities for blended integrations of platforms into a design structure that allows for a deeper understanding of the new technologies.