Want a Successful CMS Rollout? Train the Trainer
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010 at 3:00pm -- David Klanac
I was on a sales trip recently where the prospect began asking questions about our recommended approach to rolling out Cascade Server to their organization. I have a fairly short answer for this frequently asked topic. My first response is to tell people to always be able to identify at least 3 core, recurring problems that you are looking to solve using the CMS and how you're going to measure your progress. That's the nice softball answer that will get just about any group of people quickly nodding their heads in agreement. What I follow up with, however, usually takes a moment to explain as it's designed to address what I feel is the Achilles Heel of organizations rolling out new software or attempting to enact change of any kind –– buy-in.
I'm sure that there are a multitude of definitions out there for buy-in, but I try to keep mine simple. If you can convince another person that a) there is a problem to solve and b) that the proposed solution will make their daily responsibilities easier, the person is bought in. As an aside, if you can elicit ideas from him or her on ways to further improve the solution, then you've found an ally and already multiplied your return on time invested.
Returning to my CMS rollout recommendations, the best way by far to get that buy-in and daily use of the system is to maintain an individual on staff who is responsible for training and supporting end users. Focus your outside vendor training efforts on making that person and any website managers comfortable and knowledgeable about the CMS and your unique implementation of it. What you end up doing is constructing a living, renewable resource of knowledge who facilitates problem solving and continues to invest in your team. I'm not advocating that an organization hire a person full-time, but I am saying that a company needs to be prepared to shift responsibilities around so that there is a person(s) whose highest priority is successful CMS adoption.
Some of this advice may not appear very sage at surface level. But it's interesting, however, how many organizations still insist on solely relying upon the outside CMS vendor to get buy-in and train end users on the software. There are a couple of reasons why this is not a recommended approach.
First, a successful training experience is predicated on the fact that the trainee wants to be there and sees value in the exercise. An outsider vendor with little to no firsthand knowledge of your organizational culture or internal CMS selection history is going to spend more time selling than teaching. Yes, yes –– we vendors "never stop selling," but imagine the same scenario with an "inside guy" who is able to navigate the human roadblocks to getting buy-in and is able to jump right into training much earlier in the process. Which scenario sounds more effective to you?
Secondly, a vendor is not going to remain onsite indefinitely, which means that you will eventually grapple with another challenge. CMS implementations tend to be very customized and leave users still needing specific questions answered where a vendor's support team is not always going to be the best source to consult. For instance, imagine using Microsoft Word's form fields feature in a custom .dotx template file and getting frustrated when you can't find any Microsoft support information explaining why your department's template requires a nine-digit zip code instead of the typical five. Chances are much higher that an individual on staff will have a better answer to your question, because it's a customization. Step back into the more sophisticated scenario with a CMS and it might be more clear why a staff trainer could not only answer your implementation questions but also provide one-on-one, supplemental instruction.
As I said, the other half of my recommendation takes a brief moment of reflection. Essentially "training the trainer" is a repeatable way to ensuring user adoption of your CMS and, therefore, success with your CMS.
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