Best Practices: The Essential Business Intelligence Training Tools Checklist

As user adoption of business intelligence tools tends to be so low (30 percent according to Gartner), our customer success team wanted to dive deeper into tip #7 from our slideshare and expose how administrators can automate training and set users up for long term success.

Today's business intelligence solutions range from self-service BI apps for sales and marketing leaders to complex, custom integrations built and managed by IT. For the latter, adoption rates improve when training and support initiatives parallel the product rollout. There are many ways to approach training, and it can be overwhelming to think about the endless ways to equip users for success. That's why we created a training tools checklist to help you along the way. As you plan your training program, consider this process:

Strategize

• Write a strategic outline: What training you'll deliver, to whom
• Define the structure for your corporate Wiki/support page
• Finalize how you'll use vendor's Customer Success team in training process
• Ask your vendor for a list of links to relevant training videos or documents
• Send emails with screenshots and product info in advance of launch date to build interest

Educate

• Announce a schedule of trainings
• Host live user trainings
• Host quarterly Q&A sessions
• Schedule specialized training to nurture power users within each line of business or user role
• Host expert-level training for project owners or BI support team to prepare for user questions

Build Reusable Tools

• Record user trainings using Google Hangouts, Camtasia or Gotomeeting tools
• Create a "where does this number come from?" reference document to highlight data sources and calculations behind KPIs
• Ensure most critical content from reference document is in text boxes on dashboards
• Build an FAQ
• Record thought leaders' success stories after they use dashboards in board or exec presentations
• Bonus: Create bite-sized, mobile-friendly tips that users can consume on the train

Promote

• Share your vendor's monthly customer newsletter, or build your own to share key feature updates
• Project an overview dashboard on a TV or wall in common areas; include a link to the Wiki page
• Include in-dashboard links to your Wiki page
• Include links to your Wiki page in emailed reports

Iterate

• Define internal user support strategy
• Agree on the process for a feedback loop from support
• Document questions coming in and incorporate into FAQ
• Create an idea bank where users can self-submit
• Define how product feedback will be communicated back to solution owner/vendor
• Schedule over-the-shoulder sessions with each user type to evaluate training effectiveness
• Contact vendor's Customer Success team for additional training if a key stakeholder leaves so that you don't skip a beat

To keep your training program fresh, set a time frame when you'll revisit your training tools. Also be sure to update your strategic plan, reference document and FAQ when you add new business user groups or data sources.