Most projects will take a Train the Trainer (TTT) approach to save time and money. TTT can be an invaluable tool for projects and increase adoption rates for new processes and technologies. Handled poorly however, TTT can do more harm than good. If your TTT approach consists only of identifying SMEs, handing them a presentation and off to teach the class they go- you are setting your training up to fail.

TTT works when the SME has been trained previously as a facilitator. Teaching effectively is much more than knowing the subject matter, standing in front of colleagues and speaking. Where TTT approaches fail is that they don't teach the basics of good facilitating.

SMES often know the material too well. They can struggle to break it down to its most basic elements. For example, would you hire someone with a PhD in auto mechanics to teach your 15 year old how to drive?

There are many instances when a client calls upon a consulting firm to come in and improve their process. The client is in a state of complete confusion and frustration. They have spent time, money, and resources to create a new process which they believe to have a positive impact on a large part of the organization. The client states that there is substantial resistance to adopting the new process. Often those who have no choice but to adopt, due to the large effect to their everyday duties, are angry about the change and have little confidence in the team that implemented the new process. The client believes that the new process brings increased efficiency and accuracy to the business, but feels that the process still needs improvement in order for the employees to eagerly adopt.

Is the world destined to be littered with a whole mess of ill-fitting, barely usable SharePoint 2010 sites in a couple of years?

Suppose you have been called on to create training for your organization.  Where do you begin?  Getting the conversation started to establish a training plan with a well-defined curriculum may be a challenge without all of the necessary considerations.  Keeping these 10 questions in mind will help you ensure that you have laid the groundwork for an effective training curriculum:

1.  Who is the target audience?