Customization, De-Customization, and Training Requirements for a New Technology

In today’s more-with-less economy, it makes sense to leverage your existing technologies to automate processes as much as possible. With layoffs running rampant and vacated positions going unfilled, organizations that make the most of their technology investment will win out over those who do not.

However, this can be taken too far. Many organizations invest vast sums of money in a newer, more efficient system, only to hire an army of consultants to make it look and function just like the system they just replaced. Don’t get me wrong, a degree of customization for your unique business is absolutely appropriate, and necessary. However, if you made the decision to purchase the new system, presumably you did so because it could do something (hopefully, many things) that your old system couldn’t. Be sure that you’re not neglecting that new functionality for the sake of a little comfort. For example, if your organization has a unique customer reporting requirement, then it makes sense to automate that requirement. However, you shouldn’t have to redesign your entire interface around that requirement.

I’ve got news for you – when you implement new technology, you’re going to have to re-write work instructions. People are going to need training. You’re going to have to re-think some of your current processes and evaluate whether they still make sense. This is all part of the change management process.

Many organizations book custom training with us years after they’ve implemented a technology. Oftentimes, we find that after the course, students leave the class saying things like, “Wow, I had no idea it could do that”, and, ”we spent a fortune to do that very same thing a different way.” This often leads to “de-customization” projects, returning the environment to its intended state. De-customization efforts come with their own pain, however; habits that have become ingrained over the course of 2 generations of technology must now be un-learned. Expectations need to be managed so that users understand the full reasons for redoing something that was just redone. Again, it’s all part of the change management process.

The bottom line is that customization should be carefully tailored to suit your business need, and should maximize the company’s intent for implementing the technology in the first place. Training will be required either way, and can be adapted to any situation. Just make sure that you’re training on the right features, that have been implemented for the right reasons.

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