Training your care team for new software

Getting employees used to new software and systems can be tough, perhaps even more so in a home care business – but it’s not impossible. And while the transition period for training your team for new software is often the hardest part, once your employees are comfortable and confident in using new software – productivity and efficiency are guaranteed to improve.

Did you know? The implementation of digital technologies can help accelerate progress towards enterprise goals such as financial returns, workforce diversity, and environmental targets by 22% (Deloitte, 2020).

How to train employees on new software in your business

Training employees on a new software system requires a thorough and committed plan of action. Making training a priority to hosting the right type of training experiences for different employees will all contribute to a successful rollout of new technology.

8 tips to ensure you get software training right

  1. Make training a priority
  2. Provide training in the right formats
  3. Ensure training is interactive
  4. Engage employees at every step
  5. Allow room for failure
  6. Update your training as the software changes
  7. Get feedback from your team

Practice what you preach

As the leader of a programme of change, you should set a shining example for your team. Get to know the software yourself, understand as many functions and features as possible and get comfortable with the user interface. It’s your job to champion the software and understand how it will benefit each person’s role. 

Make training a priority

One of the biggest mistakes companies make when implementing new programmes, procedures, or technologies is asking already overloaded employees to magically find time in their day to add training. Make training a priority by allocating the time and resources to make sure your training is comprehensive and well-received.

Try things like lunch and learn sessions – which are a fantastic way to build connections across a team while simultaneously learning something new.

Provide software training in the right formats

In most cases, lecture-based training sessions are not effective in helping employees develop their new skills. Can you take the time to find out what would suit your team? Would it be helpful to have training packs with easy-to-follow screenshots, or would video tutorials or live demonstrations be helpful?

With remote teams, you can leverage the power of the internet and host training sessions on Skype or Zoom.

Ensure software training is interactive

Software is often easier to understand when you try to do things yourself. Instead of simply demoing software, can you set up training sessions where attendees get to ‘have a go’? You could start with the more confident members of the team – that can then assist the more apprehensive employees.

Engage employees at every step

Engage employees in the development and deployment of new technology. A powerful way to help them understand the problem that the technology is trying to solve is to get them to solve the problems themselves! Make sure that they feel involved before it is rolled out so that they feel invested and engaged in its deployment.

Prior to deployment, you could host town hall meetings to set out what you intend to achieve and invite questions and feedback from all of your team members.

Allow room for failure

Allow room for failure and mistakes. Many of us learn from failing. Not only will this let your employees see your compassion, but it will also give you an opportunity to scope out pain points and remedy issues with the software that may be causing repeat failings. It will also give you an insight into how the people in your team learn.

Update your IT training as the software changes

Once the software is rolled out and everybody is feeling confident, remember your training journey is not over. New employees will need to receive the same level of training, and you may even find that regular refreshers can be helpful. It’s also important to keep in mind that software is constantly updated, and new features are often rolled out throughout the year. 

Work alongside your software partner to keep training resources up-to-date and ensure that any new processes that come along are properly communicated to your team.

Get feedback from your team

Ask your employees for feedback on your training programme, this way you can improve any areas that didn’t quite work as your business matures. You should also let your employees provide suggestions on the tech platform itself in order to discover new areas where digitisation could be employed.

Also, don’t forget to talk to your software provider. Ask them what training they provide as part of their support package. What training aids do they have available and what can they create especially for your team? 

A good software provider will help you through the process and ensure that you always feel supported.



Want to read more about managing software implementation in a home care business? Check out our comprehensive project implementation page.