Power of training
Thriving in today’s fast changing world requires up-to-date training. Workers (across all sectors) need to keep abreast of the latest technologies, system updates and industry trends. While companies need to continuously improve employee performance and foster higher employee engagement.
That’s why Educate Plus CEO Mandy McFarland – who’s leading a network of advancement professionals in admissions; alumni and community relations; fundraising; and marketing and communications – is on a mission to make a difference on the frontline in the education sector – and using the “power of training” to empower people, enhance productivity and elevate company efficiency.
“An investment in training is far more effective than having to spend your money on recruitment costs.” According to McFarland, who said training will not only lower worker turnover, and help solve the job skills crisis, but it will “keep people happy and productive” in their roles.
As the only Australasian organisation for Advancement professionals in the education sector, Educate Plus is run largely by volunteers who are passionate about supporting individuals in advancement roles. The organisation works to ensure access to the best professional development opportunities, education and peer support offered in the industry.
Maximise the return on their investment
But keeping up-to-date and relevant on the skills front is a hard game to master and one that requires the constant support and guidance from a professional coaching and training team. Armed with that foresight, McFarland turned to ASI Solutions, as an IT services company originally founded by two former teachers, for training and support.
And McFarland is happy she’s not doing it alone. The 2,000-based member organisation – with chapters across Australia and New Zealand – is now in the hands of ASI Solutions which has delivered a program of training and workshops covering M365 and Windows.
ASI Solutions believes that helping people, like Educate Plus, maximise the return on their investment in tools like M365 and Windows makes a tremendous impact.
Taking stock
But before ramping up the comprehensive training with ASI Solutions, McFarland said she had to “look inward.”
“I started as CEO at the beginning of 2022 and my first job was to investigate all the systems, processes, and procedures, and have a look at where we needed to improve and where we could create greater efficiencies, which is really all I wanted to achieve for my team,” she said.
“We have a very lean team; we all work virtually, and time is of the absolute essence – so we need to make sure we’re working in the best possible way we can. I quickly discovered that wasn’t the case. We were all working on separate licenses and there was no Microsoft business suite for everybody.”
What’s more, the team knew bits and pieces or elements of the whole – but largely were left in the dark about the full functionality (or immense capacity) of the software’s capabilities – a time-consuming and inefficient business scenario.
“The team knew parts of the suite, but nobody knew everything well. In some ways, we were always having to teach each other – so my mission was to get everybody on the same page. We all knew separate chapters of the book, but not the full story.”
Bringing full story to life
That’s when ASI Solutions Productivity Specialist, Mathew Gilbertson, was called into action to help bring the full story to life, and who provided many “teachable moments” and delivered the content of the training in a “refreshing and practical way,” McFarland said.
“The training was broken into chunks, which was much more palatable for my team in that they could practice whatever they learned in a given week. Then the next week we could quickly answer some questions and move on to the new topic. The way the course was structured was so practical, so useful and purposeful, and was delivered by a brilliant presenter, who presented content that was authentic and relatable in real-life – and it resonated with the team.”
Efficiency and productivity
Certainly, the training has changed the way Educate Plus operates and how the team works, collaborates and functions. “We’ve now completely migrated all our work from Dropbox into SharePoint and we’re working much more collaboratively. We’re using the check functions much better – and our email traffic has certainly declined although we have challenged ourselves to drop this even further in 2023.”
This new and improved IT efficiency – and collaborative flair – has also extended to each of its chapters, she explained.
“We’re a membership organisation and located in chapters. Each state has its own chapter and there are volunteer committees in each chapter. We’re dealing with about 120 volunteers. And now all of us are working more cohesively and more effectively as a team. We’ve increased our efficiency and the way we work and how we communicate with each other.
“Prior to streamlining on Microsoft, everyone was using different software. One chapter was using Slack, one was using Google, and we were trying to keep up with all the different technologies. Actually, it was not easy. With all of us now on one system, it’s much more productive.”
Change takes time
Nevertheless, McFarland recognises that real change takes time. In fact, change is a journey and companies need to support the different training levels and pace of each employee. “Change management can be hard. But when you have great training, the process is much smoother. When you take everybody along with you on the journey, that’s when you cultivate success; because if you go too fast, or too hard or too slow, none of it works.”
And like all SMBs weighing up the value of training and whether it’s a worthwhile investment, McFarland said Educate Plus is more committed than ever. Planning to implement more ASI Solutions training sessions to discover more capabilities of SharePoint, as well as how to ease ongoing storage burdens with OneDrive.
“Storage has been an issue for us for quite a long time. It has grown like a mushroom, but with no purpose or structure. There’s lots of documents (duplicated documents and folders) that aren’t named and that need to be sorted. Having strong systems that operate well – that are effective and cost effective – is really important to us.”
From beefing up collaboration to harnessing greater productivity, if there’s anything McFarland has learned throughout the training process, it’s that listening to people and solving people’s pain points and challenges is just as powerful as the technical skills acquired in any workshop.
The right trainer for your business
“Successful trainers like Mathew have honed a valuable life skill – they listen, are responsive and deliver purposeful and relatable content that caters to the needs of their students and addresses the unique requirements of the business.”
“Certainly, there are lots of really good trainers out there, but you have to find the right one for you and your business – one that listens and responds to your needs – and that can be hit and miss. Once you find the right trainer, get the right tools in place, and start the learning journey, then you’ll be on the pathway to success.”
