Last time out, I offered some steps you can take to try to get everyone at your enterprise at least some basic schooling about IT. Herewith, a couple of other IT-specific observations and suggestions, before we try to tackle some basic BPM-specific issues.
If Microsoft Office is the standard at your organization, make sure every new employee gets a copy of "Office for Dummies" or some equivalently comprehensive, straightforward, and task-focused guide along with their computer and password(s). If OpenOffice is the standard, get "OpenOffice for Dummies" or a similar equivalent. I'm also a big fan of "The Little PC Book" for PC users, and "The Little Mac Book" for Mac users. All of these books, as well as several worthy alternatives, are available from Amazon.com, and from at least some of the independent booksellers affiliated with the BookSense Web site. Or you can just call your local bookstore and have them order some copies for you and your organization.
Such books do not replace training, but they are far superior to trying to corner a busy IT person to answer a question for which that IT person's skills are not really needed. I recommend to everyone I meet who uses computers but is not an IT expert and does not have an IT expert handy that they keep one such book near their primary computer at all times. I further recommend that when they have some free time, say during breaks or meals taken at their desks, that they just pick up the book, and randomly select some feature to explore. A few minutes with the book, accompanied perhaps by a bit of poking around on-screen menus, can do a lot to help users become smarter about and more comfortable with those technologies they have to use every day.
Such books also do NOT replace the company-specific documentation the creation and maintenance of which I've already recommended strongly. In fact, the books should be accompanied by a short introductory document explaining specifically how the books and that company-specific documentation and indoctrination activities all work together. ("The introductory indoctrination gets you started, the company-specific documentation helps you to get your basic work done, and the books help you to learn more, and to avoid and navigate around problems." Or something similar.)
Regarding business processes, well, it's a bit trickier to capture and document these in ways that are easily assimilated and digested. But it can be done. Basically, I recommend you review the specific steps I recommended for IT indoctrination and support, and adapt these to specific tasks and underlying business processes. This includes the creation of some shared collaboration space where users can share information to help support themselves.
But there is a critical additional step needed to succeed in getting up to speed on enterprise business processes. Someone has got to help users make the links between the tasks they do every day and the goals and requirements of "da bidness." More about that next time. Meanwhile, do please keep in touch, especially if you'd like to request and/or share more suggestions about this admittedly sticky, tricky stuff…
Michael Dortch has been an analyst, 'information entrepreneur,' speaker, and writer about IT and 'the real world" for the past 30 years. After almost 10 years at the Robert Frances Group (RFG), Michael begins a new position with Aberdeen Group in September.
Dennis Byron is an analyst with ebizQ, focusing on Open Source Software as well as Business Process Management technologies.
