Custom Training Solutions using Snap Survey Software
March 2002
Snap’s regular, scheduled training courses run from the Snap Surveys training centres in the UK and the US, are well known and popular with those wanting a quick start into using Snap software. Not so well known are our flexible custom training solutions.
In this Focus on Custom Training Solutions, we review three different clients’ experiences of training created and delivered especially for them. In the first, a group of local government officers from Birmingham Education Authority opted for their own private training sessions, following the same plan as the equivalent public courses, but with their own people and at the times they chose. In the second and third, individuals from two large financial corporations relate quite different experiences of custom training: Royal Bank of Scotland, in London, needed advanced training of a very individual nature, and travelled to Snap Surveys to get it, while CIBC in Toronto employed novel E- learning methods to overcome the problems of distance and travel, with some impressive results.
Case study 1: Birmingham City Council favours private introductions
A team of council officers from within Birmingham City Council has recently completed two rounds of training in Snap, opting for the one-day fast track course, followed by a second day, after a few weeks, focusing on analysis.
The individuals concerned all work within Birmingham’s vast education authority, in the division responsible for school meals and school cleaning. Alan Keepax, the division’s Quality Manager, has ambitious plans to extend the scope of the service’s public consultation so that, as he says, "consultation becomes a routine, everyday function."
A Snap scanner will allow surveys and consultation exercises on paper to be processed efficiently, whilst web surveys, deployed through the Snap Internet module and linked to the authority’s web site, will tie in perfectly with the City Council’s objective to achieve full electronic communication with all schools by April 2002.
"Having bought Snap, rather than leave the knowledge with one or two people we decided to spread it as widely as possible, as there are many others that conduct questionnaires," Alan comments.
The group of six, including representatives from Administration from Staffing, and from the Best Value and Quality team and attended a private, Fast Track training course at the Snap Surveys training suite near Bristol.
I came back and designed a questionnaire , issued it, received completed questionnaires, analyzed them and then started discovering additional issues which contributed further to the learning exercise
"This got us into designing questionnaires," Alan explains. "It shows basics of what the software can do – just enough info to make a start. But it is not until you start utilizing the package in your office that you realize how little you know and how much there is still to learn! I’d say it is good at pointing you in the direction of what can be done. I came back and designed a questionnaire , issued it, received completed questionnaires, analyzed them and then started discovering additional issues which contributed further to the learning exercise. For me, it reinforced the idea that you must be very methodical in your approach."
The second day on analysis, Alan described as "very interesting and informative". Again, it was a standard course. Without any prior knowledge of the package, Alan was content to rely on Snap Surveys' judgement of what to include.
"After the training we were able to use the software because the training documentation is very good and it does allow you to start tinkering with the software and building things. It is a complex package and it does need time to become familiar with all of the processes that need to be followed to get a meaningful questionnaire at the end of it.
With the training and one survey under his belt, Alan is tackling his second survey with a growing awareness not just of the capabilities of the software, but of the complex business of obtaining good, unbiased feedback from the public
However, with the training and one survey under his belt, Alan is tackling his second survey with a growing awareness not just of the capabilities of the software, but of the complex business of obtaining good, unbiased feedback from the public through the use of surveys.
Case study 2: Royal Bank of Scotland cashes in on experience
Standard training was not what The Royal Bank of Scotland needed. The two people seeking tuition, both members of the bank’s Corporate Banking and Financial Markets research team, based in London, were actually old hands at using Snap. For several years, the bank’s CBFM division has made extensive use of Snap, mostly for internal surveys on matters such as studying the relationships between departments and how these can be improved, or examining the usefulness of information provided in the bank’s regular economic bulletins, and again determining ways in which these can be improved.
"We’d never bothered to have any formal training – we taught ourselves by reading the manuals," explained Nathan Gillard, Senior Research Executive at RBS. With six months personal experience, and with help from colleague Dave Ramasawmy, who had used Snap for four years, they could usually find a way to do what they wanted with the product. But Nathan suspected they might achieve more with a little help.
The catalyst for the training session was the increasing use of surveys deployed on the bank’s intranet, from which they realized he could get an improved response. Rather than waste time experimenting with this new technology, Nathan and Dave decided their time would be better spent having an intensive day of advanced training with one of Snap’s experienced consultants.
Snap Surveys appointed a consultant for the day, who discussed the possible programme with Nathan and David. They decided to take the training at the Snap Surveys offices in Bristol, as getting out of their office seemed a better way to concentrate on the subject material.
"We sent rough guidelines – nothing concrete," David notes. "We said we were keen on web surveying, but we kept it pretty flexible. We knew all the basics, so we wanted to concentrate on the other features – all the little things you are not so sure about."
Apart from boosting their web surveying skills, the pair covered a lot of time saving features that will make their overall use of the product more efficient.
"Our training definitely met out objectives," Nathan claims. "We thought it was fun, especially as we had no real structure. Instead, our tutor tailored it to our needs.
"There were a lot of presentation issues to cover – and we learnt to make the surveys look a lot better. A lot of the data analysis side we put together more comprehensively than before. It gives it that professional edge and makes it easier for us in our everyday work."
Nathan concludes: "There were a lot of presentation issues to cover – and we learnt to make the surveys look a lot better. A lot of the data analysis side we put together more comprehensively than before. It gives it that professional edge and makes it easier for us in our everyday work."
Case study 3: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce covers the distance with online solution
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is one of the biggest banks in North America. Snap is used in several different departments for survey and feedback activities, such as human resource surveys on the bank’s intranet. When Snap was selected for use within CIBC’s Knowledge Network division, Jegen Thambipillai, Technology Solution Architect at CIBC, needed to train a group of users in the product. Though training courses were available from the Snap Surveys US base in Massachusetts, budgetary constraints forced Jegen to seek a cost-effective solution that would allow him to train the maximum number of people. The ingenious solution suggested by Snap’s training specialist was to use distance learning or "on-line learning" methods, avoiding the need for anyone to travel or incur the costs of flights or hotels.
A suitable meeting room was found, equipped with PCs for the group to be able to view the software on a large screen. This was linked to the trainer’s PC in the Snap Surveys office in Newburyport, MA by using an online remote desktop sharing service. Six people attended a three-hour session that focused on questionnaire design, using a survey especially prepared by Jegen to be typical of the bank’s work. The majority entered the room with little or no knowledge of how to use Snap, and left with enough knowledge to set up a survey.
"We had tremendous success," reports Jegen Thambipillai. "Of course, some people wanted to have the instructor there with them. It was a different experience doing it this way. But most people liked it, and we found it very useful. And the outcome was that people were able to create the survey after a three-hour period and then go on. The product is well received here."
In the training group, there was a mix of absolute beginners and those that had experimented a little with Snap. Jegen notes: "We had an extremely professional and helpful instructor from Snap. With those that had written a few questions already, he was able to take them through the correct procedures and give them good advice, so they were happy."
Jegen considered another success of this approach was the cost savings, both in terms of the travel costs and the times people would have spent out of the office. The training session fitted neatly into everyone’s working day, causing minimal disruption.
While the first session concentrated on questionnaire design, more sessions are now planned to cover other aspects of Snap, such as analysis and publishing
While the first session concentrated on questionnaire design, more sessions are now planned to cover other aspects of Snap, such as analysis and publishing, and other topics too.
Jegen comments: "Now we are recommending to do more Snap training in that way."
How custom training can help you
The three examples we share above, give a flavour of the versatility of the Snap Surveys training services in meeting different clients’ needs with training packages tailored to suit them.
A place on a Snap Surveys scheduled course is often good value for the individual. Many gain from the experience of learning with others from quite different organizations. But with several people to train at once, as at Birmingham and CIBC, a private course can be more cost-effective and time-efficient, especially when focused on real examples specific to your organization.
Advanced training to experienced users is often better achieved by creating a special one-off course. The two experienced users from Royal Bank of Scotland gained enormously from their training day away from the office designed to follow their agenda and focus on their actual work.
For a creative solution to training without the high cost of travel, the on-line learning provided to CIBC exceeded everyone’s expectations and resulted in very rapid uptake of Snap within the organization.– with minimal impact on individuals’ personal schedules.
Three different approaches, yet the results were the same in each case: faster uptake, a rounded understanding of the Snap software, and individual users able to achieve even higher levels of professionalism in their survey activities. Money wisely spent, according to our sample of three.