Macquarie University
Office 365 Training
Summary Data
3000 Staff learn Office 365 with Synergy’s Cloud training Services
Industry
Education
Geography
Australia
Consulting
Training Services
Office 365 SharePoint Intranet Consulting
technologies
Office 365
Challenges/Goals
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Provide Office 365 training to over 3,000 staff
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Cater for End-user, Helpdesk, Support and Technical Staff
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Provide Macquarie University custom materials
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Manage training logistics (courses/seminars, attendees, rooms, and trainers)
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Deliver Lectures, Presentations, VIP Sessions, Courses and Labs
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Create a range on online resources, Wiki’s, Howto’s, Cheat Sheets, Videos and web links
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Work alongside the project team to ensure training aligned with delivery
Solution/Approach
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Synergy undertook an extensive Training Needs Analysis to define the exact requirements of the University. A Training programme was then created to cater for all audiences and delivered over a 4 month period.
Results
The overall result for Macquarie University was a comprehensive program of training that introduced staff to the core features of Office 365 and allowed them to hit the ground running after the launch on 14th December 2015. This assisted in a very smooth transition to the new software and allowed staff to be productive on Office 365 from day one.
Overview
Synergy was chosen as Macquarie University’s training partner for the migration to Office 365, in late July 2015. Macquarie needed a training partner with Microsoft product knowledge and training certifications, as well as a working knowledge of Office 365 in Education. Synergy’s team of MS certified consultants and trainers developed custom training material that directly addressed Macquarie staff needs; from Academic to Administrative staff.
Macquarie University undertook the email migration from Gmail to Office 365 for over 3,000 staff in the second- half of 2015. The project required an approach that offered a variety of training methodologies due to the differing needs of staff. The training approach accommodated a series of seminars, group training courses and hands-on labs/workshops to ensure all staff were given the opportunity to learn how Microsoft’s Office 365 would be utilised by them.
University specific training materials were developed in the traditional electronic .pdf format as well as Wiki online tutorials stored in a training site on Macquarie’s servers.
Challenges/
Goals
Primary
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Deliver effective training to a large diverse group of staff across faculties and departments.
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Provide the correct level of Office 365 training to over 3,000 staff that had Beginner through to Advanced Office 365 knowledge.
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Creation of Macquarie University specific training manuals that illustrated the Office 365 platform and its specific use at Macquarie.
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Over a four month period deliver training courses for up to over 3,000 staff which would encourage high-levels of attendance.
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Use a specific event management and ticketing system that would co-ordinate courses/seminars, attendees, rooms, and trainers.
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Provide high quality online Macquarie branded resources for future reference and training.
Secondary
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Ensure that knowledge was able to be shared amongst all attendees.
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Assimilate the trainers and IT Support into one team to allow for the seamless delivery of knowledge of Office 365.
Solution/
AppRoach
Synergy’s initial meeting with Macquarie project team members concluded that Office 365 Champions would help fast track and promote the change and assist with the smooth transition to Office 365 and these people were selected and trained immediately.
Synergy then conducted a TNA which included staff surveys and interviews and provided an insight in to the huge variation of skills and training preferences amongst the staff.
‘The survey found 72.5% of Professional Staff and 81% of Academic staff have never used Office 365 (professionally) however 96% of respondents stated that they have used it previously at home or school.’
‘The survey found that the respondents like a mix of self-paced (53%) and classroom based (47%) learning.’
The TNA was our guiding document and set the targets that we needed to achieve. We identified the skill levels of trainees and roles and targeted hands-on training for a discrete set of Power Users who would require an in depth knowledge of O365.
The Synergy team set about creating nine custom courseware manuals and the presentation packs for each of the courses. Courses, dates, time and locations were published and staff started enrolling in courses. Some courses sold out quickly and more dates were added to the schedule to cater for the demand. Synergy’s ability to resource additional staff from our skilled pool of local in-house trainers meant we could meet the increased demand immediately.
To ensure training was hitting the mark we surveyed each set of trainees after each course, utilising unique questionnaire links so each trainer and course could be evaluated. The Synergy PM consistently communicated with management on the progress and the participant feedback on the courses. This allowed changes and adjustments to be made when the need arose and produced a much higher level of knowledge and awareness of the change impact for trainees.
In addition to the seminars, courses and courseware Synergy resolved a number of training related questions and scenarios via Macquarie’s centralised service desk. Synergy also participated in the go live process by manning a drop in centre for staff to attend when they needed assistance or to get their devices configured to Office 365.
Results
The overall result for Macquarie University was a comprehensive program of training that introduced staff to the core features of Office 365 and allowed them to hit the ground running after the launch on 14th December 2015. This assisted in a very smooth transition to the new software and allowed staff to be productive on Office 365 from day one.
Course attendance increased due to positive feedback and internal referrals which resulted in a far greater reach than predicted with over 2500 trainees attending classes and many more accessing online material.
The training solution has provided for the future by allowing current staff to refresh themselves via the online courseware and training environment. Future training needs of any new staff that join Macquarie University have been catered for in the full-suite of high-quality relevant courseware.
"Synergy’s Cloud training services provided a flexible programme of work that delivered a range of training to our various stakeholders, including staff, Service Desk, IT and support. Synergy delivered workshops, Seminars, Technical training and End User training to ensure our transition to Office 365 was smooth and the University staff found the training very beneficial”
- Georgina Rossendell, Director, Client Services, Macquarie University
