Sie haben Schwierigkeiten, Kollegen in der neuen GIS-Software zu schulen. Wie können Sie die Kompatibilität und Effizienz verbessern?

Don't force someone to eat something they don't like just because you think it's delicious. I just finished a GIS training course at my company. Before the course, I clearly defined the target audience and the content to be taught. It's important to understand the learners' needs, their ability to absorb new information, and the expected outcomes. Only teach the knowledge that is truly useful for their work, knowledge that they can apply immediately during and after the class.

Before starting training a group on new software, make sure that everyone is on the same page. If there are any prerequisites, discuss first with the group or individually if everyone has sufficient knowledge. Only then you can build on top of it. The group should consist of people from the same team or department to only teach them tools and features they will need in their work. Otherwise they may get too much information and not remember everything they need. If you've got more user groups, conduct a separate training for each of them. It will cost you more time and effort at the beginning, but it will pay off in a long term.

When I introduced Google Earth Engine (GEE) to my team at MCI, I started with simple, practical exercises. The first one was estimating forest NDVI using Landsat images, which helps us understand vegetation health. This was a good starting point since we often work with forest data. Next, I showed how to assess water quality with the same tool, focusing on changes in water bodies. These easy-to-follow exercises made the training more relatable and helped everyone get comfortable with GEE quickly, improving our work on environmental projects.

Before starting to provide any training to the work team, it must be ensured that all team members need such software. It must also be ensured and followed up on their continued use of it after the training is completed so that the benefit is achieved.

Whenever we feel that something is essential, the tendency to learn new tools will appear automatically. This could be because they will save our time, make our lives easier, or offer a multitasking tool that is worth tailoring.

One thing I’ve found helpful when training colleagues on GIS software is prioritizing hands-on practice. A memorable example is when I taught a class of 15 doctoral students from diverse backgrounds. We spent four days working on mapping their favorite cities, using real-world data. By the end, students uncovered fascinating insights, like one finding that Paris had three times fewer public toilets than bars.Hands-on practice allows learners to immediately apply their knowledge, enhancing both confidence and competence. It’s more effective than extensive theory, fostering engagement and curiosity. This approach helps learners grasp complex GIS concepts quickly and meaningfully.

I gather the actual business tasks of the trainees, clone the real database they will work with, and create practice exercises that accurately simulate their business operations.

Il faut avouer que la mise en situation est bien pratique. L'idéal c'est de savoir confier des tâches concrètes dans des situations réelles de travail. Les réalités changent selon le contexte, mais on ne devient expert qu'en étant confronté à des problèmes qu'on s'attelle de résoudre.

Incorporate gamification into your training programs to elevate engagement and learning outcomes. Design challenges and competitions that encourage participants to complete tasks or solve complex problems while using specific GIS tools. Develop immersive quests that require both individual contributions and team collaboration, fostering a sense of camaraderie among teammates. By creating meaningful and competitive challenges, you can transform the learning experience into an exciting adventure, motivating individuals to push their limits and enhance their skills. This dynamic approach not only makes learning enjoyable but also cultivates a culture of achievement and innovation within the team.

Hands-on practice is key to learning GIS. This is backed by ones problem solving skills. A good GIS professional thinks out of the box and is always inquisitive; always eager to learn through scenario settings. This is easy when a supervisor allows it's subordinates to explore using the GIS tools and applications. Creating a sandbox environment is key here, there should be some sort of dedicated project folder for trying things out. This will prevent messing things up.

If there are any questions and queries, be available to address all those. If we are unaware about the answer to a particular question, make sure to research on the same and get back with a valid answer. The trainees should always be under the impression that a trainer knows everything about the software. We can always pass on the question to other trainees and understand their thoughts on the same. Also, make sure to provide them with both positive as well as negative feedback regarding their performance in the training. Always, try to provide positive feedback in front of everyone and provide negative feedback individually. This will increase the trust and belief of the trainees in you.

Create small, diverse learning pods that meet regularly to discuss progress, share insights, and tackle challenges together. This structure promotes peer accountability and collaborative learning, enhancing motivation and engagement. Encourage learners to maintain digital learning journals to document their experiences and reflections. Facilitate sessions where learners can discuss their journal insights with mentors or peers, fostering meaningful dialogue and deeper understanding. Additionally, consider incorporating collaborative tools like wikis, where learners can contribute knowledge and resources, creating a shared repository of insights.

In my role, proactive monitoring and addressing map-related issues before they escalate has been key to providing reliable GIS support. I've found that understanding client needs and tailoring our solutions accordingly builds stronger, more trustful relationships. Leveraging advanced GIS tools and technologies, like APIs, has allowed me to efficiently resolve complex issues, reducing downtime. I believe in empowering my team through knowledge sharing, ensuring we provide consistent and effective support. Continuous improvement, driven by client feedback, has always been a priority, enabling us to refine our processes and enhance user satisfaction.

One of the most effective support approaches is to test the new software with the intended end users and ensure it’s working for them. Testing should be done in the real working environment where the software will be used, not just in the demo environment where everything works perfectly. Focus on their pain points and think of ways to help them. Let them know you are working to make it better for them. One of the biggest mistakes you can make with new software is to train someone and leave them with no support. If there is a pain point but no one will listen, it’s likely they will just stop using the software.

El apoyo continuo y práctico es fundamental. Genera confianza entre equipos de trabajo y el conocimiento es traspasado de mejor forma

Collaborative learning can be a very impactful way to learn. Even though it is an informal learning mode, harnessing the power of social learning can add enormous value to an organisation. Someone who is struggling with a topic can share his/her difficulties and someone who has the solution will help out. In my opinion, it's one of the fastest ways to learn. Moreover, it's target oriented.

Allow your colleagues a chance to work separate pieces at a time on what they’re good at and bring them together for the final product.

Allow your colleagues to find, use, and teach to others multiple GIS tools, in addition to standard software you use for your projects. This way they can expand your company's options and outreach tools, while broadening the skillset of the rest of the team, and preparing everyone to grow professionally as we look to the future. Each member's skills and perspectives contribute to more streamlined results.

Não faça apresentações, é importante ao longo do processo cada projeto/equipe ou pessoal traga suas dores e soluções para os demais. Essas podem ser solucionados ou replicadas. Além disso cria-se uma rede de auxílio e comunicação interna.

Drawing knowledge and experience from colleagues in the same field of studies has been a great success for most of us. I find that even interesting in the sense that those are the ones that sticks with us most.

This would be helpful in improving subsequent training sessions. Evaluations need to done at the end of everything training to improve upon the training programs

Set up separate monthly meetings for each organizational department using the software to discuss any challenges they are having or changes they might want. People want to feel listened to!

Collaborative meeting software, along with cloud-stored/cloud-shared team integration software allows all documents and files to remain in one place while tracking timestamps allow all team members to provide input to each portion of the project. Weekly file review and bi-weekly verbal meetings allow the group to collaborate and adjust project trajectory without experiencing excessive social-burnout. Some space between verbal meetings allow members to solve their own problems creatively, and bring forecasted solutions to the group. Creative solutions are crucial to the evolving world of GIS.

Feedback is very much important in any work. Because if there is no any feedback given, person might don't about whether his way of working is actually the best and efficient or not. Feedback provides continuous learning and self improvement. Telling about my experience, when I was assigned my first project of Development Plan, I usually got some sort of negative feedback from authority, but because of that in the next project, that helped me to achieve the desired accuracy.

Feedback helps both parties improve, which helps to know what’s obtainable with certain methodologies. This makes it a core to enhance learning softwares faster. Fosters trainer-trainee collaboration which in turn builds confidence through personalized training.

Being an experienced professional in this domain, I have came across this situation for so many times irrespective of colleagues, trainees or interns. What I could figured out and applied in my journey was that, try to sit and attend the problems individually and then explain the processes or techniques in the software in their respective way. Here, we should use the real life examples/problems or the situations anyone have been previously e.g., if anyone is from geology background, try to provide example of geology, lithology, tectonics, etc. or if anyone from environment domain, we should use examples of ecology, flora, fauna, climate change, etc. This is the way we should follow to get our colleagues acquainted in our regular journey.

By creating custom templates tailored to the specific needs of your projects, you provide a consistent starting point that reduces setup time and ensures uniformity in outputs. Automating repetitive tasks, such as data cleaning or routine spatial analyses, not only saves time but also reduces the likelihood of human error, leading to more reliable results.

This only is applicable when the trainees are absolute beginners or are from different fields. That why the quick survey before starting the training is useful of setting the bar.

One helpful approach is making work easier for everyone. While some excel in designing templates, color coding, and using legends effectively, not everyone has these skills. It may take time for others to reach the same level of expertise. To address this, we can simplify tasks to allow everyone to contribute easily and engagingly. However, we must also manage workloads carefully. Overloading the most talented team members because of their skills can lead to stress and reduced efficiency. Initially, these experts can help simplify tasks and create templates. However, it's crucial to gradually distribute the workload more evenly, ensuring everyone gains experience with GIS. This approach builds a more skilled and resilient team.

The key to sharing GIS data updates with others is to make things as simple as possible. Those who work directly with the data understand their subject matter but may not be GIS experts. They need a straightforward approach with minimal steps