Situation
A leading provider of offshore drilling services needed to replace their existing maintenance and inventory systems with Infor’s Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system, a vital software system for operating and maintaining their rigs and assets. Their key business drivers for this initiative included:
- Asset reliability and safe operations
- Reduced operations and maintenance expenses
- Improved workforce efficiency
- Continuous improvement/process optimization
The client firmly believed that for these benefits of their new EAM solution to be fully realized, their staff must understand what is changing and be ready, willing, and able to adapt to the new business processes and technology.
Challenge
The offshore drilling organization required a comprehensive change-management and end-user training solution to ensure full adoption of the new EAM system. The change-management activities needed to focus on enabling all stakeholders to understand the full benefits of the new processes and system, as well as the organizational changes resulting from the EAM implementation. The end-user training solution needed to be role-based and self-paced. This would allow both on-shore and off-shore (rig-based) users to access their required training based on their roles and work schedules, minimizing the impact to production operations. The client also needed to be able to track user completion of the required training. Lastly, the training solution had to be set up in a “replicated” environment so that rig users did not have to access the training content over a satellite link’s slow and narrow bandwidth. Therefore, GP Strategies® had to replicate the training content to each local rig server, with a replication process in place through a centralized shore-based server. The on-shore users could access the training content through the centralized shore-based server.
Solution
GP Strategies performed a change-management assessment to formulate a change-management strategy and plan that focused on the following areas:
Change leadership and strategy
Stakeholder management and communications
Organizational readiness and alignment
Working in collaboration with the client’s Change Management lead, GP Strategies executed on the plan, which focused on the following elements to generate excitement and drive adoption of the new EAM system and processes:
- Multiple communication channels: Included newsletters, banners, and a project website with branding
- Change Agent network: Delivered key project information to the rig users
- A “User Experience” website: Allowed rig users to get a first look at the new EAM system, review FAQs, and become familiar with new terminology
- A “Demo Series”: Shared different features/functions of the new EAM system with the rig users
Users who know how to perform their jobs in the system are a critical part of successful new-system adoption. GP Strategies, working with the client’s Training lead, designed and developed a role-based, self-paced learning program that consisted of the following:
- Fifteen role-based eLearning courses with conceptual information, interactive content, and knowledge checks developed using Adobe Captivate
- Over 100 interactive simulations that provided step-by-step guidance on how to complete tasks in the new EAM system
GP Strategies deployed the training content to the local servers on each rig. This allowed users to complete the training efficiently and without delays due to internet bandwidth concerns. When rig users logged into the training system, they could access the training assigned to them based on their roles. The training they took was a blend of interactive, concept-based information, followed by hands-on system simulations. These system-task simulations were then available to the users directly from the new EAM system, providing just-in-time performance support to assist them on-the-job.
Positive feedback from rigs and users who have completed the training. Great job to GP Strategies on developing and delivering an effective and engaging training for the new system.
Client Project Manager
Results
The comprehensive change-management and end-user training solution prepared the client’s end users for the deployment of Infor’s EAM system. The change-management approach kept users informed through multiple channels. The training was effective and engaging, with positive feedback from the rig users. As a result, the users were ready, willing, and able to adapt to the new business processes and technology, helping to ensure rapid user adoption of Infor’s EAM system.