MSC - Maritime Systems Consulting, LLC

Managing Marine Operations Through Technology

Training (Ashore/Onboard)

Outside of the system needing to have a "critical mass" of data before rollout to the fleet, the next most important item on any implementation agenda is that of training.

Training should always be tailored to the audience and their anticipated roles with the system. During the implementation phase of the project, one item that will be extensively covered is that of who is going to do what in the system and how do these different actions interact.

This process takes the assumption that the genesis of the data begins onboard and anyone who touches it at a later point, should only be touching the document to add value to that document. Using this philosophy combined with the current operating procedures, we can identify who is going to do what and what the extent of training is going to be for these people. Also during this process, we must also consider the needs of underlings with respect to "filling in the gaps" when needed.

Knowing what to train on, for what individual, is half of the battle. The other half is putting together succinct training programs that focus on these items. It would be a fallacy to try to train everyone on everything, as this is not realistic and most users don't have the patience nor interest outside of what is affecting their job directly.

Having said this, the training must be both relevant for the users and relevant for the business practices of the company. Management Systems Consulting LLC has found this to be a most effective approach to defining and executing training.