Responsive Teaching for Business Applications Training

Business applications training typically adheres to a predetermined sequence of modules, yet this structure frequently overlooks the specific obstacles that end users encounter in their roles. In this blog post, I examine how trainers can adapt Responsive Teaching, a method initially developed to support children with developmental needs through everyday interactions, to adult learning environments in business applications training.

Trainers create a model where end users direct the content, integrating team workflows, regulatory requirements, and established practices. As a result, participants acquire skills more rapidly, often achieving proficiency in targeted areas 30-50% sooner than in traditional sessions, which in turn leads to consistent application of tools and reduced delays in project timelines.

Introduction: Training in a Changing Landscape

Technical training helps teams master workplace software like ERP, CRM or process automations. However, as software vendors like Microsoft keep updating software and introducing new features, traditional technical training sessions no longer work.

End users enter these sessions with diverse backgrounds: some lack familiarity with basic navigation, while others already handle custom setups proficiently. Their daily tasks vary widely, even within the same team.

To address these hurdles, trainers must shift toward responsive methods that adjust dynamically, much like a dialogue where one participant responds to the other's contributions. By prioritising user feedback over a rigid curriculum, trainers enable participants to grasp concepts more readily, retain knowledge longer, and apply it in their work settings.

Shortcomings of Traditional Business Applications Training

In standard training sessions for Dynamics 365 apps, trainers who are often consultants organise content around the software's architecture: they begin with interface navigation, proceed to configuration options, and then cover reporting and integrations. This sequence ensures that participants receive comprehensive exposure and meet basic compliance standards.

However, the approach assumes uniform needs among end users, which is rarely the case. For instance, an accountant requires immediate guidance on month-end processes in Finance & Operations, not an introductory tour of the credit control module.

When the material diverges from daily responsibilities, participants disengage, and retention suffers; research indicates that up to 70% of new information is forgotten within 24 hours.

These limitations become particularly evident during deployments of Finance & Operations or Customer Engagement, revealing patterns that trainers must address to improve effectiveness. Below are some examples:

Users new to the application encounter technical terminology early, which overwhelms them and prompts them to skip subsequent material. Experienced participants, meanwhile, endure redundant basics, which prolongs sessions unnecessarily and hinders deeper exploration. Furthermore, trainers often omit organisation-specific details, such as compliance with Making Tax Digital in Business Central or specific lead qualification processes in Dynamics 365 Sales, leading to inconsistent tool usage across teams.

As software vendors introduce frequent changes and updates, and companies adapt to new opportunities and the requests of regulators, these gaps extend project timelines and undermine confidence in the training process itself.

Insights from Responsive Teaching

Gerald Mahoney and his colleagues developed Responsive Teaching to assist infants and toddlers, aged 5 months to 6 years, who experience developmental delays such as Down syndrome. Rather than relying on formal lessons, the method instructs caregivers to observe subtle signals, like a child's gesture or vocalisation, and respond during routine activities, including mealtimes or playtime.

At its foundation lie five principles:

• Reciprocity: involves acknowledging the child's initiative and extending it, such as mirroring a sound to encourage ongoing exchange.

• Contingency: requires linking the response immediately and clearly to the child's action, illustrating cause and effect.

• Shared control: allows the child to influence the interaction, which builds their initiative and persistence.

• Affect: incorporates enthusiasm and warmth to forge emotional connections.

• Match: tailors the response to the child's current abilities and interests, ensuring the challenge remains accessible.

Research demonstrates that children advance in cognitive, linguistic, and social areas up to 123% more quickly through these responsive exchanges.

Although Responsive Teaching is designed for young children, its emphasis on attentive adaptation translates effectively to adults, who learn best when material connects to their experiences and allows for autonomy. In business application training, where intricate systems can confuse end users, these principles help trainers cut through confusion by focusing on participant signals, such as a question during a demonstration, instead of adhering strictly to a planned order.

Trainers modify the approach by interpreting users' cues, like pauses during an exercise, while preserving structure to address compliance needs. This adaptation sets the stage for a model where end users actively shape their learning path.

A User-Driven Model for Business Application Training

In this new framework, trainers begin by positioning the end user as the primary guide in the session. They conduct an initial assessment to identify pressing issues, such as difficulties with inventory accuracy, and then incorporate live feedback to redirect the flow, advancing quickly for those with prior knowledge. Consequently, participants develop skills they can apply right away, free from the constraints of inflexible schedules.

Building on this foundation, trainers ensure the content remains anchored in practical contexts, blending training and consulting.

To achieve this degree of relevance, trainers embed elements specific to the organisation directly into the sessions. They address compliance by demonstrating regulatory features, such as GDPR data handling in Customer Engagement, through examples drawn from the team's own audits.

Similarly, they align activities with standard operating procedures, like mapping approval policies in Finance & Operations to the company's policies and delegation of authority. Trainers also evaluate baseline knowledge and introduce best practices accordingly, offering video tutorials for those who prefer visual aids or interactive exercises for hands-on learners.

This integration maintains regulatory adherence while allowing flexibility, leading naturally to the application of the five principles.

The Five Principles Applied to Business Applications Training

Trainers implement reciprocity by responding directly to user-raised concerns; for example, if a participant mentions inventory discrepancies, the trainer collaborates to design an alert tailored to their stock management routines. They apply contingency through immediate, targeted feedback, such as noting how the sales quotation flow initiates a process and then guiding adjustments to comply with local VAT requirements.

Then, affect follows as trainers frame explanations with relevance and reinforcement, ideally using live demonstrations in a demo environment, showing how a set of features meets business processes.

Next, shared control allows users to drive the conversation effectively, entering into a consultative phase where training needs and challenges are reframed into solution design and configuration, ensuring that the Dynamics apps are configured to address the needs of the team.

Finally, match ensures activities suit the user's expertise, providing foundational overviews that link features to desired outcomes such as increasing inventory accuracy or complying with tax authorities.

Trainers deliver these principles in various formats, like in-person workshops, virtual simulations, or self-paced modules, followed by reviews to refine future sessions.

Outcomes and Supporting Data

When trainers employ these principles in Dynamics 365 sessions, participants demonstrate faster skill acquisition; for instance, reciprocity and match enable end users to master tasks 30-50% more quickly. Adoption rates increase as well, with teams applying features learned in daily operations at levels up to 50% higher than in standard training, which helps prevent attrition linked to inadequate onboarding. These enhancements translate to shorter implementation periods, cutting costs through efficiencies such as 30% faster process completions in rollouts.

Publications like eLearning Industry document microlearning applications for Dynamics 365 equivalents, which shorten onboarding by up to 30%. Training Magazine highlights that engaging programs reduce staff turnover to below 13%.

Organisations, including Deloitte, have begun testing comparable user-centred strategies, confirming the approach's viability.

How to Apply Responsive Teaching to Business Application Training

Trainers start by surveying teams to pinpoint gaps in Dynamics 365 usage and routine challenges, a process that typically spans 1-2 weeks. Next, they construct modular content that permits branching based on responses, requiring 2-4 weeks. They then conduct a pilot with a select group, incorporating participant input to refine the material over 4-6 weeks.

Upon success, they extend the model organisation-wide, monitoring metrics like session completion and practical application. To maintain effectiveness, trainers receive ongoing instruction in observational techniques and conduct quarterly evaluations.

The LEAD365 Framework applied

At D365 Training, we take a different path to accelerate this preparation and position ourselves as leaders in business applications. We use AI to analyse requirements from solution design and functional documents, including extensions, customisations, and third-party apps.

For a Business Central implementation that would otherwise demand weeks of manual effort, our AI prepares bespoke training content in less than two working days. Combined with our LEAD365 framework, which blends training and consulting through a responsive approach, this method reduces rollout costs and timelines while delivering tailored sessions that fit your team's needs.

Our learning management system includes an AI chatbot for instant procedural answers, along with an "ask the trainer" function that connects teams to one of our trainers in real time, similar to customer service support dedicated to training queries. Analytics dashboards track user engagement patterns.

Conclusion: Ready Teams for Tomorrow

With AI transforming roles at an increasing pace, traditional training methods struggle to adapt. By incorporating Responsive Teaching principles, trainers equip end users with skills they integrate seamlessly into their work. This method fosters teams that handle implementations efficiently and contribute to organisational goals.

If this aligns with your training needs, consider a needs assessment.

Partner Training Call

30min

Book Now