On-site vs. Remote Yardi Training

If your business is considering Yardi training to better optimize the use of your systems, weighing the pros and cons for bringing a consultant into your business or working with someone remotely is probably one of your top concerns. Which one is better for your business: on-site or remote Yardi training? The answer depends on your unique business goals and preferred learning style. 

Saxony Partners Senior Yardi Consultant Meagan Stuesser forged her career path over the last 20 years by becoming an expert in Yardi training. Before she was an independent Yardi consultant, she spoke on a panel about Modernizing Your Traditional Training Program at Yardi’s annual YASC conference in Washington, D.C. Today she trains our Yardi clients both in person and remotely based on their schedules and preferences. 

Here’s our overview of on-site vs. remote Yardi training to help you decide which option will ultimately be a better fit for your business.

On-site Yardi Training

For the most part, on-site training is pretty self-explanatory. A Yardi consultant will travel to your office and personally instruct your team on Yardi usage.

“On-site training involves a trainer coming to teach on-site, in a face-to-face environment – whether at the client’s office, at a property or a rented classroom in a co-working space,” Stuesser said. “Basically, the trainer is literally in the same room and in the flesh.”

Stuesser said that while Yardi training can be equally successful when completed on-site or remote, some businesses prefer the human component to on-site training. 

“Some clients like the face-to-face contact,” Stuesser said. “They feel it is more engaging and ensures that their trainees are paying attention. Behind a computer screen, you can’t really tell. People commonly multi-task.”

Remote Yardi Training

While your Yardi consultant may not be in the same room with you for remote training, that doesn’t make their instruction any less valuable. And in some instances, remote Yardi training is more ideal because it allows for better flexibility.

“After gaining insight to the client’s needs and focus points, we gather a list of the employees they would like invited to the remote training,” Stuesser said. “We then email an invitation that contains a link to a GoToMeeting along with the purpose of the lesson or agenda of topics. On training day, employees then log into the GoToMeeting session on their computers. We have the ability to display our monitors, give control to another user, make another user presenter and even record the call for the client to share with anyone that couldn’t make it to the webinar.”

Although setting up a remote meeting with most clients starts off the same way, the direction for the lesson can differ based on each client’s needs.

“The level of interactivity on a remote session can vary depending on group size and length of session,” Stuesser said. “For example, for an intimate group (usually less than 10 users) I have allowed a team member to work through an example in a TEST database for their colleagues to see. This is great for peers to share knowledge and stimulate discussion. For larger audiences, I will do a straight presentation. For apps, we can plug our mobile devices and use a screen mirroring tool through the computer.”

Choosing the Right Yardi Training Style for You

The safest way to ensure you choose the right Yardi training style is to ignore any preconceived ideas about which one is better and instinctively choose what will work best for your team members.

“I think it all depends on the client’s learning style,” Stuesser said.

“Remote training is great for clients that have staff that is spread out or just hard to schedule time together. There is a misconception that more intense topics are better trained in person. That isn’t necessarily true. Remote training can be just as engaging if you are able to engage different learning styles and can break up sessions. Adults tend to stay more focused during a one-hour training session rather than three hours straight.”

“It’s important to know the audience when deciding whether to train on-site or remote. For example, when training apps I have found it to be more enjoyable for maintenance staff to learn Yardi Maintenance Mobile, hands on as a group, on-site. We can make sure it is set up for each user, walk through all the features and everyone gets to create their own work orders and close them on their mobile device in real time. However, something like the PAYscan Mobile app doesn’t require as much hands-on intensity. It’s an app that executives use to approve payables.”

Ultimately, your team can be successful with either on-site or remote Yardi training. It all depends on what you want to learn, and how you want to structure your time. 

If you’re looking for more Yardi training tips and best practices recommended by our team of independent Yardi consultants, visit our Saxony Partners blog or follow us on LinkedIn.