Building processes and systems in your business is the ultimate way to get rid of inefficiencies and develop a more productive team. While most business leaders understand that concept, actually taking the time to build these out is another ball game.

It takes time to not only build and document these processes but to also ensure the team is properly trained on them––not to mention the administrative tasks associated when a new training is added or a new employee is onboarded.

This is where having one centralized hub for training and best practices is indispensable. And when paired with automation, you can effectively 10x your output without adding more to-dos to your plate and ensure processes don’t take a back seat.

Let’s explore a few smart automations that can help put your training process on autopilot, and in many cases, improve them.

Do it once, then set it free

Last summer, we announced our integration with Zapier––our favorite web automation app––which allows you to link more than 1,000 apps to automatically manage and guide your team through various training processes. To give you an idea of what this could look like in action within Trainual, here are just a few of the processes that can be automated:

• Assign and un-assign roles and Subjects
• Invite new users when an event is “triggered” in another app
• Send personalized messages
• Track progress of Subject or Topic completion
• Schedule check-ins and follow-ups if training Tests are failed

By automating key aspects of your training management process with Trainual and Zapier, you can eliminate many of the redundant and administrative tasks associated with it.

It’s simple to connect the two, using Zapier to create one business app ecosystem. Just locate your favorite or most essential business applications in Zapier, then create triggers or steps that tell your “Zaps” when to run.

Think of it as an “if this, then that” scenario. For instance, if a new employee is added to Teamwork, a project management tool, you could build a Zap to have them automatically invited as a Trainual user as well. Triggers can be set up within a variety of other apps, including Slack, Harvest, Dropbox, Google Sheets, Typeform, and Salesforce, just to name a few.

On the Trainual side, triggers include:

• Single Subject Completed
• All Subjects Completed
• Topic Completed
• Test Passed
• Test Failed

If one of these steps is completed, then an action could include:

• Assign New Role
• Unassign Role
• Assign Subjects
• Unassign Subjects
• Invite New User

These can be set up in your Zapier account or you can use the pre-built templates found in the integrations section of your Trainual account settings.

Trainual + Zapier in action

While we’re on the subject, let’s highlight a few of our favorite Trainual + Zapier use cases:

Google Calendar

With this integration, you can keep track of how your employees are fairing on their Trainual tests. For instance, if a new employee fails a critical training Test, this integration can automatically put a meeting on the calendar to address the issue. This helps ensure issues are brought to the forefront and addressed early in the process before poor habits develop. (Use this Zap!)

Additionally, Trainual + Zapier enables you to access your other favorite Google products, like Google Sheets, Google Forms, Google Drive and Gmail (more on that one below).

Gmail

By linking Trainual with Gmail through Zapier, you can stay current on who is completing Subjects and passing Tests within Trainual. You can then set up an automatic congratulatory email to be sent to the employee once they complete or pass certain milestones. (Use this Zap!)

Other popular Zaps include creating new emails, attachments, threads, and labels, and creating actions to correspond with those, like inviting new users and assigning new Subjects.

Dropbox

A fan favorite among file hosting services, linking Trainual to Dropbox through Zapier enables you to create new folders, upload files, create files, and share links. Zaps make it easy to assign these tasks and more to your team, and receive updates on when tasks are completed—all from one place.

Maybe there is an entire Dropbox folder of marketing assets that a new marketing associate would need access to. But you want to wait until they’ve completed their basic role training before opening the access floodgates. That’s exactly why you would integrate Trainual and Dropbox with Zapier. Once that new hire completes their basic training Subjects and passes a Test, allow them access to the Dropbox marketing folder. This is a major onboarding time saver. (Use this Zap!)

Teamwork

The Trainual + Teamwork Zap allows you to reduce duplication of efforts. For example, if a new team member is added to a Teamwork project, they can automatically be invited to Trainual (as noted above) and assigned a certain role or particular Subjects that relate to that project. (Use this Zap!)

Also, if a training Subject is completed inside of Trainual, the next project can be assigned in Teamwork to help manage workflows in a fast and organized way. 

WordPress

For organizations with dedicated WordPress users, this new integration helps you manage your team’s activity. For example, a new comment on a blog post could trigger a zap to assign a Trainual user a new role teaching them the standard operating procedures for engaging blog commenters with relevant and timely information. (Use this Zap!)

Assigned users can also be zapped when they need to create a new post or upload media. Especially for a site that needs constant management, Trainual + Zapier automates key activities to streamline your team’s WordPress workflow.

YesInsights

This integration is a slam dunk if you want to know who on your team is interested in learning about other Subjects in Trainual outside of those that may have been assigned to them. Perhaps a new employee is exploring other parts of the business, or a long-term employee wants to brush up on specific procedures.

With the YesInsights + Trainual Zap, you can assign users to a specific Subject if they’ve indicated interest based on their responses to a simple YesInsights survey. (Use this Zap!)

Slack

One of our favorite communication tools, Slack helps your team stay better connected no matter where in the world they are. Because of that, it’s also great for keeping your team engaged in their training. This Zap enables you to send direct messages, post channel messages, update profiles when users pass or fail a Test, or celebrate with your team when a new hire hits certain training milestones. (Use this Zap!)

For instance, when a Test is passed, you might send a congratulatory message to the employee or post it in a team channel to recognize them. You could also add reminders to be sent in Slack when a previously completed Subject has been edited and there is some new content an employee has to go back in and review.

Salesforce

Salesforce is a premium integration on Zapier that enables users to connect with as many as 200 possible integrations. This Zap alerts users when a new lead is created or a new custom object is created and lets you create leads and add leads to specific campaigns. Same goes for new contacts, opportunities, cases, accounts, tasks, and campaigns.

Teaming this with Trainual then allows you to automatically serve up relevant Subjects (ie. SOPs or processes) to your sales reps based on the type of leads they are working with. This will help ensure everyone has the right information they need at the right time and that your processes stay consistent across the sales team. (Use this Zap!)

LinkedIn

The Trainual + Zapier integration enables LinkedIn users to create updates and share content as it pertains to their professional development. If you have Subjects inside of Trainual that once an employee completes they are essentially “certified” in some important business process, you might want to create a LinkedIn personal or company update, announcing their recent certification to an extended professional network. (Use this Zap!)

Explore more featured Trainual + Zapier integrations here, including Harvest, Basecamp, Asana, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Google Docs and many more.

When it comes to setting up app automation, you’re really only limited by your imagination. From assigning Subjects once your new hire has signed their offer letter to congratulating them on completing a Subject, Topic, or Test, you can effectively delegate the tedious administrative tasks associated with training to Zapier.

As we like to say around here:

Do it, Document it, Delegate it.

™

 In this case, once you’ve got a business process dialed, document it in Trainual, then delegate it with Zapier, and let the integration magic begin.

Want to get started with some pre-built templates? Try any or all of these below! Note - you will need to be an existing user of both Trainual and Zapier to connect these integrations in seconds.