Training has begun with high marks!

"Well worth the time", "Very helpful", and  "Got a lot out of it" are just some of the phrases used to describe the two day On Screen beginner training in Texas.  The training room and refreshments get high marks too!

Frank, Pedro, and Mike came back from this training ready to get started taking off projects with OST.  Being able to see the different things possible with the software opened up ideas for more uses of the software as well as ideas for improvement.  In just 2 days, we have 3 people ready and comfortable using a new program that they have not used before.  This is a great step forward for the Estimating team as we strive to gain consistency of process and product from both the La Verne and Fremont teams.  Without sacrificing accuracy, OST will assist us as we strive to utilize new technology to make our jobs easier and save some time too.  It's not very often that a training course gets high marks and is truly successful in getting the students excited to use what was taught.  The On Screen training team has done a great job in this and deserves credit for this.  Their fine training has laid the ground work for us as beginners and has really boosted the confidence and excitement of the team to be supportive of this introduction of a new way of doing a job.

With our initial trial projects, we have developed some standard base conditions, layers, and database set ups that we think will meet our needs and help get off on a good start when working on a new project.  Having these base items set up will save time for each user so they do not have to start from scratch.  This too will help with consistency.  As we know, there is always room for improvement and ideas for different ways to approach a task.  We look forward to an interchange of ideas as more of the team starts using OST and discovering new tips or tools within the software.

The next group that will be attending this training will hopefully be before the end of this year. After their attendance, the goal is to have the entire estimating team using the software and getting familiar with it.  Hopefully we can determine as a team if this software will meet our needs to help get budgets and estimates quantified accurately and in a timely manner to meet the needs of our customers.  As we continue to use On Screen Takeoff more and more, we will be able to make an educated decision on how the team sees the future of sales and if this is the software of choice.