Key takeaways
- Train by role before go-live, in a test environment where you can.
- Department leads validate records; they catch what automated checks miss.
- Compare standard reports from the old and new process before closing go-live.
- Book the post-migration review for 2 to 4 weeks after go-live, in advance.
Training is by role, before go-live
Train each group on the functions it will own: the planner on generation and edits, department heads on checking their staffing, office staff on the outputs they distribute. Training that happens after go-live is remediation with a friendlier name.
A test environment makes the practice safe. Staff can make mistakes before the live timetable depends on their actions.
Validation with the people who know the records
Automated checks confirm structure. Department leads confirm meaning. Their sign-off belongs in the wider flow described in planning cycle governance.
- Identify the department leads who know the records being migrated.
- Give them access to the migrated records in the test environment.
- Ask each to spot-check the records their area depends on.
- Compare standard reports from the old and the new process.
- Log every difference with its suspected cause: cleanup, mapping, or validation.
- Fix, re-check, and only then close the go-live decision.
Why report comparison works
Reports compress many records into a page that experienced staff can read at a glance. If the old and new process disagree on a standard report, something specific is wrong, and the difference points at where.
Comparison supports the department review; it does not replace it.
How to do this in Smootables: department walkthroughs and export
Export timetable
Download the approved grid for teachers, rooms, or student groups.
Format
Periods
Walkthroughs run in the app: filter the timetable to what each department sees, then export the agreed version for distribution.
- On Timetables, filter the grid by Teacher, Room, Equipment, Student group, or Student to show each department exactly its own view.
- Walk department leads through their filtered view during validation, and fix findings while the timetable is still a draft.
- When a view is agreed, open Export timetable and choose CSV, Excel, or PDF.
- For printed packs per teacher or group, use the PDF export; the resource and group filters in the dialog apply to the PDF export.
- Tick Include waiting-area lessons if unplaced lessons should appear in the export for review.
The review 2 to 4 weeks in
Testing catches what testers think to try. The first weeks of live use catch the rest: records that did not transfer, workflows nobody wrote down, a report someone depended on quietly.
Book the review before go-live so it actually happens. Feed what it finds back into data cleanup, mapping, and training; the next phase of the migration inherits that loop.
Questions planners ask about rollout
Why department leads and not just IT?
IT confirms the data moved; department leads confirm it is correct. People who know the records spot errors that automated checks miss, because they know what the records are supposed to say.
What if staff keep using the old spreadsheets?
That is a retirement problem more than a training one: while the old files stay live, the familiar tool wins. Set the retirement date as part of go-live and tell everyone it applies to.
What should the post-migration review look at?
Records and workflows that did not transfer correctly. The first weeks of live use surface issues that testing could not, because real work exercises paths nobody thought to test.