Software Training vs Documentation: Choosing the Right Approach for Employee Success

If you’ve ever rolled out new software, you know the challenge: how do you make sure employees actually know how to use it effectively? Between tight deadlines, varied skill levels, and complex systems, it’s not always easy to get everyone up to speed.

That’s why there’s software training and software documentation, right? They can both help employees learn, but are they equally effective in this task? Probably not, and most of the time they should serve different audiences. That’s because they serve very different purposes, and knowing when and for whom to use each can make a big difference in adoption, efficiency, and long-term success.

I’ll break down the differences between training and documentation, explore when each one works best, with whom each one works best, and share tips for using them strategically during software rollouts. Whether you’re in IT, L&D, or just trying to improve employee experience, this post will help you make smarter decisions about how to support employees with learning software effectively.

Should your company invest in software training or rely on detailed documentation to empower your workforce? Understanding the two and where their strengths are is important for paving a smoother path toward employee success.

Before jumping into the details of what’s what, it’s important to ensure both are understood thoroughly in the context of employees’ understanding of company software.

Defining the Terms

Understanding the foundational language is the first step toward making a strategic decision. When we talk about “Software Training vs Documentation,” we’re essentially weighing two distinct methods of information likely for two different audiences.

While both approaches aim to improve competence and productivity, they differ in delivery style as well as mainly who they’re catering to and who will find them the most useful. By clearly defining these terms, companies can begin to plan when each tactic should be used for maximum impact.

What is Software Documentation?

Software documentation is a comprehensive collection of materials that detail how software applications function and how they should be used. The main audience for software documentation is likely developers or those working on the software, who need in-depth documentation on how it’s developed and/or should work.

These resources are typically a large guide that’s difficult for common users of the software, who likely need more succinct training that’s role-based. They’re in-depth, which inherently makes them more difficult to find, but only the information necessary to get a job done.

The primary advantage of software documentation lies in how well it serves the audience who is either an expert or who works in the software daily to make it better. Once created, documentation remains a reliable reference point for those who need more thorough knowledge and whose lives the software plays a significant role in.

Unfortunately, it requires diligent maintenance to remain current with software updates and can sometimes overwhelm users with excessive detail, even with good structuring. It’s a lot of information to make sense of!

Documentation is often best for:

• Developers and IT teams
• Technical troubleshooting
• Understanding system behavior
• Maintaining or customizing software
• Software experts who provide help to others

What is Software Training?

Software training involves organized learning that’s often tailored to users in a specific way and only includes what they need to do their job effectively. Software training is a prime candidate for digital delivery, often in software simulations, but can also be delivered through other means, although these are usually less effective.

The goal is to engage employees directly, allowing them to learn software in the context of their jobs that’s highly relevant to their specific needs. It also lets them see how the software is used exactly in the context of how they’ll use it, rather than general functionality.

One of the standout benefits of software training is the personalization it offers. It can be adapted to address real-world use cases specific to different departments by way of scenario-based learning, which is often a better way to learn. Whether it’s finance, marketing, or operations, scenario-based learning can put software into the context of their jobs and make it more meaningful to them.

More meaningful training means more effective training.

Software training can also be done relatively affordably when digital compared to in-person training and sometimes even software documentation. Performance support can be somewhat similar to software documentation, except it’s broken down into smaller chunks of separate information, which also makes it an affordable form of training.

Training is best for:

• Onboarding new users.
• Teaching workflows and processes.
• Driving adoption and confidence.
• Supporting behavior change.

Key Differences

While both software training and documentation aim to support users, they differ significantly in audience, purpose, format, and impact. Understanding these differences helps organizations choose the right approach for different scenarios.

Audience and Intent

• Documentation is typically written for technical users or experts, including developers, system administrators, or those maintaining and configuring the software. It assumes a certain level of familiarity with technical concepts and often focuses on how the software works behind the scenes or in its entirety rather than based on job.
• Training, on the other hand, is designed for end users, including employees who need to use the software to complete tasks. It focuses on practical application, helping users understand how to use the software in the context of their job.

Format and Delivery

• Documentation is typically text-based, accompanied by static images. That means it’s static and structured for reference. It might include manuals, API guides, configuration instructions, and sometimes user guides.
• Training is interactive and experiential. It can include live sessions, though e-learning is a more effective means of software training. It might include video walkthroughs and software simulations. The goal is to engage users and guide them through real-world scenarios.

Learning Experience

• Documentation supports self-directed exploration. Users must know what they’re looking for and be able to interpret technical language.
• Training provides a guided learning path, often with clear objectives, feedback, and opportunities to practice. It’s especially valuable for onboarding, behavior change, and setting up employees for correct behavior in software.

Impact on Adoption

• Documentation alone often isn’t enough to drive adoption among everyday users. It can be overwhelming or too abstract.
• Training helps bridge the gap between software features and real-world use, making it more likely that employees will embrace the tool and use it effectively.

This table helps sum up the key differences at a glance. It’s a great reference for when each is more impactful and needed.

When to Use Documentation

Documentation shines in scenarios where experts and developers need to understand features and how the software works. In a large enterprise, when software features are stable and the processes are standardized, well-written manuals and knowledge bases serve as an efficient means for those more familiar with the software to get guidance and answers to complex questions.

Documentation is often necessary for software from an expert and development point of view. It ensures that future development is well-guided and that questions can be answered for complex problems. Having software documentation available will strengthen governance and empower better future software developments.

Use documentation when:

• Your audience is technical (e.g., developers, system admins).
• You need to support software maintenance or customization.
• You’re troubleshooting or integrating systems.
• You’re building internal tools or workflows.

Documentation is essential for those working on the software itself, but it’s rarely enough to help employees learn how to use it effectively.

When to Use Training

Training is essential if any of your employees will be using software and they’re not experts or perhaps not too technical. It’s always helpful to give context to the work rather than simply throwing how-tos their way and expecting them to figure everything out. It’s a must for most employees who aren’t developers or experts in the tool.

Digital software training is the most effective way to help employees use software tools effectively for their job. They can gain realistic practice that’s directly related to their job. That means they understand how to use the tool in the context of their work.

In the debate of Software Training vs Documentation, investing in training for the non-technical to get them up-to-speed for complex or high-stakes scenarios is necessary. It will lead to better value for users, happier workers, reduced error rates, and smoother transitions.

Use training when:

• You’re rolling out new software to employees.
• The software supports critical workflows or business processes.
• You want to ensure consistent usage across teams.
• You’re aiming to increase adoption and reduce support requests.

Training helps employees build confidence, understand context, and apply the software to their specific roles.

How Companies Can Strategically Use Both

Rather than viewing software training vs documentation as mutually exclusive, leading enterprises adopt both. They’re both needed for each situation, and for software to work well in an enterprise, it must be properly documented and employees must be effectively trained.

The strategy starts with comprehensive documentation that covers baseline processes and system overviews. This “living manual” serves as the foundation for developers and experts. Training through digital software simulations will address the employees and how they’ll use the software to do their jobs. The software likely has a purpose to improve workflows and help employees do their jobs better. Software training will do exactly that when done well.

By integrating these methods, companies ensure that everyone will have the necessary tools to develop better software, answer complex questions, and know how to do their job better using the tool.

Digital software training ensures employees have the base skills to use the software, whereas performance support ensures additional easy-to-use resources for the future. Understanding how to provide the best performance support is all about leveraging analytics from your learning management system (LMS) and helpdesk ticketing platform. They can reveal knowledge gaps, informing what resources employees need.

While documentation and training serve different purposes, they can complement each other when used strategically:

• Use training to introduce software and build foundational skills.
• Provide simplified, user-friendly documentation for ongoing reference or break it apart into performance support.
• Tailor resources to different roles. Technical teams may need deep documentation, while end users benefit from guided training.

Wrap Up

Choosing between software training and documentation shouldn’t be an either-or decision. By clearly defining each approach and understanding its respective advantages/audiences, companies can tailor support strategies to their respective users.

In the end, a coordinated blend of both methods ensures a culture of continuous learning and adaptability, key ingredients for sustaining employee success in today’s fast-paced corporate landscape.

Supporting employees with the right mix of training and documentation isn’t just about teaching software; it’s about helping people succeed in their roles. By understanding who each resource is for and when to use it, you can create a smarter, more effective support strategy that meets the needs of both technical teams and everyday users.

For most internal software tools with employees outside of developers and experts as the audience, software training is necessary. Schedule a free consultation to discuss with expert instructional design consultants in the technical training space to see how we can help your employees succeed with company software.