While it is said that people don’t like change, it’s really more accurate to say that people don’t like to have changes forced upon them. In reality, we all deal with change on a near constant basis. Who doesn’t buy new clothes, try new places to eat, or watch new shows on TV? We don’t typically hear complaints about these kinds of ‘changes’ because people are in control of the decision-making process.
Clearly, it’s impossible for any organization to involve all end-users in a technology change decision. However, user profiles, also known as ‘personas’, can be used to represent groups of users who have similar requirements for existing or new technology. Uncovering ‘personas’ requires thoughtful interfacing with the user population. It provides understanding of common user needs and motivations, an outline of the gaps in existing or future toolsets, and insight into the true day to day experience of the workforce. This information is priceless when driving user adoption for existing or new technologies, as it allows users to participate in upcoming change versus having it thrust upon them.
Learn more about this at the Enterprise Connect session “
Real-World Lessons in Driving User Adoption.” I’ll be presenting with Vallorie Weires from Enabling Technologies and we will provide real world examples of some of the challenges we faced working together on a large project.
Our project had a strong team that created and executed an adoption and change management strategy. From my perspective, there were three important ways that this strategy had an impact on the success of the project:
- Create a positive perception of the project. The best way to do this is by taking the time to let users know change was coming, when it was coming, and how they would be impacted individually. This required extra effort compared to a “one size fits all” approach, but the effort paid off when users were more willing to adopt and use the new tools, ensuring a maximum return on investment in the new technology.
- Increase user engagement. Thanks to our communications strategy, the users were more receptive to training, and therefore had fewer issues with the new solution. Some provided testimonials that made groups who migrated later in the process more comfortable and accepting of the change. Others provided feedback that the team utilized to streamline the migration process and improve the experience for others.
- Decrease the burden on the support staff. The users who attended training were far more comfortable with the transition to the new tools. They had fewer calls to the help desk.
In addition to discussing the case study and lessons from our project, we will be providing tools and a checklist to assist in creating a user adoption plan for your next project. We hope you can
join us at Enterprise Connect — and if you can’t, please
register for the virtual portion of this hybrid event. Either way, I hope we’ll see you the week of March 21!
Melissa is writing on behalf of the SCTC, a premier professional organization for independent consultants. SCTC consultant members are leaders in the industry, able to provide best of breed professional services in a wide array of technologies. Every consultant member commits annually to a strict Code of Ethics, ensuring they work for the client benefit only and do not receive financial compensation from vendors and service providers.
