Forum Discussion
Case Study #1: Adoption as a Marketing Campaign
When a user is given new software, the first question they usually ask is, "how do I still do my job?"
Similar to Chandler Milne, I like to think about the job the user is hiring the software to do, and then start early with small gems of wisdom, long before they have the software. Communicating the story about how the software will change the way the user works--for the better--is crucial to successful adoption.
So much of adoption is based on breaking down barriers. Once the user understands the true benefits--saving them time, making them more productive, avoiding that unprepared embarrassment in a meeting, etc.--they will be begging for the change to happen rather than fighting it.
If you don't understand your users, you can't be successful with this approach. We like to give users small bits of wisdom, asking them questions along the way. Then we segment the training we offer them by their roles, job tasks, or business scenarios. For example, the needs of an exeuctive admin who is looking to upgrade from Outlook 2007 to Office 365 is in a very different place from a sales guy, using a Mac, who just started at the company, and previously only used Google.
What if you cannot afford to have the one on one training and support to get users to adopt it? Our struggle is the systems we have in place now work just fine. It seems like Teams is just adding a new way to do the same things. For example, the chat features. We already have Skype for Business/email and those two work just fine. If we are talking about files, well we already use file server shares for that.
How do you get users to change that thinking? This is the struggle we have.
Just thinking aloud really so treat accordingly!
Taking a step back what are the underlying business problems or issues that are being tackled, not to get bogged down on individual features at this point - what are the low hanging fruit etc. Why did you get Office 365 for in the first place, what drove it and how much has been achieved to date?
Talking about files but how about OneDrive for Business, has that taken off for example. That's a huge enabler for working from anywhere and staying productive.
One size doesn't fit all - Microsoft Teams might not be a good fit in all cases, don't try and do too much all at once, focus on the essentials and doing them well
Cascade knowledge - Having Champions, power users, enthusiasts that spread knowledge can work well if there are people that can take up this role
Use the tools at hand - SharePoint Communication Sites is easy way to way to build an https://jaredmatfess.com/2017/07/16/sharepoint-communications-sites-for-your-office-365-adoption-site/ for example. Use Microsoft Forms for a survey to find and identify pain points or areas where staff could be more productive. Use the Office 365 Adoption content pack, what does it tell you, trends or areas to focus on.
Be Creative - Not everyone has the resources for one on one training that's true, thats quite a luxury but what about newsletters, webinars, posters, quizzes, competitions that can raise awareness and remind staff whats available
Use the resouces at hand - The https://fto365dev.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/DocResources/en-us/Office_365_Adoption_Guide.pdf is a good resource, the https://productivitylibrary.fasttrack.microsoft.com/en-us/office/envision/productivitylibrary is well worth reviewing, https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Office-Training-Center-b8f02f81-ec85-4493-a39b-4c48e6bc4bfb etc.