Forum Discussion

Maddie_Egan's avatar
Maddie_Egan
Silver Contributor
Apr 26, 2017
Solved

When Adoption Goes Wrong

When Adoption Goes Wrong   This month, we’ve highlighted best practices and resources—but we also understand adoption is a challenging task and not everything goes smoothly. So let’s talk about ...
User Adoption
  • Steve Dalby's avatar
    Steve Dalby
    Sep 15, 2017

    Asif,If nothing else your response drew people’s attention in showing the bad side of expecting training to be the Adoption answer, it obviously is not. 

     

    However, it MUST be part of the answer as the expectation that your 'mass' of end users will suddenly understand everything that is being delivered is probably not realistic.  And also, how do you manage new applications as MS release them.

     

    My response is that your view is correct but your statement is wrong. 

     

    Training is crucial, but like everything else in the adoption space it has to be done right with all training plans being based on a training needs analysis exercise.  This then means that the training provided is as a request by the business and motivation to train is because the business see that the project is delivering the training in the formats and subject matter that they have been requesting.

    So, training on its own is not the answer, but as a blended adoption solution it is a crucial part of the process.

     

    Steve Dalby

Marlon Hartskeerl's avatar
Marlon Hartskeerl
Brass Contributor
May 01, 2017
Training / information on demand can be a really good strategy indeed, Asif. And I agree that it is necessary to provide several resources to inform end users about the change. However, as a (ex) trainer, I think training can be effective as well, as long as you keep their goal (work more efficiently / effective in mind rather than just explaining what every button does.

Back on topic, I think it's really necessary to involve management. I used to work in a project where management wasn't involved enough and while certain end users embraced the new possibilities, a lot just waited for management to tell them to use it. Unfortunately we didn't do enough to involve management.
Also, I think it's important to not really focus on how to use a certain technology, but rather on why to use it. By explaining the why extensively, people will find out how to use the new technology mostly by themselves. Of course certain guidelines and tips should be shared, but focus on the why. Most users who use facebook / whatsapp didn't learn how to use those apps as well, did they?

Resources