Microsoft 365: Change Management Simplified

Microsoft 365 offers an effective way to build a modern workplace by combining capabilities to securely equip your teams for creativity and collaboration. Today we’ll offer insight on how Microsoft 365 streamlines updates when change management is key.

 

Change at the Speed of Business

Rapid change is the reality in cloud services. Prosci research shows that companies with excellent change management are six times more successful at meeting project objectives. And Microsoft Adoption Scenario Workshop attendees report an 85% increase in adoption – here’s our approach to change management.

Microsoft 365 makes implementation, updates, and releases easier to manage. Instead of major updates every few years, feature updates will be delivered twice per year. IT admins can ensure devices are fully up-to-date with quality updates and with extended feature update support periods, and they can release feature builds based on their change management processes. M365 servicing provides automation to IT admins while still giving them the control and support timeframes to meet their business needs.

Start a conversation below! How will more frequent, automated updates affect your organization’s change management?

 

Simplify & Streamline Your Updates

On April 20^th Microsoft announced that Office 365 ProPlus and Windows 10 update models will align, another benefit of Microsoft 365. In addition to the update schedule, Microsoft 365 pushes monthly security updates to keep your organization safe and secure. To ensure proper build validation, IT Admins can use multiple channels within the Microsoft recommended “deployment rings” before the Office or Windows build hits production, creating an automated process.

For more information, check out this Microsoft Ignite presentation that explains aligning Office 365 ProPlus and Windows 10 update models

 

Transition from Current State to Future State

Aligning to this new release model can be a major shift in your operating model. Here are some change management principles to consider as you implement Microsoft 365:

• Set the strategy. A tightly knit team of sponsors is critical to success. Tap your change management resource team, align a map of leaders to promote and embed the change organizationally, and set your project budget. Think about launching a Change Advisory Board (CAB) to conduct a change impact analysis and assess readiness, executive sponsorship, stakeholder engagement, and risks.
• Prepare and activate the plan. Here’s where you drive behavior change and adoption. Engage employees with a clear value proposition for the transition (articulate what’s in it for me, aka WIIFM, to get buy-in). From awareness to action phases, your plan will cover multi-channel communications, coaching sponsors, training employees, success metrics, and resistance management. Optimize employee communications by audience and type, with executives sending business messages and line managers reinforcing the messages.
• Reinforce change. It’s important to engage your employees. Create regular feedback loops to listen for confusion and gauge risk. This will enable you to effectively understand and address adoption gaps. Track compliance with new practices to determine success of the project and the organization’s ability to sustain change for desired future state. And of course, celebrate success!

Resources to Get Started

• Learn about change management – read about Lynda and Mind Tools from @Anna Chu, understand the Office 365 servicing model, and see the FastTrack journey for Microsoft 365 with this handy Adoption Guide.
• Apply digital literacy insights to put people first – MVP @Tracy van der Schyff offers 20 tips about user adoption and change management, plus she’s writing about Microsoft 365 for 365 days – check out her blog and her slides from Microsoft Ignite.
• Stay up-to-date – monitor release cadences with Microsoft roadmap sites for Office 365, Windows 10, and EMS (filter by Enterprise Mobility + Security) and communicate updates in clear simple language.
• Work with teams that can help you build a culture of adoption – use your business relationship manager (BRM), seek expertise from firms like Prosci, work with your Microsoft partner, or try a learning platform service to deliver tailored training.

We are interested in how your organization transitions to Microsoft 365 for results like transformational agility and people engagement. Let us know your thoughts on M365 and change management below!