Forum Discussion
Goal: Champions Program
Hi OLED365,
First, to recruit some champions, it is important the call come from the top management but not only. What we have missed at my place is to effectively engage the middle management, the direct managers of the champions. It is easier to grow the community when the manager suggests : "who from the team is interested to be a champion?" rather than having the interested employees proactively volunteer. Also having a clear WIIFM is important! Think about what you want to set up for them first rather than recruit them first and actually have nothing that happens. You will lose them quickly. Maybe think as well of what is going to be their "onboarding path" as champions.
Then, in terms of connecting with them, I am organizing a monthly call with them with always an agenda covering what is new at Microsoft, what is new at our company regarding new ways of working + extra training offer, etc. Those monthly calls have really helped creating a "relationship" between our global office and the remote champions. We also have a Team (but a yammer group would also make the job) where news are shared, and where all champions can ask their questions.
I am also sending a monthly newsletter following that call with a recap of the most important points. In terms of goals, we have 1 champion for 100 employees. I think this is ok when the change is well installed but to boost adoption, I could read 1 : 50 - 1 : 40 is recommended. This is what I target to achieve.
I hope this gave you some ideas. Let me know if you are interested in a quick call to share experience!
MicrosoftOLED365 Here are some tips of how I create champion programs:
- Is there an existing community you could leverage? (Think interns/previous work groups, assistants, young company network). Recruit people on the intranet, or let other ambassadors bring in colleagues. Or let managers appoint someone in their team, but be aware that there is usually a different motivation between volunteers and people who are 'voluntold'.
- What is expected of a champion? Try to be specific in their role:
- Willingness to share knowledge and help other colleagues
- Easy to approach character
- Can speak language of colleagues (not technical)
- Actively provide input/feedback on way of working
- Join community calls/trainings
- What is in it for the champion?
e.g.
- Become expert in new ways of working
- Increase network & visability
- Early access to new features & training
- Develop coaching skills
- Be part of the community
- Learn from other teams
- How will the community be managed (which platform Teams/Yammer) and is there a specific community manager?
If you do Teams think of relevant channels e.g.
- General: announcements/tips/tricks
- Activities: trainings/workshops/webinars
- FAQ: for FAQ & knowledge sharing
- Playground (tell people to turn off notifications): let people play around and try things out.
- What will be the rhythm of sharing information/community calls to keep them engaged?
Mondays: tip/trick (tip for yourself: Microsoft 365 Training or follow Microsoft employees on LinkedIn for latest tips and insights).
Monthly community call: let ambassadors determine content
e.g. feature updates, activities coming up, best practice sharing, highlight/train a specific feature etc.
- How will you gather feedback from champions, and how often? (Check out forms)
Monthly form on Teams, short polls in the meantime (1 question e.g. How was your meeting experience this week)
Good luck!
