blog.frederique.harmsze.nl my world of work and user experiences

June 5, 2022

New technology is fine but what about our way of working?

Filed under: Adoption — frederique @ 08:34

I am often involved in the roll-out of Microsoft 365, though sometime only at a late stage. The technical implementation usually gets most attention from the project team. But recently I heard from innocent end users at two clients that they were unhappy. Ok, they get new tools. And at some point they learn which buttons to push to operate the tools. But how are they supposed to work, now that the tools are rather different? What is the way of working now?

Things these innocent end-users were wondering about include:

  • I need to share a document with someone outside our organization. How am I supposed to do that now? In the Teams environment they gave us? Or in the OneDrive you just talked about?
    That was a very good question, especially because their Team only allowed for internal users and the organization has blocked external sharing in OneDrive. But it has to be very clear which method of sharing people should use in what situation.
  • I do see the advantage of the chat functionality in Teams. But a lot of the information I need to communicate is confidential. Am I allowed to put that in the Teams chat?
    We can implement technical solutions to protect our sensitive data, but it is key that they users understand what they should and should not do.
  • You say that we will get a Teams environment for our pharmacy. But in our pharmacy team, only the mail pharmacist has a computer and an account. The assistants don’t. So how are we supposed to collaborate with them using Teams?
    It has to be clear if we involve firstline workers and task workers who are not working on their computer or other electronic device most of the day. And if they are not involved, so our scenarios for collaboration and communication using Microsoft 365 make sense for the people who often work with firstline workers?
  • You say that we should use SharePoint for document management, but we still have several fileshares. Can we keep using those, or what are we supposed to do?
    In the transition from the old way of working, using old tools, to the new way of working, the users need to know what the plan is: is it a phased approach and when will what be migrated, should they request their own SharePoint site or Team if their old file location was not part of the original migration?
  • You are setting up this information portal about Microsoft 365, but who will be responsible for keeping it up-to-date? And for that matter, who is responsible for Microsoft 365 in our organization?

So we need to determine what the new way of working is, with the new tools. Not just for the obvious knowledge workers in the head offices, but also for the different types of users in the organization. Including the firstline workers if they should be involved. Or clarity about their non-involvement…

Some users will figure it out for themselves, but others feel less confident in their own savviness or more afraid they will do something stupid that will harm the organization. Let’s avoid these problems and stress. Of course the people in IT and the external consultants cannot come up by themselves with a way of working for the different types of users everywhere in the organisation. And they don’t have to.

We need to involve key users / ambassadors / champions / whatever you call them from different parts of the organization. These people can help figure out what the best way of working is for their team. And then they can help their colleagues to adopt that new way of working.

May 31, 2022

My ADKAR checklist: helping users to adopt our new solutions

Filed under: Adoption — Tags: — frederique @ 19:50

Implementing a new system or solution will not help anyone, if the users do not adopt it and use it. And they will not do so, if they lack ADKAR for that system or solution: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement. It may sound weird and theoretical, but it has often helped me structure my approach to adoption. In this post, you will find my ADKAR-based checklist.

The projects in which I used this checklist were usually related to Microsoft 365, like the introduction of a new digital workplace. But the checklist also applies to other technologies.

WhatHow
Awareness
“We understand what is changing”		Do we have a communication plan?
Who will communicate what when to whom via which channel.

Are we involving a business sponsors?
Messages from high-level sponsors in the business instead of IT.

Are we repeating the communication enough?
Sending the message once is not sufficient. Different speakers/writers, different channels, different emphasis to reach everyone.
Desire
“We want the new solution”		Do we have a clear picture of the benefits?
What are the benefits for the different types of users; not just company benefits (savings) or IT benefits (replacing an old system that is end-of-life).

Are we explaining “what’s in it for me”?
Write/record effective messages; check if they work.

Are we involving the managers?
Line managers, team leads can bring along their team. And if these managers do not believe in the change, they may actively hold their team back.
Knowledge
“We know how to use the new solution”		Do we have a training plan?
Who needs what kind of training when (e.g. classroom deepdives with exercises versus webinar tours).

Do we have help materials?
E.g. information portal, Quick Reference Cards, instruction videos.

Are we sure everyone who needs the knowledge can get it?
Communicate the training and help materials clearly and abundanty; make them easy to find.
Ability
“We are able to actually use the new solution in our work”		Can all users access the new system?
With their device, account, license, network? Is there a clear entry point, e.g. it opens automatically on their laptop, a link in the intranet, pinned app.

Can people get adequate support?
E.g. a helpdesk that has been properly trained, an ambassador network.

Is it clear and easy to get that support?
E.g. prominent contact details and request buttons, prominent list of the ambassadors
Reinforcement
“We will keep using the new solution ”		Do we monitor adoption?
Usage statistics of the new solution and of the old solution, surveys how the users like the new system.

Do we have a team with continuing ownership?
Like a Competence Center, that is fully up-to-speed. Do we have a network of ambassadors / keyusers / champions / experts within the organisation, that their colleagues can reach out to?

Do we have an ongoing adoption & governance plan ?
A plan that goes beyond the end of the implementation project? Reinforce aspects that are falling behind, improving and updating the help materials, deciding on and helping users adopt new features

For users, ADKAR is sequential: nothing will happen if they are not Aware of the change. Then they won’t do anything if they don’t Desire it, or at least decide to go along with it. Then they won’t know what to do, if they don’t have the Knowledge. Then they can’t do it, of the lack the Ability. And finally, they need Reinforcement.

As a member of the project team trying to help the users adopt the new solution, you should NOT take things as sequentially.

  • Don’t wait until you have finalised your communication plan to boost awareness, before you start thinking of what’s in it for them.
  • Start preparing help and training materials early too, so that they are ready when you need them.
  • Somebody may need to take serious action at an early stage, if there are blocking issues with respect to the users’ ability to adopt the new solution: give them new devices, transform their accounts, buy new licenses, upgrade the network, hire a better helpdesk…
  • In anything that you set up, keep in mind that it is not just one-off. It needs to sustain reinforcement and the continuous adoption of the evolving system after the project is finished. When you set up an information portal, make sure it is easy to manage and keep up-to-date. If you have a Competence Center or another team who will manage the system, involve them right from the start. Start gathering the ambassador network at an early stage and involve them too.

This way, chances are a lot better that the users will actually embrace the new solution and take advantage of it, making the implementation a real success.

April 30, 2022

Organising training is more than delivering the session

Filed under: Adoption — frederique @ 22:54

I am often involved in training that is part of the roll-out of Microsoft 365. And what I notice, especially when I am not involved from the beginning, is that it often is thought that it is just about delivering some training sessions. But you do need to take into account a bit more to make that training effective. You should prepare a training that fits the participants’ needs and situation, invite the participants early and tell them what to expect, publish the content, arrange for follow-up help, make the follow-up clear, and gather information to keep improving. Let us take a closer look.

Prepare a training that fits the participants’ needs and situation

It is would be easy to just offer some standard training. But that will not help the participants, especially if they are new in this domain and not that savvy. You should teach them things that they need to know, in a format that fits with their experiences:

  • Explain scenarios that make sense to them
  • Only discuss apps and features that are available to them.
    This sounds obvious, but recently it turned out that part of my audience was working in Citrix and did not have any of the desktop apps. And another group had not yet been migrated to Exchange Online, so that not only Outlook but also things like the Teams Calendar and the To Do app were not available to them.
  • Set up a demo environment. If you want to show where they can find real information, you take them on a tour in the real environment. But it you want to show how to make any changes, use a playground, where you can demo without risking anything ‘real’. For example, when you want to demonstrate how they can collaborate smartly in teams, set up a playground Team. Put in some example channels and tabs, and some neutral, non-confidential content: documents, announcements, posts linking to documents etc.
  • Make sure the language settings in your demo align with the language that the participants see on their computers.

Invite the participants early and tell them what to expect

When you organise a live training session, whether it will take place on-site or online, you need to make sure the intended participants can be there, with the right expectations.

  • Make sure the people are allowed to spend time on the training. Are their department heads / team leads / bosses on board and do they stimulate or at the very least tolerate the people to participate in the training? Otherwise they won’t be able to make time for it.
  • Invite the participants plenty of time in advance. If you want people to participate in your training, you need to claim a timeslot in their calendars before these are filled with other commitments.
    Send a ‘save the date’ placeholder, if you don’t have all the details yet. But whatever you do, don’t wait too long with the invitation. How long beforehand you need to invite them depends on how busy the people are and how long your session will be, but as a rule of thumb I take at least two weeks.
  • Give a brief agenda: what topics will the training cover and what type of session will it be. Is it an interactive session or more ‘listen only’ with hopefully still some room for questions?
  • Tell them what they need to prepare or bring. Do they need to have some basic knowledge in order to understand the training? Do you want them to fill in a poll or survey beforehand, to help you tailor your session? Do they need their laptops, with its charger? Make sure it is very clear.
  • Link to additional information. The invitation itself should be concise, but some people may want to know more about the context. So include hyperlinks to information about, for example, the programme that is training series is a part of, the information portal about the topics of the training.
  • Provide clear instructions and offer help if your training is online and the participants are unfamiliar with the tooling.

Publish the content

The first thing participants ask, is if the presentation will be made available. Yes, of course. But rather than emailing the materials as an attachment or some other ‘old school’ distribution method, publish them, for example in a SharePoint site that is accessible to everyone who might be interested in it. It works best if you set this up before the training sessions.

  • Set up an information portal or at least an ‘information corner’ contains the relevant information and is easy to find.
  • Publish the slide desk in that central information portal
  • Publish the recording of the session there too, if you do an online training.
  • Publish additional information and a quick reference summary in that same place.

Arrange for follow-up help

After the training session, the participants are supposed to apply what they learned in their work. And usually, they find that they have additional questions once they try to take action by themselves. So they need to be supported and you need to make sure beforehand that they can get that support.

  • Who will be the first contact point for follow-up questions? Maybe the trainer still available, but is always tricky if the contact person is one person rather than a team, as that person may not be there all the time.
  • Engage the keyusers, if you have keyusers who can help their colleagues. I always invite one or more of the keyusers to attend the training. They may already know everything, but then they also know what the others are learning and they may be able to contribute to the discussion, on how to apply the new tools in .
  • Brief the helpdesk. The helpdesk may be the designated first point of contact, but even if the are not: some people will call the helpdesk by default. Make sure the helpdesk knows what is going on, what the answers to frequently asked questions are and who to contact if it gets more complicated.
  • Make sure you monitor the place(s) where people ask questions, if you set up a specific environment for short-term follow-up, like a mailbox, a feedback list or a Hypercare Team. The advantage of a ‘public’ place for questions & answers like a Hypercare Team, is that others can also see these answers. If the Q&A is organised via email or calls, you will be sure to get the same questions over and over again.

Make the follow-up clear

Once you have set up the help materials and processes, you need to make sure that everyone knows where to find them and how they work.

  • Point out where the materials are published at the end of the training. For example, show where they can find the information portal and the materials that belong to this training on it (it is in the navigation menu of the intranet for example?)
  • Tell where they can ask their questions and get help, if they cannot find what they need in those materials: who & how to contact the right people. Is it a channel in a Hypercare Team or a ticket system for the helpdesk where they should enter a form? Show where it is and how it works. Don’t assume that everyone knows this – at least ask if that is the case.
  • Send the hyperlinks and instructions on how to get help after the training. Use a communication channel for this message that reaches the participants. Maybe just send a ‘reply to all’ on the invitation that was sent to them. If you did an online training, you can post this information in the chat at the end of the session. In any case, send these hyperlinks and help contact details the same day or the day after at the latest, so that the training participants have this information at their finger tips as soon as they get started using their new knowledge and hit any snags.
  • Make sure you follow up anything that you promised you would follow up on, like finding out what you did not know during the session

Gather information to keep improving

Especially if you do a series of training sessions you’ll want to know what works well in the training and what you should improve.

  • Take notes of the questions that were asked, things that were hard to understand, what took more time than expected, et cetera. I usually ask a moderator to take these notes.
  • Ask for feedback. Just ask at the end if they have tips or other immediate feedback. Set up a short feedback form (make it anonymous if you fear that they won’t feel free to be honest) and send the hyperlink with the links to the helpmaterials at the end of the session.
  • Check attendance. Even if you don’t need to officially prove how many people you trained, you want to get some sense of the attendance. If only a small fraction of the people invited show up, what is stopping the others? Did you schedule the sessions at the wrong time or too late? Do they not see the relevance of the training? Because they won’t use it anyway or because they already know everything?

So if you plan to organise some serious training, please make sure you prepare and communicate it properly. And that you set up the materials and processes needed to support the training participants, instead of just letting them just fend for themselves afterwards.

March 31, 2022

How will this help us?

Filed under: Adoption,Digital Workplace,Microsoft 365 — frederique @ 20:24

Recently, I got involved in some training programmes, in which the people from a department could learn about Microsoft 365. These people were collaborating with each other, in a field different from my own: pharmacies and construction. What struck me, were their questions and even accusations: “You are from the head office and what head office tells us to do often does NOT work for our jobs in the field. So what does this mean for us, the people who are not sitting in an office all day working with Office applications? ”

My goal is not to sell as many Microsoft 365 licenses as possible, nor is it forcing users to adopt Microsoft 365 at knife point. What I try to do, is help people to do their jobs more effectively, efficiently and pleasantly. And in many cases Microsoft 365 can help with that, but if and only if they adopt it the right way. So:

  • From the one end, IT needs to make sure that the people get the tools that can actually help them. Not a one-size-fits-all toolkit & approach that does not fit their situation or their needs.
  • And from the other end, the people need to adopt the new way of working, with the new tools. For that they need to become aware of that new way of working, desire it, know enough about it, become able to do it in real life and be reinforced when they make the change. See ADKAR. And we can help them make the change, but only if the new way of working really works.

For example, I heard the following:

  • “Did your project actually ask the pharmacies what they needed, before you started pushing this change on us?”
    Fortunately, we had involved representatives from the pharmacies and done a pilot with them, so we could reassure these people. But we had not communicated this properly with the larger group, so they were still stuck in the sentiment of ‘those idiots from headquarters’ at the start of our training. Something to take into account next time.
  • “We don’t have a full computer or laptop, only a Citrix environment, without desktop applications. ”
    Fortunately, many of the Microsoft 365 application have a nice Online version. What we should have done better, is start with the story of the online versions, to fit their needs. I got catapulted into this training as a last minute resourcing fix, so I did not realise that only a few of the participants could use the desktop versions. Next time I will check, because you don’t want to talk about options that they don’t have….
  • “Why are you talking about Microsoft Teams as a ‘digital office’ for collaboration. In our pharmacies, we only have the one pharmacist who has a computer, what do you mean collaboration? ”
    Fortunately, we had also planned Teams for collaboration at the level of clusters, which made a lot more sense to them.
  • “The assistants in the pharmacies do not have individual Microsoft 365 accounts. How are we going to involve them in all this digital sharing? ”
    Good question, are aware of it. But the business still need to decide if they will get individual accounts and if they do: with which license.
  • “You show us how you can open a document in Teams and co-author it. But we are using a lot of files that can only be opened in non-Microsoft applications. We need these tools for manipulating models, schematics, plannings etc. How do we work with those files that seem exotic to you but are run-of-the mill for us.”
    Fortunately, we could show that they can synchronise the relevant libraries to their Windows Explorer and open those files from there. And yes, they were happy with the additional possibilities for opening links to work in Office files directly from Teams, for example. As long as we don’t try to suggest that this is the only type of files that they need to manage.

February 28, 2022

Microsoft 365 adoption: It is not over when it is over

Filed under: Adoption,Microsoft 365 — Tags: — frederique @ 21:36

I have been involved in the implementation of Microsoft 365 a few times. It is a project in which we get everyone into the cloud, migrate all of the information into the cloud too and activate all kinds of spiffy applications. We organise some training and set up and information portal to help our users adopt Microsoft 365. And when we have finished that, we are done. Right? Wrong!

The journey to help our people adopt Microsoft 365 does not end when we have implemented the technology and migrated everyone & everything. It even does not end when we have finished a training programme. Instead, it requires an ongoing programme. There are several reasons why you need to keep paying attention to Microsoft 365 adoption.

All changes need reinforcement

For any change, you cannot stop once people have learned how to work in a new way. You need to reinforce the change, to make sure that the people do not revert back to their old way of working as soon as they get back from their training session to the hectic hustle and bustle of their daily job.

In the ADKAR model that we favour, this is the R. The last stage, but definitely not the least. See also ADKAR: are our users ready to adopt our solutions?

So in the weeks and months after we organised our training sessions and went live with Microsoft 365, we should check if the new tools are being used rather than the old ones and if the people work in the new way instead of being stuck in their old ways of working. We should also make sure that it is very easy to get help, if you are not entirely sure about the new way of working. And that anyone who can set a good example does so: managers, team leads, influential colleagues, HR, Communication, IT,…

Microsoft 365 evolves continuously

Microsoft keeps adding applications and improving existing applications. So the people need to be aware of those changes, know what’s it in it for them and what to adopt them, know how to use the new & improved applications and be actually able to do so. And again get reinforced in the updated way of working.

So we should keep an eye on the Microsoft roadmap and put governance in place to determine how we deal with these updates: activate everything? Wait if it is possible to wait, and activate applications only if they are sufficiently mature and explained properly? Activate only for a specific group of trailblazers in a targeted release? And then arrange to help the people adopt the updates, for example by organising knowledge sessions like webinars on new features, publishing tips in communication channels that suit the audience (such as intranet news and departmental newsletters) and continuously updating your information portal for the details.

Our situation evolves continuously

The organisation may change, the users may change, the users’ insights and needs may change. New questions get asked. New solutions to facilitate work processes get thought out and implemented.

So you need to update the help materials you have, your information portal if you have one. This requires governance: somebody needs to be responsible for it and have a process when to update or add what information. And take it to the users: you don’t have to wait for new features from Microsoft to publish tips and organise knowledge sessions.

You also need a channel to collect feedback from the users on what should be explained or explained better: via the log of the questions that are frequently asked the servicedesk, via a network of ‘champions’, a feedback form, informal chats with users,…

New hires need to be onboarded & adopted

One of the advantages of Microsoft 365 is that many organisations use it. So when you hire new employees, chances are that they have used Microsoft 365 before, or at least parts of it. Nevertheless, these new people are unfamiliar with your specific templates and guidelines for how you use Microsoft 365 in your organisation and in your teams.

So you need to adopt these new colleagues and allow them to adopt your toolkit and your ways of working. I know, a bit of a mixed metaphor: take these new colleagues under your wing, so that they can embrace your tools and ways of working. Make them aware during the onboarding programme and show them the benefits. Offer them training if they need it. Make sure they are able to get started by creating their accounts promptly and giving them the required permissions. And again reinforce everything: managers and close colleagues and coach and guide the new people.

Support should be available continuously

Ok, maybe not continuously as in 24/7, but support cannot stop after Microsoft 365 has been launched and the implementation project is finished. Users should always be able to get proper support when something does not work or if they get lost. See also The importance of support for Office 365 adoption.

So make sure they know who to contact and that the people they contact are able to help them. For example.

  • Arrange for keyusers / champions who can help their colleagues. This approach can work well, because these champions are closer to the innocent end-users than IT. But then the keyusers need to be kept up-to-date on developments and they need direct access to expert support if they don’t know the answers to the users’ questions.
  • Make sure the helpdesk can help people: is there a clear and easy way to contact the helpdesk, does the helpdesk have the knowledge required to help the users?

Bottomline: you need to arrange for ongoing adoption capabilities, especially when you have an evolving toolkit like Microsoft 365. Or the Power Platform. Or any other platform where the users experience continuous change.

January 31, 2022

Using Teams to help people adopt Teams

Filed under: Adoption,Digital Workplace — Tags: — frederique @ 21:35

Recently I was talking to a group of people who do not use Microsoft Teams much. They do some basic Teams Meetings, but they do not use any of the other options in Teams to work more smartly. Ok, we can help them adopt Microsoft Teams more fully. And Teams is actually a great tool to help them adopt Teams itself to make their lives easier!

Microsoft Teams helped me help them to become aware of the possibilities of collaborating more smartly using Teams, to realise what’s in it for them, to gain knowledge on how it works and develop the ability to really use it themselves. And I also plan on using Teams to reinforce the change to working in Teams 🙂 See also ADKAR: are our users ready to adopt our solutions?

Richer Team Meetings

They have been conducting online meetings, like everyone else who had to switch to working from home when the pandemic hit us. They had conversations using their microphones and webcams, and usually somebody shared a presentation. So they were pleasantly surprised when I held a meeting with them to talk about Teams and we used some of the other features:

  • PowerPoint Live, where they could navigate back to a previous slide and forward. I know, sometimes you don’t want that, but this was a rather open session and they loved this feature. And you can even ask for a translation of the slides. (See also Microsoft’s instructions Share PowerPoint slides in a Teams meeting)
  • Sharing their own screen. A few times, a participant mentioned some specific issue or example and I asked them to share their screen with us, so that we could discuss it together. It turned out that many of them did not know how to do share their screen. But it is not rocket science, so I could simply explain which button to press and it worked. Quite an eye opener for them and very useful to know. (see also Microsoft’s instructions Share content in a meeting in Teams)
Sharing your screen or other content in a Teams Meeting
  • Emoticons to express their opinion. Not everybody could or would unmute their microphone and they were very pleased to see that they could communicate simple things such as ‘Like’ using the emoticons button we nowadays have.
  • Polls have become available in Teams Meeting last year and we can use them to ask multiple choice questions or do multiple choice quizzes. And I have had some very enthusiastic response to the option to generate a word cloud based on words the participants enter. (See also Microsoft’s instructions Poll attendees during a Teams meeting)
Using a poll in a Teams Meeting: the participants vote and then see the results

A Teams environment as our “digital office”

When people say they use Microsoft Teams, they often mean that they use online meetings. Maybe they also use the chat, but don’t count on it… And only a few teams use Teams as their “digital office””: the online environment where they can share and collaborate easily in channels, using the relevant apps made available in the tabs.

So I set up a Team for the group of people with whom I wanted to discuss Teams. Because I wanted to show them what a Teams environment is and does. But also because I needed a place to share information and collaborate with them. Of course I introduced them to their new Teams environment in our Teams Meeting.

  • Share files. I had some presentations, recordings and other information to share, and that Team was a great place to do so, once I had invited them all to join as a member. When I showed them how easy it is to add a colleague to the Team, they were very happy. (See also Microsoft’s instructions Collaborate on files in Microsoft Teams)
  • Share notes. A Team always contains a OneNote notebook, even if it is not visible by default. News for the group, as most of them only used a personal notebook. So that was the place where I put my notes. Again, this was a killer app for them: shared notes that they could all see and add to, by simply following my link – I sent them a link to the relevant page in the notebook.
  • Shared conversations. In our session, we discussed Teams and how it can help us communicate and collaborate more smartly. But the discussion does not have to end after we close the meeting. In their new Teams environment, we can share tips, ask questions and discuss the best way to make our lives easier with the help of Teams. And yes, they did see the advantage of having the conversation here instead of in an email thread. I did stress the importance of @-mentioning the people or group you want to involve directly (see Microsoft’s instructions Use @mentions to get someone’s attention in Teams).
Teams are like “digital offices”, structured with channels that each have tabs with apps relevant in that context.

Ok, I already knew this, but once again I saw how useful Microsoft Teams can be when it comes to the user adoption of tools like… Microsoft Teams.

December 30, 2021

Why help users change and adopt new technical solutions?

Filed under: Adoption — Tags: — frederique @ 20:46

We develop great technical solutions that should, for example, help people in organisations become more productive and engaged, gain insights and share knowledge more effectively. But is it enough to build and roll out such solutions from the technical angle? No. The organisation will only reap the intended benefits, if the people actually adopt and use those new solutions. And that does not always happen automagically, by just making them available. We need to help the people adopt the new tools and change to the new way of working.

It is not just me saying that: research shows your chances of success are a lot better if you manage the change to the new way of working. With great change management, you are six times more likely to meet your objectives. And what’s more: even if your change management is not that great at all but only fair, your are still three times more likely to achieve your goals. It is not all or nothing, so it is already worthwhile to do some change management: the better your help your people adopt the new tools and change to the new way of working, the more likely you are to meet or even exceed your objectives.

If we manage the change and help users adopt the new tools:

  • The different groups of users are empowered to take advantage of the new tools. Because not everyone has the same role or the same needs.
  • All the people will have the necessary Awareness, Desire, Knowledge and Ability to adopt the tool. And they will also be Reinforced to keep up the change, without reverting back to the old way of working. See the previous post about ADKAR.
  • The people will be better equipped to go with the flow in future changes, because one thing is certain: the tookit and the way of working will keep changing.
  • Your project will be more manageable. Prosci research shows more correlations between change management and success: the better your change management, the better your chances to finish your project on budget and on schedule. If you don’t manage the change from the people side, you will probably have to do a lot more redesigning, reworking and other redoing.

So yes, let us definitely pay attention to change management and help the users adopt the new tools.

November 30, 2021

ADKAR: are our users ready to adopt our solutions?

Filed under: Adoption — Tags: , — frederique @ 19:17

IT creates and launches technical solutions that could make the lives of the users a lot easier. But even if these technical solutions are brilliant, we will not achieve anything, if the proposed users do not adopt them. We will only reap the benefits we were aiming for, if the users embrace it. In short: if they are aware of it, if they desire it, if they know how to use it in theory, if they are really able to use it in practice and if their changed way of working is reinforced so that they keep using it.

It not just me saying this: it is the ADKAR model developed as a foundational part of the world-class Prosci Methodology for change. The ADKAR model applies to all kinds of changes, including digital transformation. And – in a lot of the projects I have done – to the new way of working that is introduced with new tooling like Microsoft 365.

The basis of this model is the realization that you will only achieve the required change in your organization and reap the benefits of the new technology that you are introducing, if the people make the change and adopt it. Not just the abstract notion of ‘the users’, but the actual people. The individuals who may have very different characteristics, needs and experiences from the idealized picture of the end-user IT had in mind when they developed the solution.

Let us take a look at the stages that the people have to move through before they can make the change and adopt the solution.

Awareness

First of all, the people need to be aware of the proposed change. Otherwise, they can never use the new solution to adopt the new way of working, for example. Not only should they be made aware of what is planned, but also why: why is that new way of working a good idea anyway?

To create this awareness, communication is key. Not just one news article on the intranet, but thorough communication tailored to reach people with different preferences and repeated often enough in different ways to “stick”. To maximize impact, a high-level sponsor should be the one telling this story.

Desire

Once the people know about the change, they need to understand what’s in it for them, so that they desire the new way of working for themselves. Or at least decide that they will go along with it. If they refuse, we won’t get any further.

To help the people understand what the change means for them and what’s in it for them, it works best if their managers are involved. Or team leads, senior colleagues close to them.

Knowledge

Once the people have decided that they want the change, they are open to learn about the details of the ‘how’. If the people have no desire to adopt the new way of working, for example, it is no use sending them to a training session.

To help the people gain knowledge about the change, the new way of working, the project should provide things like training and help materials.

Ability

When the people have been trained in, for example, the new way of working, they know what to do. At least in theory. But are they also able to start working in the new way in practice? Or is it more difficult to apply that knowledge in their own situation? Does it work on their device? Do they have the right account with the right permissions? Can their network handle the load?

To make sure the people are actually able to make the change, great support is key. If the users get stuck, they should be supported effectively and efficiently. And the issues that may be blocking them in real life may be unexpected, so you need to be on top of it.

Reinforcement

When the people are able to work in the new way, they have made the change, the next question is: will they keep doing it? Or will they fall back to their old, familiar way of working, as soon as they hit the slightest snag? If they don’t keep it up, the benefits of the new solution and the change will be short lived.

To help people stick with the new way of working, reinforce the change. Don’t stop the project the day after Go Live. Make sure the owners who will manage the new solution can sustain the change. Monitor usage of the new tools, which should have increases, and usage of the old tools, which should be disappearing. Actively ask for feedback and make sure everyone can easily give feedback whenever they want, for example via an ambassadors network.

The ADKAR is a great model to manage change. I even like it as a checklist for relatively simple things like the introduction of a Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways portal. Are people aware of its existence or how shall we make sure they hear about it? Is it clear what’s in it for them? Do they know how to use it or do we need to explain more? Are they really able to use it, or is it impossible to find, impossible to access or impossible to use on their devices? How do we reinforce the portal’s usage, by keeping it relevant and tying it into related initiatives? A recent example: when HR sent another message about working from home, they linked to the Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways playlists about online communication.

So I like it!

October 31, 2021

Feedback is important

Filed under: Adoption,Governance,Microsoft 365 — frederique @ 20:51

Most of us do our best, to try and offer useful solutions and help the end-users. However, nobody is perfect and no solution is perfect, especially not when it is first launched. We make mistakes, misjudge what works for the users or do not know what is most important to them. That is why it is so important to get feedback, so that we know what to improve.

Grumbling is not helpful

I have often heard users complain about things like their digital workplace (including the SharePoint sites and Teams environments they are offered), the information and training they do or don’t get from IT, or the support they mostly don’t get from the helpdesk. When I hear these complains, I try to pick them up as feedback and pass them along to the people who could help solve these problems. But if people just complain and grumble amongst each other, nothing will get fixed.

This is really tricky: I have heard IT state that everything was just fine, because nobody had complained to them. They use the squeaky wheel system: the squeaky wheel gets the oil, and the users who squeak get help. But what if the users don’t squeak in the right way to the right people? The users I talked to had given up contacting the helpdesk, because such a contact usually took a lot of time and never solved anything. And they did not know how, where or to who to make a constructive complain, also known as give feedback. Instead, they grumbled, got upset with IT and tried to find their own tools outside of the official toolkit.

But then it has to be clear how and where you can give feedback

It has to be very clear to users how they can give feedback. And preferably there should also be different ways of giving feedback, to make it easier for the users.

Offer explicit feedback options in your communication, on your information pages, in your digital workplace. For example, I have got feedback in a feedback form that was available from any page of our information portal on Microsoft 365. That included feedback about email communication from another Operating Company that we knew nothing about. But apparently our feedback form was the first thing the user found to drop his complaint.

Also make sure that the users have someone to talk to when they have feedback: the helpdesk, who then definitely should collect the feedback and pass it along to the right people. Or champions: people who can help out colleagues, because they know more about Microsoft 365 for instance, and who can pass along feedback. Or an IT business partner. I know that when I talk to end-users, I often get valuable feedback.

Microsoft knows feedback is important

In the early days, Microsoft felt like this huge, uncommunicative black box company: we just had to accept whatever they sold us. But nowadays, Microsoft actively listens to users and the community. Instead of assuming they know best, they launch a first version: a Minimal Viable Product or MVP. And then they actively ask for feedback and develop their products based on the feedback and what the users need.

Ok, I am definitely not always happy with the MVPs, that tend to be more minimal than viable. But I am happy that they take our feedback into account. For example, I was recently able to attend several Feedback Roundtable sessions at the Microsoft Airlift conference and participate in live discussions. There are feedback buttons all over Microsoft 365. And we have User Voice to suggest improvement. But something is changing in that area.

Now Microsoft has a new feedback portal

I don’t know all the details, but I had heard that Microsoft will move from UserVoice, which is a third party site, to a feedback portal built on their own Dynamics 365. And I just saw an announcement saying that Preview of Feedback for Microsoft Teams now available. So we are definitely beyond rumours now ?

The new portal looks quite a bit like UserVoice: you can find ideas that were posted, vote and comment on them. And you can submit a new idea, now called Send feedback. Ideas from the Teams UserVoice has been transferred to the new feedback portal. Maybe not all, but at least the ones I checked. At this point, the feedback I provided via the Feedback option in Teams itself does not end up in that portal. Not yet at least. See UserVoice pages for more info about the transition.

Feedback for governance and adoption in your organisation

Feedback is important to Microsoft, because it allows them to improve their services. But it is also important for your own organisation. Maybe what needs to be improved is not, say, the functionality of Microsoft Teams, but the template, the training or the support that the organisation offers.

The “old school” feedback options in Office only send feedback to Microsoft. But in Teams the feedback forms states: “By pressing submit, your feedback will be used to improve Microsoft products and services. Your IT admin will be able to collect this data.”. This ends up in the Admin Center > Health > Product feedback; see Learn about Microsoft feedback for your organization.

Of course you should not only collect feedback, but analyse it an take action based on the feedback. Solve the issues that are flagged in the feedback and keep up what works well.

This is crucial for proper governance of Microsoft 365, or anything else: to ensure that is works and keeps working effectively, smoothly and safely. It is also crucial to help users to adopt the toolkit: make it their own. It allows the users to help you to help them, because they can tell you what works and what does not work in practice. And it also allows the users to feel and really be involved in the evolution of the environment, so that we are all in this together and we can make it work togehter.

September 30, 2021

IT governance and user adoption need each other

Filed under: Adoption,Governance — frederique @ 21:24

I have said it before: it is not enough to set up an IT solution. You will just end up with a solution that nobody uses and that soon is no longer useful anyway. But then again it is not enough to only organise its governance. Or to only stimulate its user adoption. The IT solution needs both of them. And governance and user adoption also need each other.

The users need to adopt the IT solution for it to be useful

If the users do not adopt it, why did you spend time and money to create and roll it out? For a museum? You will never achieve your business goals if the users do not embrace the solution and use it.

If your project only had technical goals, like migrating from an obsolete platform or updating it, before its end of life: if nobody uses the new version and you are fine with that, why didn’t you just unplug the old one? No need to replace or upgrade it it. And yes, I do see projects where only technical goals are stated, like the migration or update of an obsolete version of SharePoint, for example. And then I also ask what’s in it for the users, would-be users or should-be users.

So you need to be clear on what’s in it for the users and help them adopt the solution to achieve those goals. In other words: you need an adoption plan and you need to implement it.

Governance needs to be in place for the IT solution to stay useful

If there is no governance on the solution, it may soon be obsolete when the environment evolves, the users get swamped in obsolete stuff that is not curated and cannot find the stuff that has become relevant. Security issues appear, as the recent users don’t have the right permissions and old users have permission that they should no longer have. I already talked about this is a previous post, the snags we hit if you don’t have governance in your Microsoft 365 environment.

So you need to determine what the governance should be, so that the organisation and the users can keep achieving the goals you were aiming for. In other words, you need a governance plan and you need to implement it.

Governance also needs user adoption

Even if you have a brilliant governance plan, it won’t help you if the users do not adopt that governance along with the solution. If they haven’t adopted that governance, they won’t know what to do to, and what rules and guidelines to follow. For example, they need to know if and how the can get a Teams environment, if and how they can get access, if and how their document will be archived or deleted.

Of course some of the governance is completely invisible to the end-users. For example, if everyone has the same license, the end-users don’t have to know how you manage those licenses, as long as it all just works. No adoption needed there.

So you need to include the solution’s governance in your adoption plan for the solution. For example, on help pages and in training, teach how users can request a Teams environment, what are the rules, how owners can give colleagues access.

And user adoption needs governance

Even if you have a brilliant adoption plan and made sure that, at the start, all users embrace the solution enthusiastically, it won’t help you in the long run if you haven’t arranged governance for your adoption plan and materials too. For example: when Microsoft adds a new app to the Microsoft 365 toolkit, how do we make sure that users adopt that one as well?. If it turns out that users are having trouble with a particular aspect, how do you solve it?

So you also need to include the solution’s adoption in the governance plan for the solution. For example who will Introduce new apps, explain what’s in it for them, and update the adoption materials to include this new addition? How do you identify gaps in the user adoption and fill them in?

If you fit all of these pieces into the puzzle, you will get a solid and future-proof solution that meets the organisation’s and the users’ goals and keeps meeting them. And that’s what we want.

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