IF ONLY IT IMPLEMENTATIONS WERE JUST THIS EASY

In the days of yore, Ron Popeil, infomercial pioneer, made it look easy.

He invented a kitchen gadget to make our lives easier, and the only direction he gave was ‘set it and forget it’. One step to make a “delicious six lb. chicken!” or “not one but two delicious rotisserie chickens!” How much simpler is that than the way our moms and grandmothers cooked chicken?

If only the rest of life were that easy.

Especially new software systems.

In an ideal world, your IT team would come in, install the new software, and it would be such an great experience they’d just magically sit down and start using not only because it’s easy to use but because they want to use it. This scenario is as likely to fool the seasoned implementation manager about as well as Hair in a Can spray dispelled notions of impending baldness.

So what are you to do when – as typically happens – you introduce a new system, everyone’s excited at launch time and then several weeks (years) later you look at the usage statistics and you’re disappointed. What happened? Looks like you set it and forget it.

But people were trained, you say. We worked for months to convince them this change was a good thing, you insist. They were even kind of excited, you protest. On top of that, they’d had no choice but to use this new system and things still aren’t working out as you’d hoped. Now what?

Fundamentally, IT systems and user adoption are not set it and forget it kind of things.

Typically IT implementations follow a simple formula: go-live and go home. But the users don’t go home and they are what makes -- or breaks -- any IT investment.

In today’s world everyone needs to maximize the ROI of any IT investment, and the only way to realize that ROI is by holistically taking care of the people who use it.

It’s not traditional thinking but after go-live, users need constant care and feeding, no matter the system, no matter the type of implementation, no matter the organization. 

So what do you do? You need to do something, you know this. But what?

1. Assess the situation for your user

2. Develop a plan accordingly

3. Assign someone responsibility for executing that plan

4. Create the infrastructure so that person, and the plan – and your users – will succeed

The fact of the matter is, an IT implementation doesn’t end at go-live, but rather it begins there. The world –inside your organization and with your competitors’-- is constantly changing. People will always need new and different information, there will always be turnover, and you will need specific people focused on getting the value you need from this investment. Only when people use the technology will you get the value you want.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU

‘Set it and forget it’ is how implementations used to be delivered. But the world has changed. These days you need to build a flexible, scalable and sustainable user adoption strategy before you implement your system. You need to map out the necessary efforts and actions your organization will take so it can extract the maximum business value from your investment. Comparatively, the technology side is easy; it’s all 1s and 0s and it does what you tell it to do. It’s the human element that complicates matters and requires you to focus more on the people and the organization than on the technology and the tools.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

• How do you do implementations? Do you typically take a holistic approach, or do you set it and forget it? What have you experienced?

• Whose job is it to make sure this happens? Do they have the skills?

• Do you have the organizational capacity and willingness to carry out a sustainable user-focused program?

• Does your internal team have the skills and experience to address these issues?

• Do you have the infrastructure to achieve this in a fast, flexible and affordable way?

• For examples of what to include in a holistic user adoption strategy, go to MyUserAdoptionPlan.com

And if you’re not sure how your project may be affected take the challenge. After all, saying they have no choice but to use it is ultimately counter-productive when you have the choice to be proactively motivating people to use it.

RELATED RESOURCES

• Take the User Adoption Challenge to see what specific user adoption issues you face on your IT project.

• Schedule a demo of Tri Tuns' "My User Adoption Plan" portal to see how it can provide a comprehensive infrastructure for ensuring effective stakeholder engagement & communications over the life of your system.

• Read "How to Sustain High CRM User Adoption" to learn more about how to have successful CRM (or other systems) implementations.

• Read "Does your User Adoption Methodology Remove Organizational Barriers" to learn about the limitations of traditional IT implementation and Organizational Change Management methodologies and how you can overcome these shortfalls.

Was this information helpful?  What did you learn?  We want to hear from you - please add a comment below.

Johnny from Airplane! Teaches us About Effective User Adoption Teams

Who do You Need on Your User Adoption Team?

We are often asked, "Who should I put on my User Adoption team"?  In the clip below, we see all the "contributions" that Johnny makes to the team.  Is he adding value along the way?  Does having Johnny on the team help or hurt you?  Does Johnny have the skills he needs to help, does he not care, or does he just not have a clue?

Apply What You Learned:  Building a Great User Adoption Team

Effective User Adoption teams require a range of personalities, skills, and expertise.  You will need subject matter experts and leaders ("Get me Rex Kramer"), people to do the hard work, and yes, people with personality to be the glue to hold them all together.  However, if people do not have the skills or are unable or unwilling to make any substantive contribution, you may need to make some changes.  

Pay careful attention to the people on your User Adoption team and make sure they are adding value.  Sometimes you need people who look at thinks differently (like Johnny - who else could make hat, a brooch, or a pterodactyl)?  These people can bring the ingenuity you need and provide laughs in the face of stress.  ...but make sure they are actually adding value and not just taking up space.

Best Practices & Key Questions

• Have a variety of personalities, perspectives and skills on your team       
  • Do you have people who can look at things differently and find creative solutions on your team  If not, how would your team be more effective if they had more diversity? 
  • Do you have a "Johnny" on your User Adoption team?  Do they help or hurt your team?  If they are not add value to your team, why not?  What action do you need to take to improve your team?

• Have clear leaders and experts in User Adoption on your team         
  • Do you have a "Rex Kramer" on your User Adoption team? Is this person an expert in User Adoption and have the leadership skills to guide you through a tough patch?   If you don't have a full-time Rex Kramer, do you have access to a Rex Kramer that you can call on in when needed?
  • If you don't have a Rex Kramer, how will you get one?  Will you hire one?  Is there someone in your organization that can learn to be User Adoption subject matter expert? 

Related Resources

Is the Grapevine Killing Your  User Adoption Communications?

Ensure Your Communications Are Accurate and Effective 

In the clip below, Lil is trying to get a critical message to Johnny Dangerously, who is locked up in jail.  It is a matter of life or death - Johnny must get accurate information about the threat to his brother's life.  We see how easily the message gets mangled as it passes from person to person, until the final message that gets delivered is nothing like the original.  Have you had a similar experience with communications in your organization?  

Apply What You Learned:  Carefully Manage All Communications & Beware of the Grapevine!

Accurate, timely and effective communications are critical to successful User Adoption programs.  Make sure you have carefully develop appropriate communication channels and ensure that all stakeholders receive accurate information.  This involves a variety of steps including setting up communication teams, developing multiple communication channels (live events, email, web sites, blogs, forums, webinars, various social media, etc.), developing a communication strategy, developing communication collateral, and then actually communicating with end users.  It also involves carefully defining the roles and responsibilities for all parties involved in developing, approving, and delivering communications.

Best Practices & Key Questions

• Develop a comprehensive communication strategy for your user adoption program.  This includes:
  • Create a solid infrastructure for ensuring effective 2-way communications.
  • Define a communication strategy for each phase of your project.
  • Assign specific roles and responsibilities for all aspects of your communication program.
  • Provide for as much active engagement and participation of stakeholders in communication activities as possible.  

• Beware of the Grapevine!
  
  • Take steps to ensure that all stakeholders have easy access to accurate and timely communications.   Don't let rumors or inaccurate information sabotage your communication efforts.
  • Ensure communications continue over the life of your system.  Many organizations stop communications once the system goes live, at which point the grapevine takes over.  You need on-going communication efforts to make sure new stakeholders receive accurate information and to respond to evolving communication needs.
  • Proactively ask people what they are hearing on the grapevine and then respond as necessary to squash rumors and inaccurate information.

• What steps do you take to make sure that all of your communications are accurately conveyed to their intended audience?  How are grapevine communications impacting your User Adoption program?  What can you do to manage the grapevine in your organization?

Related Resources

Dr. Evil teaches us about defining Success

How do you define Success?

Apply What You Learned:  Define Success in terms of User Adoption & Benefits Realization

Best Practices & Key Questions

• Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-Bound) User Adoption goals for each stakeholder group.  Measure them over time to make sure you are hitting or missing them.  
  • Did Dr. Evil set SMART goals when he asked for sharks with frickin laser beams? 
  • Do you set SMART User Adoption goals for your IT systems?

• Acknowledge when you encounter an "It's a start" moment with user adoption, but still hold people accountable for achieving results.  
  • Did Dr. Evil hold people accountable when they only delivered sea bass when the requirement was sharks with laser beams?  What would  you do?  
  • Do you hold people accountable for hitting User Adoption goals, or are you OK with sea bass?

Related Resources