User Adoption Insight Over Margaritas
This far into spring many Seattleites are more than ready for the first glimpses of that odd, warmish bright thing in the sky. When I lived back east we called it “the sun”. But sometimes, like this last Tuesday, we have to pretend and somehow manufacture our own sunshine.
Which is how a group of friends and I found ourselves at our neighborhood’s most brightly painted Mexican place. It was with near-salivating anticipation for our dry, near-perfect summers we ordered our pitcher of margaritas. Or…ok, maybe it had just been a long day for each of us.
Being the most technically-inclined person of the group – to the extent that I’m the only one with an iPod even – I try to be the one who kicks off our usual how-was-your-day round-robin with the briefest description of what I did, just to get my IT-related day behind us so we can talk about things that are common to the whole group. That day, I’d designed a Power Point presentation for an upcoming conference on user adoption in the cloud. When the conversation turned to the cloud my dear friend Jane, an office manager, recalled how just hours before her bosses sprung a new cloud-based Power Point-like software on her, telling her their whole organization was moving to it and she needed to learn it. Oh, and while she’s at it, convert all the other slide decks their office regularly uses too.
“It seems to me we’re always upgrading or switching to something totally new and the technology changes so fast, no one can keep up. It’s like technology’s moving so fast, we’re just running along behind doing our best to catch up, but we can’t. None of us can. It just moves that fast and changes that often. It’s not the technology’s fault. It’s just that as humans, we can’t change as fast as it does.”
Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t help but grin over my salted rim and say, “Precisely. And that’s where user adoption consulting comes in. We’re the ones you bring in to help you navigate through all those changes, with all those personalities and competing interests, and we set you up for the long-term. Because you know it’s going to change again. ”
Curt, a school counselor, looked at me and said, “So…it’s not the technology. It actually has nothing to do with the technology…it’s all about the people…and how they manage and get through the change, as individuals, as departments, as whole organizations.”
And it was like the sun came out right there at the table: the heretofore somewhat abstract notion of “user adoption” finally made sense to everyone at the table. Here was a real-life example they each could relate to; they’d heard it from someone going through it and heads nodded in recognition.
So while this last Tuesday afternoon didn’t set records for instant sunlight over Seattle, having my friends see a real-world example of what I do on a daily basis was definitely something to toast to.
Is Your IT Systems a Dreamliner?
The 787 SHOWS US THAT NEW TECHNOLOGY BRINGS NEW RISKS
REPORTED
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been hailed as a revolutionary advance in technology that will provide the greatest advance in air travel since the Concorde. The Dreamliner uses new materials and technology and promises to cut 15% off its weight, dramatically lowering fuel consumption and costs. It’s obvious why airlines are salivating to get their hands on it.
However, like all new technologies, great advances come with great risks and lots of “unknowns”. The Daily Mail cites a recent GAO report that states while the Dreamliner is safe, it has introduced new risks and even the inspectors don’t know how to manage the new technology or how the risks change over time.
“U.S. inspectors said they do not know what to look for when the new composite [plastic wings & fuselage] starts to fail. …The report said it is unclear how the 787 will become damaged over time and it is not known what the damage to the composite will look like.”
NEW RISKS & YOUR IT SYSTEM
Can you image what will happen to Boeing if in a few years some problem is discovered with their new materials and/or design results in repeated 787 crashes? Or if the new composite materials turn out to have a lifespan that is only half of that of traditional materials? Lawsuits could fly and demand could be wiped out overnight. Do you think Boeing is going to monitor these risks and take action to mitigate them? You bet they are.
Just like with the Dreamliner, introducing new technology systems into your organization can provide revolutionary advances in capacity and benefits. The problem is, it also introduces revolutionary advances in risks as well. Unfortunately, many organizations get seduced by the potential benefits while ignoring the risks. And they do so at their peril. Are you going to make this mistake?
CONSIDER THIS
When implementing new IT systems, many organizations focus on getting the system live, but ignore what happens once it is in production. The value of your system – and the risks – only get introduced after the system is live. And they continue over the life of the system. This means that you need to manage the value creation and risk mitigation over the life system.
- The FAA inspectors said they don’t even know what to look for to identify emerging problems with their technology. Will your staff know how to identify and manage the new risks (and opportunities) that your new IT system will introduce? How do you know?
- The report indicated that it is unclear how the 787 will become damaged over time and what it will look like. If left unattended, do you know all the ways in which new IT systems can damage your organization?
WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU
When dealing with the “unknowns” of IT systems, you cannot prevent emerging issues, you can only respond to them. The best course of action is to develop the infrastructure and capacity necessary to identify emerging issues (and opportunities) and to quickly respond to them.
This means that you need to have:
- Clearly defined and assigned the roles and responsibilities for ensuring your IT system is adopted in such a way that it is delivering value and not introducing unnecessary risks and exposure to your organization. This needs to continue over the life of your system.
- Developed the tools, metrics, and reporting to give you visibility to emerging risks and opportunities. You need to identify risks and opportunities as early as possible.
- Establish communication processes and tools that allow you to have 2-way communication with all stakeholders. This allows you to identify issues and respond back to them.
HOW TO DO IT
If your organization is like most, you probably agree that you need to do this, but you are not sure how. Tri Tuns can help.
We work with organizations to develop the infrastructure you need to manage risks and maximize the value of your IT systems.
With our new User Adoption Portal, MyUserAdoptionPlan.com, we help you drive effective user and provide you the capabilities you need to respond to emerging risks, needs and opportunities. And we can do it faster, cheaper, and easier than you probably thought possible.
In addition, with our expert services, we can provide the advanced knowledge and skills your team needs to make sure they identify risks before they become problems.
Contact us to learn what we can do for you.
FIND OUT IF YOUR PROJECT IS AT RISK
- Want to learn if your project is at risk. Take our free online assessment.
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What’s wrong with my questions? How IT projects typically fail to ask questions pertinent to long-term user adoption.
OBSERVATION
Does your IT implementation plan include a Change Management (CM) effort? It probably does. Does this CM effort include attaining information about the user community’s needs, in preparation for an IT build? Again, your answer may typically be yes. So what could possibly be missing? The answer lies in what you are not asking about your client. Most often, consulting firms and IT implementation teams only seek information about the technical requirements to an IT build. What they forget to determine are the organizational impacts and barriers to actually using the new IT system. Once the IT system is built and installed, it is a fallacy to assume the user community (system end-users) will adopt the new system fully and as designed (known as User Adoption). Therefore is imperative to determine factors beyond technical requirements that can positively and negatively affect system usage.CONSIDER THIS
Below are just a couple of example questions one may ask the user community, in order to determine both organizational impacts and barriers to using a new IT system:- In addition to technical system training (e.g. classroom, reference guides), what other support mechanisms or skill set needs would help you operate the new IT system as designed (e.g. scenario process steps, vehicle for sharing best practices, etc.)?
- What support would you like to see your managers provide to assist you in delivering quality services regarding the use of the new IT system?
- Who will be responsible for the ongoing assessment and management of user adoption? How will you adjust their current roles & responsibilities to handle the added role?
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
As you plan to implement a new IT system, include assessments in your project plan that will address issues that will foster user adoption. Identifying user adoption issues during the project will better prepare the user community for both initial go-live of the system as well as long-term system usage.RELATED RESOURCES
Check out these other resources for more information related to this topic:- Check out MyUserAdoptionPlan.com - an all-in-one User Adoption Portal
- Take the Tri Tuns User Adoption Challenge - a free online assessment tool
- Read: “Does Your User Adoption Methodology Remove Barriers To Adoption?”
Influence culture to drive user adoption
OBSERVATION
People often talk about corporate culture but they really don’t know how to sufficiently explain / define it, how to influence it, or how it can influence an IT project implementation. You may have tried to define what the culture of your client’s organization is today, but have you given thought to the readiness of your client’s organization to accept a new technology? You should, as this readiness is a key influencing aspect of your culture, and will influence the adoption of the technology you are implementing (User Adoption).Low adoption of the technology will keep the organization from getting the most value out of its investment. Without driving adoption, you might see:
- Limited usage of the new technology
- Users expressing frustration and difficulty with the new system
- Poor performance results at the individual and division level Let’s think about the technology implementation for your client. You may encounter resistance to the new technology.
- Leadership: Do leaders promote and support the new technology?
- Processes: Are there multiple or conflicting processes in the way?
- Training: Are staff properly trained, including and beyond technical training?
- Project overload: Are there simultaneous projects competing for end-users’ time and attention?
CONSIDER THIS
If your client’s technology is great but the level of readiness to apply the technology is low, you will not see much user adoption. In the below diagram, one can see a direct correlation between organizational readiness and end-user adoption. Your goal is to focus on increasing readiness by utilizing and acting on the assessment criteria stated above. This will put you on the way to creating a culture of increased readiness and improved user adoption, the goal for any technology implementation. 
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Have you thought about user readiness for new technology when trying to assess the culture of an organization?RELATED RESOURCES
Check out these other resources for more information related to this topic:- Take the Tri Tuns User Adoption Challenge - a free online assessment tool
- Read: “Accelerating User Adoption”
- Read: “Motivating User Adoption: Commitment, Compliance Or Wiifm?”
Return on Relationships
OBSERVATION
It is a common trap on many IT projects that team members are so focused on ensuring project “success” (typically defined as on-time and on-budget delivery) that team members forget the critical importance of developing and maintaining effective relationships. Ironically, forgoing the relationship building elements of the project (e.g. developing trust, ensuring effective project team interaction, etc.) often causes project delays, disagreements, and quality problems which ultimately lead to the project running late, over budget, or otherwise being deemed a failure.When project teams skip the critical step of building effective relationships:
- Project timelines are increased due to extensive time being wasted resolving disagreements, such as different views on scope of work, bugs vs. enhancements and performance measurements
- Stakeholders are unwilling to divulge important information with consultants and/or internal project team members, leading to ineffective solutions being developed and implemented
- Problems slowly escalate and disagreements become more intense as the project go-live date nears.
CONSIDER THIS
Investing time and energy to develop effective, trusting relationships with team members, clients, partners and others will deliver benefits that far exceed the costs. This is realized through proactive collaboration and teamwork, streamlined problem resolution, improved customer satisfaction, increased referrals and references, and maintaining long-term, profitable relationships (a positive Return on Relationships). Project team members should view time spent relationship building as an investment that will deliver future benefits. The perceived benefits of skipping or short-changing relationship building efforts are much lower than the very real costs when the project encounters the inevitable stress and disagreements that emerge (a negative Return on Relationships).THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
- Do you typically have a positive or negative Return on Relationships? What could you do to ensure you have a positive Return on Relationships? What additional benefits would you get from spending more time developing positive relationships with each stakeholder? What problems could be avoided by doing so?
- Do your project team members know how to develop effective relationships? Can they repair damaged relationships? Are they comfortable working with clients? Other departments? Senior executives? Many times project team members are great subject matter experts in their field, but they do not know how to develop and maintain effective professional relationships. Team members – even senior members – may need help learning to develop productive professional relationships.
- What can you do to build trust with each stakeholder? Trust is the ultimate tool for relationships. This tool can neither be granted nor created during a single meeting; it is built slowly and steadily over time through repeated interactions. What can you do to ensure that once it is earned, you maintain the trust of others?
RELATED RESOURCES
Check out these other resources for more information related to this topic:- Take the Tri Tuns User Adoption Challenge - a free online assessment tool
- Read: “Leadership: Are You Really Committed?”
- Read: “Does Your User Adoption Methodology Remove Barriers To Adoption?”
- Read: “Motivating User Adoption: Commitment, Compliance or WIIFM?”
- Read: “The Myth Of User Resistance”
Resistance is a Judgment, Not an Action
OBSERVATION
When talking about user adoption of major IT systems – CRM, ERP, HRIS, etc – at some point the discussion always focuses on overcoming “user resistance”. When I probe deeper and ask clients to define exactly what they mean by “user resistance” (what form it takes, what causes it, and what they do to “overcome” it) they often struggle to provide specific answers. If we cannot accurately articulate the problem, how can we recognize and solve it?The term “user resistance” has become a vague concept - a convenient short-hand of sorts – that is used to justify poor user adoption. Implicit in this term are the ideas that 1.) user adoption is solely at the discretion of the end-user and 2.) if the end-user does not adopt your system it is an act of defiance. If you accept this to be true, it follows that the responsibility for overcoming user resistance lies completing at the feet of the end-user. This just isn’t true.
In a previous blog entry on leadership, I shared the quote, “We judge others by their actions, but we judge ourselves by our intentions.” When discussing user resistance it is very important to recognize that we observe discrete actions (user behaviors), but it is not until we assign our judgment that they become “user resistance”.
When we judge an action to be “user resistance” it has serious implications:
- It blames the user. By shifting responsibility for IT adoption from the implementation & management team to the end-user, we have created a convenient scapegoat if the system is deemed a failure.
- It helps us save face. By focusing all the attention on the users, we don’t need to examine where we might have done something wrong or lacked the skills to perform our jobs.
- It creates blind-spots. Our approach to change management might have been inappropriate, and as a result we might have ignored barriers to adoption that fall outside the users’ control. These organizational barriers could be what are preventing users from adopting the system.
- It ignores root-causes & contributing factors. Focusing on user behaviors may cause us to miss other technical, organizational, functional, process, data, or other factors that prevent user adoption.
CONSIDER THIS
Whenever the label “user resistance” is assigned, this is a signal that YOU have more work to do.- Stop and clarify what are the specific actions you observed.
- Identify what made you determine that these are instances of “resistance”.
- Determine if there are other explanations or contributing factors for these actions. Share your observations with the actual end-users and ask for their help in understanding what caused the behaviors, while requesting specific alternative behaviors they should take in the future.
- Look at other issues, contributing factors, and root-causes for undesirable behavior
- Find new solutions where before we might not have seen alternatives
- Take ownership and action for driving user adoption – without abdicating this responsibility to the end-users
- Help move things forward and drive success
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
- What made you decide that the problem was “user resistance”? What specific actions/behaviors did you observe that led you to this conclusion?
- What causes the users to demonstrate this behavior? Was this an act of defiance? Were users not clear on what behavior was expected of them? Did you share your observations and suggest specific alternative actions they should take in the future?
- Are there other causes/drivers for the action (or inaction)? Are there organizational barriers that prevent users from acting as desired? Are there misaligned rewards or incentives that are encouraging the problem behavior?
- Is there something that YOU can do to change user behavior? Is there something YOU need to do differently to drive desired behavior? Is there something about your change or user adoption methodology that is encouraging the behavior that you labeled “resistance”?
RELATED RESOURCES
Check out these other resources for more information related to this topic:- Take the Tri Tuns User Adoption Challenge - a free online assessment tool
- Read: “Leadership: Are You Really Committed?”
- Read: “Does Your User Adoption Methodology Remove Barriers To Adoption?”
- Read: “Motivating User Adoption: Commitment, Compliance or WIIFM?”
- Read: “The Myth Of User Resistance”