Are you struggling with end-user adoption? Does it feel like you’re the only one excited about your new technology? Microsoft Teams is a collaboration tool that has the potential to maximise teamwork in your organisation – but only if your team are behind it. A Microsoft survey revealed that 50% of UK business leaders found that employees express fear of chance when digital transformation initiatives are introduced. Implementing new software can be overwhelming when you begin, however Benoit Grosso from Arkadin says the key to a successful digital transformation (DX) is to make the end-user your organisation’s Microsoft Teams hero.
Champion your technology champions
Finding the technology champions in your business could be an ‘quick fix’ to any user adoption problems. By identifying your early adopters, you have access to a selection of enthusiastic and knowledgeable individuals to participate in the experimentation phase of deploying Microsoft Teams and provide regular feedback to the project team. Typically, early adopters will share similar traits:
- They will have an interest in technology
- They are collaborative in nature
- They will be willing to be part of change
- They are always seeking to make personal and business improvements
- They will be happy to share their observations
- They are risk takers and willing to try new things
Testing your implementation on these early adopters will allow you to trial your approach against real business scenarios and end-users and will allow you to gather feedback to make adjustments before the big roll out. You can later rely on this group of participants to provide support and create early enthusiasm for Microsoft Teams amongst other users. Be sure that this group understand the importance of their involvement in helping to craft the successful outcome of your project.
It’s not just about business benefits
Understanding business-specific scenarios is a crucial part of implementing new software. However, as the key to the Microsoft Teams experience is the end-user, it is important to highlight the scenarios that are most relevant on an individual level. Demonstrating how new software can increase personal productivity and create a more efficient work environment for everyone, will help users to see the benefits of the technology to their work day and increase the chance of getting them on board.
A key strength of Microsoft Teams is the unprecedented level of configurability and control it provides, so be sure to highlight the features that have been designed with the individual user experience in mind. The software includes a selection of personal apps that keep notes and tasks organised in one place, you can send online and offline messages to alleviate the need to track people down and the persistent conversation chat functionality with file attachment will minimise the need to spend time searching for documents. You can also build momentum pre-meeting with Microsoft Teams’ chat and content sharing functions and connect via video, audio and web on any device from any location.
Make it manageable
Breaking down the implementation process into manageable steps is another key way to ensure employees do not feel overwhelmed and pressured to rush their Microsoft Teams training. Teaching your team members the core functions well in advance of the roll out will ensure that employees can start to use the technology quickly, while building confidence. When Teams is fully introduced across your organisation, a high proportion of employees will already be practiced in using the tool, resulting in minimal disruption of day-to-day business.
With 80-100% of benefits and anticipated improvements being tied to the end user, software implementation requires behavioural changes and a culture of willingness to incorporate technologies into their daily working lives. It is important that you continue to listen to concerns and keep communication channels open so changes can be made to your adoption plan when necessary. Keep nurturing the change champions in your business, rewarding those who are embracing new ways of working and celebrating wins with the whole team will keep enthusiasm and engagement levels high.
Guest Blog by Benoît Grosso of Arkadin
Benoît Grosso is Arkadin’s Director for Unified Communications & Strategic Partnerships in Europe, leading the European Sales organisation to support Arkadin’s customers in their Cloud Transformation Journey to Microsoft O365 as well as strengthening and expanding Arkadin’s partnership with Microsoft in Europe. T
Truly customer oriented, he has had multiple missions within Arkadin over the past 8 years, such as managing Arkadin’s Global Account headquartered in Southern Europe, leading distribution partnerships with major carriers in Europe, or leading the sales transformation to UC services in Western Europe. Previously Benoît was managing vendor programs in the finance industry.
