Ready to find your Microsoft Teams early adopters?
Introducing new technology into your business can be daunting. No matter how positive the side-effects of this tech might be, you’ll always have a range of complex responses to deal with, from excitement to outright refusal to adopt new tools.
Solutions like Microsoft Teams aim to transform the modern workforce. With Teams, companies can build a connected hybrid workplace, enhanced by everything from simple cloud sharing to video calling and even external business telephony. However, you can only enjoy the benefits of Teams if everyone adopts the tech.
Early adopters are essentially the front line of your Microsoft Teams adoption strategy. These professionals, like champions, can help to lead the way to a faster, more streamlined introduction of new technology into the company.
What Are Microsoft Teams Early Adopters?
Like any technology, the various people in your company will respond to Microsoft Teams in a variety of ways. Early adopters are the most flexible, agile, and versatile of your team members, under Microsoft Teams champions.
The biggest difference between champions and early adopters is champions actively encourage enthusiasm about a new technology. They may even provide training and guidance in some cases. Early adopters are simply the first people to embrace a new software solution. These professionals can offer feedback which helps companies to roll out the technology more effectively.
Early adopters may already have some familiarity with Teams or similar technology. They might also have absolutely no experience with Teams, but feel comfortable embracing new tools, and learning how to use them. Remember, like your champions, your early adopters will likely need some additional help to understand Teams and how it works. Microsoft early adopters also lead the way for other members of staff, including the people who would otherwise feel nervous about using tech.
The late majority and laggards in your organisation will often struggle to explore new solutions without seeing other people use the solutions first. Early adopters (as neither innovators nor champions) give other team members someone to relate to, and peace of mind about the adoption process.
Why are Early Adopters so Valuable?
Early adopters won’t necessarily be the educators in your company keen to train your staff members, or the people suggesting the addition of new integrations and tools. However, these team members still play a crucial role in the way you introduce Microsoft Teams to the rest of your community. Early adopters feel comfortable exploring the technology just like another user.
Although early adopters might be first in line to test out something like Microsoft Teams, they’re also a good insight into your everyday employee. These professionals can often provide a lot of feedback about which features your other employees might find more difficult or need extra training on. Early adopters can also answer basic questions and provide some assistance to team members who need more guidance when it comes to working in a UCaaS environment.
The early adoption team members in your organisation will provide you with relevant updates, information, and timely responses to how they feel about each feature in the Teams environment, so you can actively improve the product before you deliver it to staff, or at least prepare with the right training and guidance. You might even ask your early adopters to participate in the creation of training content. For instance, you could record a session on Microsoft Teams where you and your early adopters test out things like virtual backgrounds.
