Myth #10: User Adoption Is A Sure Thing Once The Technology Is Implemented Successfully – Part #2 (Lesson 29)
A checklist for change
Use the following questions to stimulate your thinking and influence the change management planning for your digital transformation initiative:
- Do your employees understand why this change is happening?
- Are you sharing information as completely as possible to avoid rumours?
- Are you demonstrating how the change will affect people?
- Do your employees understand how it will benefit them?
- Can your employees easily provide feedback and input?
- Are you planning ways that will make adapting to this change fun?
- Have you onboarded ambassadors, influential employees, and super-users?
- Does the project have a clearly identified project sponsor?
- Is the sponsor actively and visibly leading the change?
- Is the sponsor removing barriers to success?
- Does the leadership understand and agree on the project’s objectives?
- Does the leadership prioritise this project higher than other initiatives?
- Will training be tailored to the new roles that will exist after the change?
- Are you involving and training users from the start?
- How will you reassure people that you will not be keeping tabs on them?
- (If you will, can you show how this can be used for good, rather than for evil?)
- Have you planned ‘floor-walkers’ to provide support onsite after you go live?
- Will you reward fast user adoption in a way that is meaningful to the users?
- Will you penalise those who do not adopt the new system and processes?
(If so, use this sparingly as a last resort.) - Are you planning ways to ensure that the new system and processes rapidly become embedded into BAU as soon as possible?
NOTE: This list of questions should by no means be considered exhaustive.
What ch-ch-changes will you make on your transformation?
If change management has not figured very highly in your priorities before, I hope that this email has at least given you some food for thought.
In order to truly transform your organisation, you need to do a lot more than simply deliver the technical project successfully.
You must be prepared to plan an amazing journey for yourself, your team, and your whole organisation. You then need to follow through on your change management plan, all the way through to implementation – and beyond.
What will you do to invest in making change easier and more transparent for your people?
How will you use change management to help ensure that you achieve your desired Guaranteed Project OutcomesTM – and become a ‘Boardroom Hero’?