SUSAN HANLEY LLC Best Practices for SharePoint User Adoption SharePoint Saturday Richmond Susan Hanley December 4, 2010 ©2010 SUSAN HANLEY LLC.
Download ReportTranscript SUSAN HANLEY LLC Best Practices for SharePoint User Adoption SharePoint Saturday Richmond Susan Hanley December 4, 2010 ©2010 SUSAN HANLEY LLC.
SUSAN HANLEY LLC Best Practices for SharePoint User Adoption SharePoint Saturday Richmond Susan Hanley December 4, 2010 ©2010 SUSAN HANLEY LLC About Me Expertise: knowledge management, information architecture, portals and collaboration solutions with a focus on governance, user adoption, and metrics President, Susan Hanley LLC Co-Author: Essential SharePoint 2010 and Essential SharePoint 2007 Prior role: Led national Portal, Collaboration, and Content Management practice for Dell Before that: Director of Knowledge Management at American Management Systems http://www.susanhanley.com Mother of three millennials 2 We built it, why don’t users just come? Adoption of new technologies, especially SharePoint, doesn’t happen all of a sudden, all at once, or without a plan. Users won’t usually rush to embrace a new solution unless it very clearly addresses their overall business goals. Before you can think about user adoption, you have to have a solution worth adopting! 3 Why is it difficult to adopt new technologies? Delayed Gratification No Guarantees Early adopters give up their “comfort zone” immediately but receive benefits in the future. The new solution may not work the way it is supposed to. Squishy Benefits Benefits, especially with portal and collaboration solutions, are typically qualitative, which makes them very difficult to describe and compare. This is why collecting user success stories is so important. 4 The 9X Effect A new product has to offer a nine times improvement over the existing solution in order to be immediately or easily adopted. If your solution is not nine times better, then you have to pay close attention to the fact that people inherently value what they already have or what they are used to over solutions or tools that they don’t own. This doesn’t mean that adoption isn’t possible – it just emphasizes the critical importance of a well thought out adoption plan. 5 Critical Elements for User Adoption Planning Make sure that you’ve got a solution worth adopting Understand how users adapt to change Implement a training plan Implement a communications plan Have a user support plan Think about incentives and rewards Allow users to provide feedback Document your plan 6 1. Have a solution worth adopting! Identify Your Stakeholders Understand Their Business Objectives - WIIFM Understand Your Culture Identify How Success Will Be Measured Prepare a Governance Plan Design a Good Site But don’t be a slave to it! Well organized content Search that works Follow design and page layout best practices Plan Roll-Out and Launch 7 WIIFM – find the pain! LexisNexis’s 2010 International Workplace Productivity Survey polled 1,700 white collar workers in 5 different countries. They looked at experience with and attitudes about information in the workplace. They reported the following scenarios happening at least once a week: Employees deliver incomplete documents, e-mails or other communications because the necessary information or materials could not be found on time. Employees experience trouble recreating how time was spent for billing purposes. Employees must recreate a document because a previouslycreated version could not be found. A deadline is missed because of trouble finding necessary information. A meeting or appointment is missed because of scheduling miscommunications. 8 2. Why is change so hard? Comfort with the status quo Discomfort with being forced to change “This is how we’ve always done it … and it works for me.” “I’m not broken, why are you trying to fix me?” No personal benefit “Sure, I see why the big wigs would want this, but what’s in it for me?” 9 So, think about how you can roll out functionality aligned with how users adopt new technology When adopting a new tool, users typically pass through five stages, each involving a progression of behaviors and needs Awareness Learning Trial Application Adoption Adoption 100% Stage/Time User achieves awareness of the new technology and begins forming perceptions around its importance and value. User experiments with the tool on current projects to experience tangibly how it fits with current modes of working. Obtains realtime under-standing of benefits and experience. User obtains an understanding, both theoretical and demonstrated, of the tool’s fundamental attributes, such as what it does, its value, how to use it, and how it integrates with existing work processes. User incorporates the solution as an indispensable tool. As such, the solution is a formal element within specific stages of work processes. User applies the technology regularly and gains greater familiarity with it, specifically as it relates to fundamental tasks. Adapted by Reuben Danzing from "Diffusion of Innovations" by Everett M. Rogers, 5th Edition, Free Press, 1995 10 3. Develop a training plan Don’t assume “it’s intuitive” One size does not fit all Training needs to be targeted to the end user’s role in the organization and role or responsibility with regard to the solution Adapt to the learning style of the learner Educational experts know that not everyone learns in precisely the same way. This is especially true for busy adults. You will get the best outcomes from your training initiatives if you can offer training in multiple ways: classroom, online, “justin-time” via computer-based training (CBT), or short online videos, quick reference “cards,” and so on. 11 4. Communicate, communicate, communicate! Communications planning does not end at solution launch Communications needs to be persistent 12 5. Plan User Support Make sure that the help desk is prepared “Seed” the organization with power users Pilot team Volunteers Launch week activities They are often left out of training – big mistake Lunch and Learns Ongoing support Office hours Center of Excellence 13 6. Think about incentives and rewards Key Influencer Strategy Key Motivators Someone important “Mikey” People tend to follow others – when we see other people writing reviews, sharing knowledge, and submitting ideas, we get the sense that this is just what we’re supposed to do. Insights from MySite pilot Gardening and Yoga drive adoption? Fun Stuff Scavenger Hunt Snow and Checkered Flags Video 14 7. Allow users to provide feedback User feedback helps identify where you’ve got adoption challenges Provide an opportunity to provide feedback on every page Get up out of your desk and ASK for feedback! Conduct usability tests and LISTEN to what people say but WATCH what they do 15 8. Write it down! It makes you think. It gives you something to share. It involves other people. 16 What are your adoption challenges? This is the audience participation part of the program. 17 Leverage Helpful Resources Read User Adoption Strategies: Shifting Second Wave People to New Collaboration Technology by Michael Sampson Read Essential SharePoint 2010 by Scott Jamison, Susan Hanley, and Mauro Cardarelli Get addicted to Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ (Current Issues in Web Usability) Download the SharePoint Server 2010 Adoption Best Practices white paper from Microsoft by Sue Hanley and Scott Jamison (http://bit.ly/acLyla) Follow www.EndUserSharePoint.com Check out the Microsoft Productivity Hub (2010 site collection with training materials for end users): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=4aaa9862e420-4331-8bc3-469d7bae0ff1 Check out the SharePoint 2007 Buzz Kit: http://sharepoint2007.microsoft.com/rampup/sharepoint/Pages/buzzkit.aspx 18 Contact Information Susan Hanley President, Susan Hanley LLC www.susanhanley.com [email protected] 301-469-0770 (o) 301-442-0127 (m) Blog: http://www.networkworld.com/community/sharepoint Twitter: @susanhanley 19