Deploying Microsoft Office 365 is bound to fall flat at your workplace if you don’t pair the launch with proactive employee training. One mistake many organizations make is assuming implementation equals adoption. In reality, these are two separate feats and they require the same amount of attention from the implementation team. If the Office 365 engagement rate dissatisfies your boss and you were the one in charge of migration, take the following steps to get your team on board with the new platform.
Implement and Adopt Simultaneously
Only 34% of end users want to use new tech that is rolled out. Why? In most cases, users are simply resistant to change. Your employees have a certain way of completing their jobs, and may be resistant to what they believe will be “starting from scratch.” It’s your job to teach your staff that Office 365 isn’t a way of starting over, but of transforming daily activities to make them easier for everyone. Migration may take more work at first, but it will ultimately lighten the load on workers.
If it isn’t too late, take the ideal approach of addressing end-user adoption at the same time as deployment. Most companies focus mainly on the roll-out, and then adjust their focus to user adoption after launch. This can create the common scenario in which a company spends time, money, and energy on a roll-out only to have a situation in which no one uses Office 365. Tackle both implementation and adoption at the same time to prepare your team for deployment before the day it hits their computers.
Teach New Ways to Collaborate and Communicate
Microsoft Teams is an excellent tool that combines chat, ideation, collaboration, content creation, external tools, and daily activities into one comprehensive place for employees. With the right training, your employees will come to thrive in the Microsoft Teams atmosphere, finding it easier than ever to create and share information with others and connect with the people they need on a project. Ignoring training, however, can lead to feature overload and burnout.
If your corporation is struggling with Office 365 adoption, odds are you never spent time or energy on program training. Instead, you assumed a successful roll-out would be enough to encourage employees to make the switch. A platform as comprehensive as Office 365 and its related programs requires training to properly understand how to use the many different collaboration and communication tools available.
The myriad collaboration tools might be what’s causing the hang up at your corporation. Encourage employees to branch out from tried-and-true communication methods by hosting training sessions in which you focus on how to properly use the many tools and features offered in the new platform. A bit of assistance could be all your staff needs to adopt Office 365.
Demonstrate the Perks of Information Centralization
Encourage employees to use Office 365 by demonstrating all the ways the new platform will make their daily lives easier at work – namely, through information centralization. Office 365 makes it easier than ever to create, access, and share the information employees need to work on a project. Lead by example in your workplace. Showing the true potential of Office 365 can inspire everyone else to pick up the platform as well.
