When incorporating any new software in a company, there is always the challenge of getting your users to adopt it and benefit from the functionalities offered. When rolling out SharePoint Online, it is imperative that the proper steps are taken to guarantee user adoption, otherwise the software becomes useless. Here are some tips that will get your employees online with SharePoint.
Setup a Rollout Plan: You must keep employees in the know, let them know what is coming. When setting up the plan, communication, training, content conversion, and user support should be included. It is also effective to incorporate types of rewards and incentives for using SharePoint Online. If your employees know what they could gain from the software, they will be more inclined to use it.
Develop a Metrics System to Track Company Usage and Success with SharePoint: When first rolling out SharePoint, consider incorporating a reports and analytics software too. This allows higher executives and IT to track and measure usage in SharePoint. Providing them with useful information to identify what aspects of SharePoint are used most and what aspects are being ignored.
Educate your Employees: One of the best ways to influence your employees to use a new software is by educating them and letting them know what is in it for them. Educate them of all the different ways SharePoint Online can benefit their day-to-day activities, making tedious tasks easier and allowing more time for productivity. Also, showcase different scenarios of common challenges in your business and how SharePoint Online helps resolve those challenges.
Get Feedback from Employees: In addition to implementing a metrics systems to track what ways the company is using SharePoint Online, you also need to get feedback from employees directly. By doing this, you can pin-point what aspects of SharePoint work for your employees, what needs improvement, and what is unnecessary. Whether feedback is positive or negative always respond to it so your employees know that their compliments and concerns are being heard by higher authority. This will not only improve employee happiness in the workplace but also give employees more incentive to use SharePoint since they feel like their voices are being heard.
Make Adjustments as Necessary: As feedback starts funneling in, assess the issues and concerns of your employees and make adjustments as necessary. Do not face all these changes at one time, this could result in confusion from employees, especially if they have started to get accustomed to the new software. Instead, slowly implement the new changes into SharePoint based on importance. Notify employees when these changes are made and how these changes are more effective toward employee productivity as well as efficiency.
