Making technology or process changes in the workplace is hard work. It takes time. It takes effort. And the biggest differentiator between success and failure is a user adoption plan. User adoption is the experience employees go through when using new technology or following new processes with existing technology.
Since staff turnover, leadership changes, shifting business priorities, and/or platform updates can happen at any time, it’s important to keep in mind that user adoption does not necessarily have a start or end date. In fact, it could take anywhere from a few months to a few years to get everyone onboarded. Add a global pandemic to the mix of factors, and your organization’s nearly final plan could be turned upside down. Flexibility and organization go hand in hand when working on user adoption.
Below we’ve outlined steps you can follow for successful user adoption of analytics; however, many of the tips shared apply to the adoption of any new technology or process change to existing technology.
Speak the Same Language
In order to agree on a plan, your employees need to be using the same vocabulary when talking about your data. If you don’t have a data dictionary, set that up before moving ahead. It might also be helpful to hold annual workshops to review the most frequently used terms in the dictionary. Doing this can help close any gaps between those who are well-versed and those who might be new to working closely with your data or organization.
You’d be surprised how common it is for different departments in the same association to calculate member retention differently. Or to go to different systems within the association to pull data for the calculation.
A data dictionary both defines the formula and tells team members where to go for the data.
Select Your Data Advocates
For some organizations, the data advocate selection process might be organic. For example, you might choose a mixture of those who are already passionate about working with data and those who are interested but haven’t had the opportunity yet. Your working group could even develop after a work function or general call for volunteers.
On the flip side, your organization might take a top-down approach, getting support from your board and/or C-Suite before choosing a group of staff to lead next steps. This approach can help get buy-in and budget early on by providing a clear understanding of staff needs and showcasing that current processes and software cannot solve ongoing issues.
Another option would be to work with a consultant to help provide an outside perspective on what to do, what to look for, how to approach user adoption implementation, and how to realistically set deadlines based on other clients’ experiences. Going outside of your organization is by no means required or a better approach. Some organizations tend to bring in consultants to help when the team is stretched thin. This is an area that can be successfully outsourced if that is your association’s inclination.
Designate Internal Champions
Your association might consider choosing one staff person from each department to be part of the core group and report back to their respective department about the changes, updates, and next steps. They could also help uncover overlap in the way things could be done or the approach that worked best for their department that could be implemented across the organization.
Alternatively, your organization’s stakeholders might already have names in mind, or want to hire additional outside help to avoid overwhelming current employees with additional work.
Whatever the situation, your internal champions are responsible for keeping communication clear, concise, and frequent.
Keep Employees Engaged
Getting stakeholders’ buy-in is important, but in order for user adoption to be successful, you also need to get your staff on board. One way to do this is to create weekly quizzes with incentives. For example, you might include a few questions based on the previous week’s training. Employees would submit their answers by a certain day, and then the user adoption team could post the correct answers, winner, and prize on your internal employee board or via email. Make sure whatever you do is consistent, whether it’s on a weekly or biweekly basis, so employees become accustomed to your efforts. A quick weekly quiz by email or game during a town hall or All-Hands meeting helps encourage psychological safety, trust, and engagement as staff go through this change.
What to Keep in Mind
As with any kind of change, you will likely underestimate how much time you need to get from point A to point B. There’s a lot that goes into getting tens, hundreds or even thousands of employees on board with a new way of doing things. Give yourself and your team some grace if you hit roadblocks or need to shift your plan as you go.
Equally important is the need to explain the “why” behind the changes your team is trying to make. If you find yourself repeating the same information to staff or not receiving replies to your outreach efforts, it’s likely your fellow coworkers don’t fully understand the importance of the change you’re trying to make.
When your staff understands the reasoning and how it impacts both the association and their roles, they’ll feel more empowered to be part of the change.
All in all, the end goal of user adoption is to simplify the day to day. By getting everyone on board with one platform, one data dictionary, and one set of processes, you’ll be able to gather, analyze, and understand your data more quickly and more accurately.
You can learn more about how we help associations successfully leverage analytics here or contact us at anytime to speak with one of our data-loving experts.
