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15 Pro Tips To Help Your Team Embrace A New Company Tech Tool

Forbes Technology Council

When a company has been using a particular workplace collaboration tool for a while, transitioning to a new system can be difficult. Even if the whole leadership team is sold on the idea, the adjustment period “on the ground” can last for a while, and you’re bound to face hurdles to full implementation.

While some growing pains are to be expected, there are ways to help your team learn to love the software you’re introducing and use it to its full potential. Below, 15 members of Forbes Technology Council share their best tips for transitioning to a new workplace collaboration tool as smoothly and quickly as possible.

1. Start With The ‘Why’

One effective way to introduce a new companywide tech tool to the team is to start with “why.” Explain the benefits and values. Then, move on to “how.” Provide training and hands-on opportunities for team members to learn how to use the new tool—first adopters can be trainers and influencers. Finally, focus on action for adoption, and give reluctant team members a grace period for change. - Zheng Fan, University of Miami Herbert Business School

2. Incentivize Employees

You need buy-in at all levels. Once you have that buy-in, clear individual and departmental ownership, and a solid change management process, you have to incentivize employees to actually make the change—because, let’s face it, as humans, we all resist change, even when we want it and even when we know we need it. Both carrots and sticks can help facilitate a smooth transition when introducing a new tech solution. - Corey White, Cyvatar


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3. Help The Team Figure Out What’s In It For Them

Often, the reluctance to move to a new tool is less a function of familiarity than of skepticism. The longer you’re in the workforce, the more likely it is you’ve been part of a failed attempt to transition, and you’re warier about trying something new because you feel it’s ultimately a waste of time. For any change, you need buy-in from each person that’s based on what their current pain points are and what they will personally gain. - Heather Wilde, ROCeteer

4. Pay Attention To Feedback

Usually, workplace collaboration happens based on projects and parts of an organization, thus allowing an opportunity to pilot the software and gain more feedback. This feedback may lead to modifications to the rollout process to ensure users adapt well and avoid implementation whiplash. - Kyle Pretsch, Leslie’s Poolmart

5. Hold Multiple Training Sessions

Be sure to hold multiple training sessions and develop effective user explanations. Also, ensure the tool is user-friendly and allows people from different parts of the business to use it without any hindrance. - Trishneet Arora, TAC Security

6. Encourage Adoption Through Need

The most successful migrations I’ve seen occurred when new projects and work were fed only to the new tool. This method encourages employees to adopt the new tool and explore it while working on something real that impacts their daily lives. Demos, training sessions and fiction are fun, but nothing drives adoption like the need to continue working. - Tom Roberto, Core Technology Solutions

7. Make Adoption Fun Through Gamification

Make it fun and part of the road to success. Higher engagement rates mean higher adoption rates. By understanding everyone’s specific needs and usage insights, you can improve engagement and adoption rates of the most impactful features. To make training fun, use gamification and other tools to encourage results. - Phillip Walker, Network Solutions Provider USA inc.

8. Integrate The Old And New Tools

The most successful transitions are rarely “turn off the old tool, turn on the new tool” transitions. Instead, run both tools over a period of time, and leverage integration tech to keep the tools in sync. Create success stories so word of mouth builds about the cool things the new tool offers. Then, phase teams in as you see fit. Since you are syncing the data, you have the information available throughout. - Neelan Choksi, Tasktop Technologies

9. Implement An Onboarding Strategy

For any new tool to be adopted and implemented appropriately, an onboarding strategy needs to be implemented, with a point person driving the charge for collaboration and communicating the value proposition. Change is difficult; the idea always sounds great, but when the transition adds an additional burden to already busy team members, adoption rates suffer. - Amanda Dorenberg, COMMB

10. Create A Well-Structured Change-Management Plan

You’ll want to engage in well-structured change-management planning—which may extend beyond the capabilities and capacities of in-house resources. Companies that have overspent and are in a state of transition may overlook the value of internal marketing efforts. The same go-to-market principles and exposure strategies we apply to external audiences to land awareness, progress towards intent and, ultimately, drive advocacy also apply here. - Shaheen Yazdani, Intercept

11. Keep Communication Flowing

Communication is mission-critical. Sporadic emails are not enough: You need to have a communication plan that helps everyone understand the direction, milestones and definition of success. Engage in an active dialog that solicits feedback, addresses concerns and communicates progress. Consider hosting lunch-and-learns or town hall meetings that give everyone an opportunity to ask questions. - Olga V. Mack, Parley Pro

12. Identify ‘Change Champions’

Find a “change champion” in every functional group and have them meet for drinks on a biweekly basis to talk through their wins and losses around adoption. Have these change champions identify someone every couple of weeks who does not allow their cheese to be moved. Celebrate those breakthroughs each change champion achieves with the least resistance from adopters. - Meagan Bowman, STOPWATCH

13. Carefully Structure A Usage Initiative

Planning and agreement on usage are key. Within weeks of adding a new tool, it can become overwhelming and messy if you haven’t structured how workspaces, information and people will be added. Keep the usage initiative running smoothly by requiring consistency in naming conventions and usage paths. - Laureen Knudsen, Broadcom

14. Choose The Right Technology Partner

Any successful technology transition comes down to choosing the right technology partner. Look for a vendor that acts as an extension of your team and provides on-demand support and services. You can also ensure greater transition success if you select a technology that’s easy to implement, integrates well with other solutions and addresses key pain points created by the previous tool. - Mike Dickerson, ClickDimensions

15. Run A Beta Test

Beta testing comes in handy when transitioning to a new tech tool. Ask for volunteers to test out the new tool for a certain period. This way, your ultimate move is more real-data-driven. While listing and comparing features on your own, you may miss a few. But if the people in your company are actually using the tool, you can be more sure of not missing important criteria. Improve the tool before rolling it out across the company. - Vikram Joshi, pulsd

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