User Adoption and Change Management 07 We have talked about many of the and culture. However, there are some general guidelines to follow for effective technical and con昀椀guration aspects of an implementation but there is one truth change management that involve the stages that remains: The greatest system in of formulating, planning, implementing, the world is not worth anything if it is managing, and sustaining the change. not adopted by employees. That is why To formulate the change, it partially focusing on user adoption and change encompasses what we discussed in building management within your project is a business case and assessing readiness. essential. Users must be sold on the new You need to identify and clarify the need for features and functionality and must be ready for the change those may bring change, and you need to de昀椀ne the scope of the change. These are important steps to their daily work. in order to kick off a successful change management program within your overall Implementing Change project. Management and Planning is where you will de昀椀ne your change management approach, including User Adoption your levels of stakeholder engagement and the transition to the new software and Change Management is the process, tools, integration with business operations. Then and techniques used to manage the people you move on to the implementation phases, side of change and is all about avoiding which is where those stakeholders and the surprises for your stakeholders. User adoption project team deliver the project outputs. and change management go hand-in-hand, The process of change management does and you will 昀椀nd some of the processes required to do both well can be similar. not stop with the implementation of the software. It continues through measuring Successful change management ultimately adoption rates, change outcomes, and means that a project is more likely to meet change bene昀椀ts. The change management objectives, stay on schedule, and stay on plan should be adjusted wherever these budget. With effective change management, measurements fall short. This begins your business will be at a higher level the ongoing process of sustaining the of readiness for the new software, your change through ongoing communication, stakeholders will be more satis昀椀ed, your consultation and stakeholder representation. leaders and employees will be more engaged in the process, and you will have more Setting up a good change management commitment to the change overall. All that program will make the process of user leads to greater end-user adoption. adoption much easier. Enabling user adoption can be done by excelling at The approach you take for change three key factors: Communication, management will vary by your organization’s Super Users, and Training Materials. individual needs such as structure, history, / 20 © 2020 Rizing LLC or a Rizing LLC af昀椀liate company. All rights reserved.