Best Practices for SharePoint User Adoption Richmond SharePoint Users Group Susan Hanley October 26, 2011 SUSAN HANLEY LLC ©2011 SUSAN HANLEY LLC.

Best Practices for SharePointUser Adoption

Richmond SharePoint Users Group

Susan Hanley

October 26, 2011

SUSAN HANLEY LLC

©2011 SUSAN HANLEY LLC

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About Me

Expertise: knowledge management, information architecture, portals and collaboration solutions with a focus on governance, user adoption, and metrics

President, Susan Hanley LLC. Co-Author: Essential SharePoint 2010 and Essential SharePoint 2007

Led national Portals, Collaboration, and Content Management practice for Dell

Director of Knowledge Management at American Management Systems (now CGI)

http://www.susanhanley.com Mother of three “millennials”

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Agenda Why is user adoption such a big deal? Critical elements for user adoption planning

1. Make sure that you’ve got a solution worth adopting2. Understand how users adapt to change3. Implement a training plan4. Implement a communications plan5. Have a user support plan6. Think about incentives and rewards7. Allow users to provide feedback8. Document your plan

What are your adoption challenges? Where can you go for help?

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We built it, why don’t users just come?

Adoption rarely happens all at

once.

WIIFM

Is the solution worth

adopting?

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Why is it difficult to adopt new technologies? Delayed Gratification

Early adopters give up their “comfort zone” immediately but receive benefits in the future.

No Guarantees The new solution may not work the way it is

supposed to. Squishy Benefits

Benefits, especially with portal and collaboration solutions, are typically qualitative, which makes them very difficult to describe and compare. This is why collecting user success stories is so important.

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The 9X EffectA new product has to offer a nine times improvement over the existing solution in order to be immediately or easily adopted.*

*Gourville, John T., “Why Consumers Don’t Buy: The Psychology of New Product Adoption.” Harvard Business School Note #504-056 (Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2004).

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Critical Elements for User Adoption Planning1. Make sure that you’ve got a solution

worth adopting2. Understand how users adapt to change3. Implement a training plan4. Implement a communications plan5. Have a user support plan6. Think about incentives and rewards7. Allow users to provide feedback8. Document your plan

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Unfortunately, …

USER ADOPTION SUCCESS

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… here’s what you are looking for “I’m using [the solution] to get my

work done. It only takes me a few minutes to get the answers I need. It used to take me hours”

“Our business function has improved. It used to take us 3 days to do [that process] and now it takes us only 3 hours.”

“This is helping us get things done. ”

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What’s the One Big Thing?

DONE

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1. Have a solution worth adopting! Identify Your Stakeholders Understand Their Business Objectives - WIIFM Understand Your Culture

But don’t be a slave to it! Identify How Success Will Be Measured Prepare a Governance Plan Design a Good Site

Well organized content Search that works Follow design and page layout best practices

Plan Roll-Out and Launch

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Business pain matters …

Quality suffers: when people can’t find what they need fast enough

People feel demoralized when they can’t manage their work information

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… so does solving a specific problem …

60% of the winners in the 2011 Intranet Design Annual have mobile versions

Not full blown, but what employees need “on the go”

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… and encouraging engagement

CommentsRatings Count and Promote

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2. Why is change so hard? Comfort with the status quo

“This is how we’ve always done it … and it works for me.”

Discomfort with being forced to change “I’m not broken, why are you trying to fix me?”

No personal benefit “Sure, I see why the big-wigs would want this,

but what’s in it for me?”Make me “one with

everything.”

Where’s my

change?

But, Master, you know

this: change comes from

within.$ 20

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My favorite quotes about change

Change is good - you go first. Kenneth F Murphy 1955-, former SVP HR of Altria Group and writer

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

Charles Darwin

People don't resist change. They resist being changed!

Peter Senge, management writer famous for the notion of the learning organization

Think about how you can roll out functionality aligned with how users adopt new technology

When adopting a new tool, users typically pass through five stages, each involving a progression of behaviors and needs

Ad

op

tion

Stage/Time

Awareness

Learning Trial Application Adoption100%

User achieves awareness of the new technology and begins forming perceptions around its importance and value.

User experiments with the tool on current projects to experience tangibly how it fits with current modes of working. Obtains real-time under-standing of benefits and experience.

User incorporates the solution as an indispensable tool. As such, the solution is a formal element within specific stages of work processes.

User obtains an understanding, both theoretical and demonstrated, of the tool’s fundamental attributes, such as what it does, its value, how to use it, and how it integrates with existing work processes.

User applies the technology regularly and gains greater familiarity with it, specifically as it relates to fundamental tasks.

Adapted by Reuben Danzing from "Diffusion of Innovations" by Everett M. Rogers, 5th Edition, Free Press, 1995

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3. Develop a training plan

Don’t assume “it’s intuitive”One size does not fit allDon’t try to train all at onceAdapt to the learning style of the learner

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4. Communicate, communicate, communicate! Communications planning does not end at

solution launch Communications needs to be persistent

Get SHARPOn

SharePoint

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Tested ideas for your communications plan Leverage existing meetings and events Create (and use) an “anecdote” bank Target your messages Did you know …? rotating message (tip of

the day) “Look what they did” success stories Cafeteria table toppers Message board/break room/elevator bank

announcements or posters Desktop wallpaper Usability testing

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5. Plan User Support Make sure that the help desk is prepared

They are often left out of training – big mistake “Seed” the organization with power users

Pilot team Volunteers

Launch week activities Lunch and Learns

Ongoing support Office hours Center of Excellence

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6. Think about incentives and rewards Key Influencer Strategy

Someone important “Mikey” People tend to follow others – when we see other people

writing reviews, sharing knowledge, and submitting ideas, we get the sense that this is just what we’re supposed to do.

Key Motivators Insights from MySite pilot Gardening and Yoga drive adoption?

Fun Stuff Scavenger Hunt Snow and Checkered Flags Video Points, Badges, Prizes

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7. Allow users to provide feedback User feedback helps identify where you’ve

got adoption challenges Provide an opportunity to provide feedback

on every page Get up out of your desk and ASK for

feedback! Conduct usability tests and LISTEN to

what people say but WATCH what they do

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8. Write it down! It makes you think. It gives you something to share. It involves other people.

Adoption Plan

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User Adoption Resources Read

User Adoption Strategies: Shifting Second Wave People to New Collaboration Technology by Michael Sampson

Read Essential SharePoint 2010 by Scott Jamison, Susan Hanley, and Mauro Cardarelli

I Use SharePoint: http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/iusesharepoint/landing.aspx

Get addicted to Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ (Current Issues in Web Usability)

Download the SharePoint Server 2010 Adoption Best Practices White Paper from Microsoft by Sue Hanley and Scott Jamison (http://bit.ly/acLyla)

Follow www.nothingbutsharepoint.com.

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What are your adoption challenges? This is the audience participation part of

the program.

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Contact Information Susan Hanley President, Susan Hanley LLC www.susanhanley.com [email protected] 301-469-0770 (o) 301-442-0127 (m) Blog:

http://www.networkworld.com/community/sharepoint

Twitter: @susanhanley