5 steps of an effective and successful change management
Surely you know this: a new software is being introduced – or an existing software changes a lot – and the employees have to be supported in its use. But what is the most efficient and effective way? How can it be ensured that the ROI expectation associated with the software investment will materialize?
This is not an easy task: projects are often under considerable time and resource pressure. In addition, many projects are more technology and process-oriented; the user is not always considered to the same extent in the project design. But it is only with the user that the success of the project is realized.
The good news is that SW rollout projects can be designed successfully. The prerequisite for this is a planned and structured change management. Only if the future users are adequately involved – and their different requirements are taken into account – will the project achieve the expected success.
With these 5 steps the successful SW-Rollout is achieved:
- Identify qualification needs
The first step is to identify the need for qualification. The criteria for the segmentation of users or user groups are differently detailed depending on the complexity of the software to be supported:
- by user type (e.g. admins, power users, standard users, …)
- by type of use (e.g. admin, user)
- by departments
- etc.
The use cases must be identified in the next step. Once the use cases have been identified, they can be assigned to the corresponding user types. The resulting matrix forms the basis for assigning the contents to the user segments created.
2. Develop qualification mix
On the basis of the qualification plan, the appropriate qualification mix can be developed. Various questions must be answered:
- Time of knowledge transfer (before, during, after the SW rollout)
- Type of knowledge transfer (training materials/manuals, training, digital adoption)
Based on the criteria, the placement options are assigned to the qualification mix. The result is a scheduled and segmented qualification matrix.
When determining the time and method of mediation, the following aspects in particular must be taken into account:
- Cost-benefit analysis of traditional measures and digital adoption solutions
- Assessment of the options with regard to their sustainability
Reasons for a Digital Adoption Platform
- Quickly available: ready for use in less than a week
- Sustainable knowledge transfer instead of creating fleeting stock knowledge through training.
- OnDemand: support always available immediately when needed.
Learning by working: help is provided directly in the live application. - High effectiveness: no loss of time through participation in training.
- Cost-optimal: Significant cost savings compared to traditional training forms.
- Extensive immunity to changes: permanent adaptation of training documents in case of software changes is no longer necessary.
3. Implement an adoption solution
The design of training documents, manuals or videos is already common practice in many companies today. However, since traditional measures no longer meet current qualification requirements, digital adoption solutions are increasingly being used.
At the beginning of this implementation is the selection of a suitable provider. The following aspects in particular must be evaluated and compared with existing market offers:
- SaaS or OnPremise model
- Integration via code snippet or browser extension
- Consideration of data protection requirements
- Easy to use – as well as content design
- Support of complex software (e.g. with nested iFrames)
- Flexibility of price and contract models
We would be pleased to provide you with further criteria for market evaluation and decisions on request.
Read here how to Integrate AppNavi.
4. Create content & go live
An essential aspect in choosing a digital adoption solution should be the simplicity of content creation. This is the only way to ensure that each department responsible for the application can create its own content. This accelerates your project – and relieves your IT department.
The creation of the content is done along the development matrix. Here the use cases collected there are decisive. As a rule, a look at the ServiceDesk ticket overview is also helpful for software that has already been rolled out. This supports in particular the use cases that lead to questions from many users.
In addition to the routes for live operation, these routes can also be used in a LearningCenter. Bundled in learning collections and referring to a training system, users can use them to train the software 7x24x365 according to their needs.
Once the content has been created, it goes to Go Live. For this purpose, the contents are assigned to the user segments and published directly or scheduled. Announcements that are displayed when employees access the application for the first time are recommended as a support.
5. Optimizing digital adoption in the long term
The provision of a digital adoption solution is not a one-time action. In order to provide continuous and sustainable support to employees, the content must be checked with regard to its use – and adapted if necessary.
The integrated analytics provide good insights and starting points for optimization. In addition, user feedback is evaluated and also integrated into the continuous adaptation of the content.
And if there are major changes – to processes or regulations – these can be communicated via a news function. In this way, the news reaches the users at the right time, in the right place.