How to encourage client employees to adopt new changes during deploying

[Meetee]

Last month was full of traveling as I had to deploy our product to one client's different offices across the country. While training users, I felt that users were reluctant to change. Though there was good management support as management was aware of revenue related and other benefits from the product, but users said MS Excel was convenient for them as they were used to work on them.

I want to discuss some important points here which should be considered while convincing users for change.

[Niheel]

Training and education works the best. Changes tend to get adopted easier, when everyone's been educated why the changes are beneficial.

You have to show them the benefits that will be gained from investing a bit of time adjusting to the new tools.

The training and education should probably be delivered multiple times and should include involvement from management as this will show that the organization is serious about this change and it's just not an outsider that's coming in and telling them what to do.

[MMcCarthy]

I've been through this a number of times and agree with Niheel's points generally. I have found some "tricks of the trade" though.

If you want users to use a new application then you have to convince them that it is going to make life easier for them. Access to data output is often key here. Design some fancy reports that show them not only the data output they can get but how "cute" you can make the report look. Trust me LOL! That one got me past one of my hardest sells.

Dispel any fear they have of the new application. Users are often afraid that if they press the wrong button they will "break" it. Or they are afraid that they are too stupid to figure out how to use the new application. These are the kind of things that make them fear they will lose their job so they have to be taken seriously. They need a lot of reassurance about their ability to use it.

Encourage them to ask "stupid" questions. I actually discovered a serious design flaw in an application when a user asked a question that seemed like an easy, obvious point but turned out to be anything but.

Make them feel part of the process. Look for their feedback on particular functionality of the application rather than the application as a whole. This one actually ties in to the previous point.

Even if the system is fully "user tested" as far as the project is concerned it doesn't do any harm to give a user test list to new users. This accomplishes two things. It makes them familiar with the new application more quickly and they often find things that were missed in the official user test.

Essentially, it boils down to the user feeling reassured about their ability to use the new application and getting them excited about how it will actually make life easier for them.

Mary

[MMcCarthy]

It might be worthwhile taking a look at this Insight I wrote a couple of years ago. Sometimes resistance from users is due to the management giving an incorrect project scope.

Project Scope: Delivering What Your Client Is Paying For

[Meetee]

Thanks Niheel and Mary.

I very much agree on your suggestions and I could connect those with my actual experience. It will surely help me in my next ventures.