Step 5 of 5 in our Series on Tips to Successfully Implement Technology
Step 5: The White Glove Treatment
We've made it to the last step in our five part series on successfully deploying technology across your firm. If you've missed the previous posts, you can find them right here:
Change can be painful. Whether you're implementing a new technology, or you're switching to a competitive product or service, there will be some degree of a learning curve. You'll have people who resist the change, struggle with the new technology, or outright boycott it. To reduce the chances of change management pitfalls, here are some tips to make sure this last and final step goes off well and your people feel like they're getting the white glove treatment.
End User Training – It's not only important that the training be professionally done, but great deployments will map out the content and collateral that will supplement the actual training. This is typically in the form of outlines, documentation, eLearning platforms, even recorded sessions or webinars for remote employees. Give them the tangible resources that will help guide them through the initial training and deployment.
Follow Up – Just because the training is done doesn't mean your people will be good-to-go. Create a follow up checklist and periodically check in regularly to ensure they are getting the most value possible out of the technology.
One-on-one – Not everyone learns well in a classroom or group style training session. You'll also likely have individuals who missed the sessions, but still need to get up to speed. Make sure you allocate some of your human resource availability to connect with these people in one on one settings to ensure they received all the training collateral and direction they need to get going.
Q&A Sessions – As people begin to interact with the technology change, it's important to have a forum for individuals to talk through their business processes and address questions and concerns they have. These sessions not only allow for people to talk through their problems, but it also gives you a chance to share tips and tricks – additional things people may not be aware of. It's also helpful to group people together in terms of either department, practice area, or other logical grouping of individuals who may work in similar ways.
Periodic Reviews – A tech change or change management project is something that needs to be revisited from time to time in order to ensure user adoption, satisfaction, and productivity. Individuals also need a platform and method for submitting feedback relating to the technology, especially if the technology has periodic changes like you'd see in a subscription service model.
This wraps up our short series on how to successfully implement technology. If you have things you've done at your firm during a technology rollout we'd love to hear them. Send any tips or inquiries to info@netdocuments.com. You can also read a short case study on how Koley Jessen P.C., L.L.O. made a successful transition to the cloud. Read it HERE.