What We Have Always Known About Software Adoption
It may seem obvious, intuitive, and it is what we have always known about software adoption but maybe forgotten along the way. Necessity Is the father of invention… Where there is a will, there is a way… Deadlines ensure that things get done…
An urgent, compelling event is the catalyst
Time pressure magically aligns critical success factors that provide focus, executive sponsorship, business champions, and resource allocation to make things happen. Without this, inertia compels people to maintain the status quo because the current state is believed to be good enough. Organizational change management is the art and science of breaking down barriers by providing a pathway to a desired future state. Most importantly, an urgent and compelling business need is key to successfully adopting change (Tweet this).
The time has come for collaboration software solutions
The COVID-19 crisis is driving remote work and adoption of collaboration tools. Global current events that require social distancing and shelter in place for the health and safety of our customers and co-workers require many of us to change behavior immediately with respect to how we interact with each other. The time has come for collaboration software solutions. Persistent chat, group chat, team and channel conversations, enterprise search, document collaboration, meeting integration, conferences with audio and video capabilities, mobility, secure data, and business process automation are now essential requirements for working remotely effectively.
Early adopters understood this, as they saw a competitive advantage in transforming the way they work by becoming more productive using technology. Others may be further behind on the adoption maturity curve, mostly because their focus has been on other pressing business concerns. Now things have changed, and everybody is seeking to quickly adapt to an immediate and sustainable model for working remotely. Although the coronavirus will pass and the economy will recover, businesses are beginning to realize that how we work has changed forever. We have reached an inflection point. Innovation will continue to increase, and people will apply lessons learned from this experience to change the way they work in the future. The age of digital transformation is upon us.
About the author: Mike Fahner is a Customer Success Manager for the Modern Workplace at Microsoft. He helps his customers leverage Office 365 and Microsoft Teams to unlock business value in the investments they have made in software collaboration tools.
Modern Work Specialist at Microsoft
4 年"An urgent and compelling business need is key to successfully adopting change." - Well said! Mike, I couldn't agree more.
Servant Leader | Organizational Change Manager | IT Project Manager | Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+) | Implementations Manager | IT Service Delivery Leader
4 年I know you posted this in April, but it remains timely and relevant. I feel very fortunate that our organization had made significant progress toward Teams adoption prior to the pandemic. (A good Org Change Management program was critical.) But the pandemic certainly turned up the heat! We used Teams largely for chat, meetings, and document collaboration, but with everyone working from home and craving that human connection, the case for video has become much more compelling. I suspect, as you have suggested, that we have indeed reached an inflection point, and that working from home will become the norm, and remote workers will continue to fully embrace collaboration technologies. I look forward to seeing what innovations await.
Board Member Homegrown National Parks
4 年Great article ... Thanks Mike