I have…

Remember when Microsoft Teams was first released and people didn't believe that it would replace Skype? People didn't understand.

Then you had all of this new capability.

People would still revert to e-mail for the majority of internal communications.

People would post new threads in a channel instead of replying to the previous conversation (the horror).

And this wasn't just one company. Several companies I was working with were facing the same issues.

Some got close to ditching it altogether…

Then I saw a post online.

This gave me hope.

It took a while, and slowly but surely we got there, following the below steps:

I'll provide some specific examples of how we put the above into action at the end of this article.

For now, here are the steps in more detail with ways you can put them into action straight away.

Unfortunately, just because the business understood the benefits at the time that the solution was procured, doesn't mean they'll still be remembered further down the line.

As a result, you have to continuously sell internally until the solution is deeply rooted as part of everyone’s day to day before you start seeing a true return.

This process of selling internally requires buy in from the whole business, so it's just as important to sell to the junior team that'll be using the solution, as it is to sell to the senior team that will be supporting the adoption of the solution.

Start with mapping the business case for the solution. Here's some examples:

Then map what that means to the individual:

Then build the above into your day to day communications:

I wouldn't suggest the last one is your go-to as people tend to react better to positive affirmations as opposed to negative ones.

Always go back to the business case.

Always iterate the benefit to the individual.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

People have short attention spans. And with a new generation of 'Googlers' who can find information in 5 seconds from their phone, the need for people to retain information isn't the same as it once was either.

As a result, you might want to provide an easy to use resource that people can rely on when adopting new systems.

Playbooks don't have to be complicated though.

They're essentially instructions that take system capability and marry that with company process. This ensures that everyone using the system is 100% clear on its intended usage. In other words, it's a company-specific 'How To'.

There's a simple formula for structuring your playbook:

You also don't need to write up everything. Just where there's been a big process change, or where something is potentially complex and needs some explanation.

Write your playbook

Make it accessible

Keep pointing people towards it

So you've sold the benefits. You've created your playbook that you're pointing people towards. What's the next step? Giving people no option but to use the solution.

This is where the process of embedding starts. And sometimes you've got to use a bit of tough love.

If you've followed steps one and two, this should be a lot easier and you might not need to go to the above extremes. But sometimes needs must…

Be ruthless

Don't make exceptions

Don't be afraid of the tough love

Maximising your return doesn't just happen when people finally start using the solution. Your usage of a solution will evolve over time, so it's important to get feedback from the team on how they're using it, as well as continue to find ways to take your usage of the solution to the next level.

This is the time to connect with your peers and collaborate so you start to see consistent improvements over time.

Can you setup a survey or a poll to see what's going well and what's not?

Can you setup a teams or slack channel and share ideas on the following:

Always seek feedback

Always be looking for improvements

Always look for ways to drive the next level of adoption

So how did we achieve maximum return from our use of Microsoft Teams?

We sold the benefits - As a high growth organisation, everyone was struggling with e-mail fatigue, and it was stopping us getting work done. What was the message to our seniors? "Productivity improvements to support business growth ambitions". What was the message to staff members? "A better work life balance with more time focusing on the stuff that mattered "

We wrote a playbook - This served as instructions for what mode of communication was best suited for what purpose. Something quick and urgent would be a call, something quick and less urgent would be an instant message, a project chat would be a channel, and only when the subject matter was complex and relevant to an individual would e-mail be used. This was laid out in a simple matrix that everyone could understand. If you're wanting cheat sheet for effective communications, click here.

We embedded the process - Anybody sending e-mails for updates or quick requests would be directed to the appropriate channel to the point where responses weren't given if people were communicating with the wrong medium. Anyone trying to organise meetings for non-urgent work without a defined agenda would have the meeting denied. It seems cut-through, but it worked.

We setup a feedback loop - We started building in channels for 'praise' to drive further adoption and communication. We started setting up specific channels for client projects and communications. We instilled a culture that was always looking for new and innovative ways to simplify our workflow, and improve our communications.

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Hopefully, there's some nuggets there that you can use to maximise the return from your systems spend.

Wanting some one-to-one guidance on how to leverage technology to support your ambitions, or just want help demystifying the complex world of software and systems?