Engaging users for IT programme success
A household name financial services company contacted us before deploying a new desktop to their 8000 users. The programme had been subject to a health-check which flagged the lack of user engagement as a major risk to its success. An internal communications resource had left the business meaning the communications framework designed to support the programme was not being delivered, and the only training provisioned comprised generic e-Learning content, so users were not being prepared for the obvious and instant changes they would experience on being upgraded to the new desktop, and the new ways of working the upgrade would force.
We were sponsored into the organisation by a project manager working on the refresh programme, who had experienced our work with previous customers, and we presented how we might approach user engagement in such short timescales, resulting in budget approval for our engagement 48-hours later.
Within extremely tight deadlines we engaged with stakeholders, business representatives and IT suppliers to design a sophisticated yet achievable strategy with bespoke Office 2010 content and the various systems forming part of the new desktop.
Our deliverables included the execution of a communications framework, which included the design of user journeys, step by step guides and five short videos focussing on the critical changes the users would encounter with their new desktop. Training content was exciting, engaging, and relevant to the customers’ environment; it was short, easily accessible and promoted by our IT counterparts at every opportunity.
Our ability to deliver successfully in such short timescales established us as reliable, responsive experts in our field, with the customers IT Director stating during a post-project review, “My biggest regret is not engaging The Inform Team sooner”.
As a result of this initial engagement, the nationwide financial services organisation regularly consult us in connection to their technology roadmap, ensuring that we are engaged with projects at the right time and that the impact to users is considered early; we are currently consulting on a telephony refresh programme working alongside the programme team and their provisioning IT suppliers.
The Inform Team
We are a niche consulting practice, specialising in improving the performance of people and organisations through the effective adoption of technology. Our unique offering combines communications with training strategies to create adoption programmes that really work.
We have a team of consultants who care deeply about delivering business value to our clients, and ensuring the value invested in technology is maximised.
We work with large organisations who have little or no internal capability, experience or capacity to manage their people through the change process.
