­You’ve Made (Or About To Make) The Microsoft Office 365 Investment: Now What? - Hartman Executive Advisors

“Adopting Office 365 is a human behavior change process that has nothing to do with technology.”
— Microsoft

Office 365, Microsoft’s cloud-based suite of software products and services, provides employees the opportunity to access and work with documents and files from anywhere at any time, co-author and collaborate in real time, and receive automatic software and security updates. If your organization recently switched or is considering a move to Office 365, you are in good company. According to research by Gartner, Office 365 is the most widely used cloud service by user count, with one in five corporate employees using the service.

However, Office 365 introduces a new way of thinking and working for staff, and behavioral science teaches us that the normal reaction to change is resistance. When an organization rolls out new technology, it is common for employees to feel frustrated or reject it entirely. This reaction can jeopardize adoption and prevent the organization from realizing its full return on investment. Therefore, implementing Office 365, like any other major technology initiative, must be treated as a change management effort to increase the potential for success.

How To Office 365 To Its Full Potential

An incremental, phased approach is the optimal way to introduce Office 365 to a workforce. Hartman’s methodology incorporates industry best practices, as well as recommendations formed by fundamental principles in leadership, change management, and organization development. Hartman clients experience a phased-approach journey that introduces small amounts of organizational change and builds upon a natural progression where each phase leverages the functionality and capabilities learned in the previous one.

Seventy percent (70%) of technology adoption plans do not meet their intended objectives. We recommend the following key elements toward a more successful enterprise-wide adoption of Office 365:

1. Leadership Sponsorship – Getting buy-in and support from senior leadership ensures the goals for Office 365 adoption align to strategic business objectives.
2. Set Goals – Defining organizational objectives, such as improved employee workplace satisfaction, increased employee engagement and productivity, or reduced operating costs, can help remove the end-game ambiguity that causes most projects to fail.
3. Communication and Training – Designing an effective communication and training plan is an integral part of planning and includes defining the audiences, the content that needs to be delivered, and the method of delivery.
4. Start Small – Starting with a small-scale pilot program helps detect potential problems and prevents them from escalating into larger ones.

Speak With Hartman Executive Advisors To Learn More

Partnering with clients to define these critical elements, and many others, allows business leaders to design a customized strategy necessary for a successful roll-out within their unique organizations. Whether you’ve already implemented Office 365 or are considering doing so, contact Hartman today to set up a free initial consultation to discover the possibilities with your current or pending Office 365 implementation. Our goal is to better understand the benefits of Office 365 for your organization, ensure that leadership teams understand the fundamental changes needed to incrementally adopt Office 365, and ultimately yield positive results of your organization’s investment. Reach out online or over the phone at (410) 612-3011 to speak with a Hartman Advisor Executive today.