Ascertus blog

In addition to smooth technical project implementation, successful projects painstakingly deliver against the pertinent elements of deep discovery including infrastructure health checks, project requirements and user needs; effective and meaningful communication on the promise of the ‘change’; user acceptance testing; and tailored, ongoing training.    

“We have an adoption problem”. I’ve heard these words many times over the years. What they should really be saying is “we have a critical problem – the entire project is failing!”. System adoption is not the only measure of project success, but it’s one of the most important. Retrospectively resolving a system adoption problem can be a huge challenge, and in such instances merely resorting to the original training programme is often not enough.

Effective User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is critical to ensuring that the new software and processes meet the needs, of both the business and individuals. It allows for any issues to be identified and fixed before the system goes live. Problems identified after go-live can have a serious negative impact on the business and user adoption.

The lack of effective communication is one of the top complaints from users when organisations implement change. It can be difficult to get right. The business leaders may understand why this change is necessary for the business, but the employees may not. Effective communication should promote the value of the upcoming change – for both to the organisation and the individuals – as well as deal with any concerns people may have. Done well, communication can lead to a smoother transition – improving engagement, positivity and adoption.

The Ascertus Change Management in Digital Transformation Blog Series

It’s not good enough to merely implement technology successfully. The real test of success for a system lies in the tangible value it delivers to the business, which in turn depends on the technology’s user adoption levels.