Learn how you should prepare for your adoption by understanding your employee's adoption types
It is important to have a focus on training and adoption of your employees because you have spent a lot of time searching for the right software match, that can solve the specific pains in your organization, but if the software never is taking into use by your employees it will never generate that value for your organizations, that you wished for when starting to implement it. You will never reach your ROI. That is why it is super important that you do it right from the beginning.
It shows, that resistance to change is one of the biggest barriers to successful software adoption. But there are several different ways you can prevent resistance. There are steps that you can take when planning your adoption program, so you help your employees feel more comfortable when trying the new process of using the AskCody Platform.
Understand your employee's adoption types
When searching for the best way to adopt a new software in your organization, there are some factors that can have a big impact on your success "the employee’s willingness to learn and embrace new software". As mentioned before, resistance to change plays a big factor in the success of the adoption of software, and one way to break that down is by looking at the different adoption types represented in the following Software Adoption Model.
This model was originally specified by Beal and Bohlen in 1957* and later became very popular when Geoffrey Moore in his book Crossing the Chasm further developed it to what we refer to today. It is used to explain the path of software adoption, based on adoption types.
*Bohlen, Joe M.; Beal, George M. (May 1957). "The Diffusion Process". Special Report No. 18. 1: 56–77.
The Innovators
Innovators are your technology enthusiasts. They’re the ones who are always looking at new technology and how it can benefit them, and they’re eager to dive in to understand how that technology works and how it can improve things in your organization.
We have the Early Adopters
Early adopters are the employees who want to try new software. They, like the innovators, are going to be a driving force in influencing others in the organization to adopt the new software that you’re trying to implement.
The Early Majority
This group often takes a more practical approach to new software – they’re waiting for others to vet it first before jumping in and using it. The early majority is going to need a little bit of encouragement in using this new software. They’re more concerned with “What’s in it for me?”, and want to know how this new software is going to improve their lives.
Late Majority
The Late Majority users are going to need a big push to adopt new software. Typically, they’ll only adopt the new software when it becomes a major part of your business operations and they can’t complete their day-to-day activities without it. Because If they can, they will.
Laggards
These users will openly balk when they have to change their habits – they’re often set in their ways and they’re uncomfortable using new tools. They will use the old software as long as possible – they prefer old, familiar technology. You’ll most likely need to force them to switch over to the new software by eliminating that old technology altogether. If that is of course an option.
The reason why it’s important to understand these different adoption types is that they play a significant role when creating an adoption program that works.
You will always Adopt from Left to right, by starting with your Innovators and Early Adopters and end with the Laggards. By involving the Innovators and Early Adopters early on in your implementation will benefit your whole adoption program. Once they are hooked they will provide the motivation to the rest of the organization to switch. They will advocate for their fellow workers about how great the new Platform is, and how easy it will make their lives. The Innovators and the Early Adopters will be your internal champions!
Learn more on that in the next article: 5 tips to Adopt the AskCody Platform in your Organization.