Picture this: You work for a company who has just made a huge investment of time, resources and money. You have done all the hard work, planning, implementing and deploment of cutting-edge technology solutions. The day after it deploys, you are walking the hallways expecting confetti canons and everyone waiting to HIGH-FIVE you cheering you on as you make your way to your office. You arrive at work and it’s a frenzy of frustrated and angry people.
Where Did We Go Wrong?
Although a “bit” over exaggerated, this scenario happens more often than not. As IT professionals, we see technology in a completely differently light than the average information worker or business professional. Some of us enjoy the challenge of something new and exciting. Others, like me, like the shiny new tools because we are bored with the same old stuff. Truly, most often, we are forced to upgrade because the tools and platforms we have grown comfortable with are quickly approaching end-of-life and that scares the beejezus out of IT professionals.
So, that resounding hum of gripes and grumbles from the masses coupled with the overwhelming number of support tickets is now your reality. How could we have avoided this? What did we miss? I have one word for you: Change.
Change
For some, change is not always a good thing. As humans we tend to stay in our comfort zones. In my previous life as a Human Resources professional I was periodically forced to lay off the masses. Some of those people, frankly, had worn out their welcome in their jobs and should have left on their own WAY before the layoff. Why did they stay? Because it was comfortable. They know the job and they like the paycheck even though they were miserable (as was everyone around them). Being laid off pushed them out of their comfort zone and forced them to move on and into bigger and better things.
So how do you inspire people to embrace Change? You make them uncomfortable. For me personally, it’s a recent knee injury that is making me look at my life and health choices. Knee pain is very uncomfortable. Time to make some changes. For IT professionals, it’s the thought of being vulnerable to hackers, viruses and other technology maladies that we are susceptible to when a technology reaches end of life. It makes them UNCOMFORTABLE. Time to upgrade!
Time to make your end users uncomfortable and asking for change…How do we do that? Stay tuned to my new blog series!
Have you Registered for SharePoint Conference Yet? Join me in Las Vegas for my session, “Creating the Buzz: Increasing Adoption through a Champions Program”. Register now and use discount code OSWALD to save! ( bit.ly/SPCNA2020 ) @SPConf #SPC20
SharePoint Conference…it’s not just for SharePoint anymore!