Being my first Blog, always a little nerve-racking, I wondered what is it that I actually know that can help others. I was told by many... so much it's not funny, just start typing! So here I am. Hopefully you can make some use of my Infographic to explain Office 365 yourself.
Frankly, my greatest joy on a daily basis comes from those 'Ah ha' moments that users have when the light bulb goes on. Transforming the way someone works with Office 365 is a delight to watch and knowing that I helped a user, team or organisation with their journey is always satisfying. We believe that if we provide the technology people will just come, this is so untrue. Let's look a little more around why based on my Infographic below.
At the beginning of every workshop I perform, I always start from a few standard questions, the main and of course most important one is (considering I'm an Office 365 Adoption Specialist):
'What is Office 365?'
Inevitably over 3/4 of the room (if they aren't Cloud IT) will state 'Isn't it just Office in the Cloud?'. No... it's not. If only it was that simple! If it truly was that simple then the rate of adoption would be extremely high and it isn't, the average adoption rate of those using the platform is less than 10% when they still believe it's 'just' Office. I also regularly get told 'I already know Office, I don't need help or training in Office 365' right up until they have the technology dropped in their laps (literally) and organisations realise that no one is using what they bought as there was little Change Management, great Comms or Training. If the user believes it's 'just' Office, then they will never know the above environmentally rich (Infographic) functionality exists. Users will believe it's seamless as they stick to their desktops with Outlook, Word, Excel & PowerPoint (which it will be). They won't access the cloud, there is no ROI and they certainly won't digitally transform to a more productive and innovative Work Anywhere, Anytime, with Any Device or with Anyone workforce!!
IT often purchases Office 365 as a cost savings but only 20% of the journey comes from the technology (users really don't care that much about what you bought and IT have a vested interested), the other 80% is the people journey which is a little harder to work on. We are talking about changing user habits. Never easy!
Time and time again I see users logging out of those 'annoying' programs with statements like 'I don't want Microsoft Teams, people just keep wanting to talk to me!' God forbid we communicate, collaborate and connect with others. Why make these statements? Users just didn't understand the 'What's in it for me' (WIFM) as part of their Office 365 journey. Having a clear Adoption Strategy is vital.
One of my key focuses when working with clients rolling out Office 365 starts from breaking down the complexity that is Office 365 into bite size easy to consume programs of work. Usually there is a groan when I show them my Infographic as they aren't aware of the complexity that can come with rolling out Office 365 to users. I didn't create the Infographic to scare them, I did it to get them to actually focus on the bigger picture and rich features that come with Office 365. Once they grasp this we can then focus on how they can collaborate, communicate etc and break it down into great user scenarios to digitally transform the way they work. Just 'turning it on' won't work!
So on that note, enjoy the Infographic, use it to break down Office 365 yourself and hopefully start having the right discussions around user Adoption.
Kirsty McGrath is a Microsoft MVP and an Office 365 Adoption Specialist. To talk further about Office 365 Adoption, please email Kirsty@onpointsolutions.com.au or call +61 432604370.