So the bottle has stopped spinning and you are the one that has been tasked to deliver the collaboration platform. Based on our experiences this can be great for your career but daunting to get started. It’s not like you do this every day right?
Here are some tips I like to pass on to the internal implementation teams at the companies I work with. I Hope they help but don’t hesitate to get in touch to find out more.
1. Record why you’re doing it
Document why you’re making the change. This will remind you – and your team or business – about the benefits of switching to a social business platform like BCSocial and a new way of working. The ‘why’ question always needs to be answered, as you’ll be hearing it a lot.
2. Start slow but with purpose
Jot down two or three activities or processes for a small group of people who can pilot BCSocial. This makes sure that people are clear on what to do, and focused on it. It also makes it easier to keep track of how well things are going.
Try and be specific about who is responsible for activities within your business, who they work with, how they do things today – and how they’ll do things differently working with BCSocial.
3. Nominate a champion, and the supporting pilot team
There is no doubt that BCSocial will grow organically once it’s in your company. To plant the seed though, you’ll need a find a champion responsible for success. And a small team of people ready to learn the basics and show others the way.
Champions need to be empowered to make decisions. So it’s vital that yours is sponsored by senior decision-makers. And they must be comfortable with directing the rest of the team.
It helps if the Sponsor for BCSocial (that’s you) makes the initial communications about the ‘why’ – but the Champion will need to be responsible for the ‘who, how, and when’.
4. Be prepared
To get users engaged the moment they arrive, it’s important to get your BCSocial ready for use. Have your champion set up the groups you want to put people in, and create the projects they are going to be working on.
Most importantly, import the documents that support it all, so that people in the launch team know BCSocial is the place to come for the content they need to do their jobs.
5. Launch your evaluation
Agree a start date and communicate to the pilot team that you’ll all start using BCSocial on that day. A Monday is usually good, but it’s up to you.
Remind people where they can go for help, and be strict about not falling back on the tools you may have used before. You don’t want any more unstructured email and messy file servers.
6. Review
Get all the people from the pilot together and discuss what’s working well and where you might want to tweak a few bits. Don’t forget to consult the BCSocial Help Centre, or speak to the customer success team if you want any tips, tricks or advice.
7. Launch to your teams – and ensure senior participation
The big day is finally here. Communication is going to be key. Make sure you help the wider audience understand:
• How they’ll benefit from BCSocial
• What you’ll be using it for
• When you’ll be using it
• When to stop using the old system
Communicate as much as possible. Use email and your intranet, as well as face-to-face in management and team meetings.
Having your senior sponsors within the platform joining in conversations is a surefire way to attract others, and ensure engagement.
Let everyone know that the members of your pilot group – now fully graduated super users – are on hand to help. And so is the friendly team at BCSocial.
It’s worth remembering that people are creatures of habit and tend to resist change. You know a better way of working is just around the corner, but they don’t – yet.
8. Make it fun!
OK, we said there were only seven steps, but… BCSocial should be a place where people find it a joy to work with others, find information and get stuff done. So we’ll help you reward the ones who get out of the blocks first.
We have lots of involving leaderboards and stats, as well as hints and tips for rewarding success. Just look in the Help Centre