Making happy users in three steps

Let’s face it, people hate change and there’s a good reason for that. 

Change means you must learn new skills and redo your well-working routines. Change is a hassle and takes time from the things you need to get done. We put off change in our private life, but the worst experiences often come from change you can’t affect, which is often the case at work. 

In some cases, organizations communicate and manage change very well. This usually happens when the change affects a larger group of people. Unfortunately change management is often neglected with smaller changes like taking a new tool in to use. This is often caused by focusing only on the technical implementation while failing to manage the human side of the change, like who will be using the tool and what they will be doing with it. 

Neglecting change management and user onboarding can lead to even the best of tools failing totally. You might end up with a tool you think is amazing, but your users hate it, because no one took the time to explain how the tool is supposed to help them. 

At Sievo, we consider the user onboarding experience a key objective for implementing a well working tool. This is why we have built a step-by-step guide, complete with all the communication templates you need, to create happy Sievo users. 

Answer the three questions: why, how and when 

Too often the only “change management” is users receiving an email saying – Tadaaa here’s a magical new tool, start using it now. If you’re lucky, the tool comes with a 157-page instructional pdf 🥴. Worst case, there is no guidance telling you what the heck you’re supposed to do with this new thingy wingy 🤔. 

Yes, we’ve also made these same mistakes and realized it does not work. So, we learned from it! Now we have a great toolkit for creating happy users.  

To be honest, creating happy users is not rocket science but requires devotion and understanding how you motivate people to learn new skills. We’ve broken change management down into three parts that: 1 motivates users to learn, 2 teaches them the skills they need and 3 helps them adopt these skills in their daily work. 

Here are the steps:

1. Why do I need the tool

The first part takes place before the users start using the new tool. The main goal at this step is to tell users why they are getting the new tool and what they are expected to do with it. This will ensure the future users are motivated to learn using the tool from day one. In Sievo, we embrace the opportunity to deepen the whole organization's capabilities, both on the technical side, and procurement analytics in general. 

This step will answer questions like: 

• Why is the organization taking the tool in to use? 
• What are the benefits of using the tool? 
• How does the tool work for different user types? 
• What problems does the tool solve? 
• What is expected from me?

2. How do I use the tool

When users understand the reasoning behind a new tool, they are motivated to learn how to use it. Next, you’ll have to teach them how to use all the features of the tool. The key to success is acknowledging that people learn new skills in different ways and not try to force the same way on everyone. Some people want to play around with the tool to see what it does while others want to read all about the features beforehand. In Sievo we have interactive product tours that allow users to learn by doing, instructional videos offering more context around the features, and various recommended instructor led sessions helping users use the tool in their daily work.  

This step will answer questions like: 

• How do I learn to use the tool? 
• What can I do and not do with the tool? 
• What are the main features of the tool? 
• How does the tool help me in my work? 
• What task does the tool help me do? 

3. When do I use the tool

Once users have a feel for the tool and know the basic features, you need to teach them how to adopt using it as part of their daily work. To do this, you’ll have to identify all the different user groups and what they want to achieve. This is all about continuous learning by sharing tips and tricks with colleagues to discover important insights. At Sievo, we have insight sharing sessions, deep dive training webinars and even automation informing users about features they have not used 

This step will answer questions like: 

• What insights should I be looking for? 
• How do I find the relevant insights? 
• How do I take my skills to the next level? 
• How do my colleagues use the tool? 
• What are the most important tips and tricks for my work? 

Change management can be a 🍰 

Implementing a new tool does not have to be hard or even boring. If you do it right, it is a great opportunity to engage with your organization while teaching them new skills. The key is to empathize with your users and ask yourself how this tool will make their lives easier. Each implementation is different but having a ready-made toolkit for creating happy users makes change management easier and guarantees success.