Hi! Kavitha,

I usually do not face extreme adoption challenges because I disseminate information throughout the life of the project (Initiate, Plan, Execute, Monitor & Control and Close). Communications management is at the core of project management. Managing stakeholders is key to the success of any project. Users are stakeholders. My ‘top-down’ communication approach throughout the life of the project has helped me immensely. I let management share with their staff during monthly meetings about the progress of the project and tentative Go-Live. This helps users mentally prepare for upcoming changes. By doing that, during user training, before Go Live, I am able to eliminate all the noise that comes with adoption of a new software application.  

Another communication approach that has served me well is periodic newsletters or blogs for staff. Even email blasts. As long as people know changes are coming, they can handle it because they already know there is no option. The old (sometimes archaic!) application is being replaced by a new one (state-of-the-art) etc. Typically, my projects last 12-36 months. That’s a long time for users to get used to upcoming changes.

A third way is getting users to participate in writing test scripts for the new application and of course ‘User Acceptance Testing (UAT). User participation in the “Test Phase” of the project’s lifecycle usually diminishes adoption challenges. 

Hope this helps!

Thank you

Rupsi Burman

IT Manager - City of Costa Mesa, CA

Thanks ​@rupsi.burman for sharing. Love the communication approach, stakeholder management and user participation!

​@rupsi.burman -  Thank you for sharing! I love how you got the users involved in writing the test scripts! Great idea!