Today, digitisation is inextricably bound with user adoption. For companies, nurturing the human factor right from digitalisation project inception is more than just a go-live: it is crucial so as not to jeopardise the technological investment. Let’s take a look at how to develop a correct user adoption strategy and examine three aspects to bear in mind when striving to implement and pursue a successful digitisation.

Why is User Adoption important in digitisation?

User adoption applied to a technology, new processes, changes to organisation or tools, is the result of a successful change pathway. In a digital transition pathway, simply adding a new technological solution is not enough. People’s behaviour and their predisposition to correctly using the technology is what makes or breaks a project. This is because use and user adoption are not always synonymous. According to a recent study by Gartner*, just 24% of company end users are actually ready to adopt new work methodologies based on state-of-the-art technological solutions.

Such significant resistance, more or less silent, often arises from a lack of digital skills, diffidence to change and a desire to stay firmly put in one’s comfort zone.

Such reticence, which usually hiders or even undermines the adoption pathway, calls for pre-emptive action on three main fronts: communication, user involvement and training.

The centrality of communication

Communication is a crucial tool for engaging people in any project, including digitisation ones. So, in striving to nurture user adoption, what are the characteristics of effective communication? Here are three indispensable elements for building successful communication in order to support a digital transformation project:

• n order to be effective, communication must first and foremost answer the following questions: why are we implementing the new technological solution? What objectives do we want to achieve? What advantages will the new tool bring?
• people who understand the project’s true nature and the new tool’s potential will be more willing to actively adopt the new solution;
• frequent and coherent communication will help staff to take key information on board. Rather than feeling excluded from the project, this will actively include them in the company’s journey towards transformation.

The necessity of involvement

Communication alone won’t cut it: people must be tangibly involved in the project in order to truly feel a part of it. Users must understand the importance of supporting the company’s technological choice. This calls for the tangible involvement of end users, which is why companies must never forget that:

• involving users affected by the implementation of a new technological solution is crucial in aiding the adoption process;
• identifying and mapping people or key groups whose activities will be affected by technological solutions to be implemented is one of the first actions to be undertaken, in order to gauge requirements and expectations;
• ensuring their active engagement right from the earliest phases of the decision-making process is vital and achievable by collecting feedback and promptly responding to any perplexities and worries.

The importance of training

Training is another absolutely crucial element in securing the success of an adoption process. More specifically:

• adequate training ensures end users will be able to correctly and confidently use the new solution, while raising their awareness on how cultural change must underpin technological change;
• it is vital to customise training programs by developing sessions that take into account the specific roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders. For example, staff that use the technology in everyday operations may have different training needs compared to managers or directors;
• practical sessions during the training path are also very important, as on such occasions users can practice and get to grips with new solutions.

User Adoption and Change Management: the expertise of Atlantic

User adoption refers to an issue that may involve any company that resolves to embark on a digital transformation process. In a recent study we conducted with Vanson Bourne it emerged that 65% of CIOs agree that resistance to change in the organisation is a big obstacle to digital transformation and new ways of working. This is a delicate issue that must be tackled at a user and above all at a company management level.

From CEOs to CIOs and HR managers, upon undertaking a digitisation pathway, company leaders must also take into account the need for change management actions. This will ensure the effortless and seamless adoption of new technological solutions.

At Atlantic, we support companies striving to achieve the cultural change necessary for the success of their digital path. Our experts work with company management to build a user adoption roadmap that concretely and effectively responds to the company’s needs.

Discover how our consultants can support your company in the adoption of technological solutions and the handling of change management issues.

*User Technology Adoption Readness Index, Gartner, 2022