This is the third post in our Executive Guide to Cutting-Edge Tech Customer Onboarding blog series. If you have not read our other posts you can find them here.
Staying ahead of the curve requires more than just adopting new technologies; it necessitates fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous learning. Back in 2013, I had the privilege of working with a global logistics company that recognized this need and took bold steps to infuse a new way of working. Their journey of implementing Yammer as their Enterprise Social Collaboration Tool offers valuable insights into how organizations can effectively drive innovation and improve performance.
Launching with Leadership
First, they made a strategic decision to introduce Yammer to their corporate leadership team during an off-site event. This approach served two crucial purposes:
Creating a Safe Learning Environment: By launching the technology to leaders first, the company provided a safe space for them to familiarize themselves with the tool among their peers. This approach alleviated the pressure of learning in front of their teams and aligned the technology's use with the most influential people in the company.
Building Influential Champions: Empowering leaders to embrace the technology ensured that the most influential individuals within the company became its early adopters. This alignment with leadership not only set a strong example but also paved the way for smoother, more widespread adoption across the organization.
Engaging and Rewarding Early Adopters
To further promote the use of Yammer, I worked with their leadership team to organize visible, interactive activities on the platform and rewarded early adopters. This strategy tapped into the power of social pressure, encouraging more employees to engage with the technology. By highlighting and celebrating those who quickly embraced Yammer, this created a positive feedback loop that motivated others to follow suit.
Empowering Teams for Tailored Implementation
The company’s leadership didn’t stop at mere adoption; they empowered their leaders to implement Yammer within their own teams in ways that made sense for their specific needs. This decentralized approach allowed for the technology to be integrated into various use-cases, enhancing its relevance and utility across different parts of the organization.
Insights from Diffusion of Innovations Theory
This example of the successful adoption of Yammer aligns with Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations theory, which highlights three key elements that influence the spread of new technologies: adopters, communication channels, and the social system. By leveraging their social capital and fostering robust communication channels, my customer ensured that Yammer was not just adopted but embraced as a vital tool for collaboration and innovation.
Overcoming Barriers to Adoption
Many companies struggle to fully realize the benefits of new technologies due to employee resistance, cultural mismatches, or skill gaps. As Beverly Wright, PhD, aptly notes, attempting a company-wide change from the outset rarely succeeds. Instead, a phased approach—starting with small, low-risk projects and gradually scaling up—can mitigate these barriers.
Practical Steps for Implementing New Technologies
For instance, when implementing AI, organizations might begin with a trial on internal datasets, running the technology in parallel with traditional systems. This allows employees to learn and adapt without the high stakes of immediate full-scale implementation. Similarly, for Mixed Reality, companies might start with intern training programs, targeting a group typically more open to new experiences and providing a controlled environment to refine the technology before broader deployment.
The Importance of Continuous Learning and Evolution
As technology adoption spreads, it is crucial for the tools to evolve alongside the company. Ongoing education and training should be integral to your long-term strategy, ensuring that employees are always equipped with the latest knowledge and skills. As Kathy Koontz, Global Head, HCLS Data & AI emphasizes, “Deployment is not complete until user feedback has been incorporated and necessary adjustments made”.
Conclusion
Thoughtful, strategic implementation can lead to successful technology adoption and drive organizational innovation. By creating a supportive environment for teams through a phased approach, engaging and rewarding early adopters, and empowering teams for tailored use, companies not only adopt a new tool but also foster a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration. As we look to the future, these lessons remain relevant for any organization aiming to thrive in the digital age.
Stay tuned for our next blog in two weeks where we will explore best practices to close skill gaps in your workforce and the continuous touch points needed so your company’s technology continues to stay relevant in the future as your customers grow.
About the Authors:
Kathleen Rouse is an Independent Consultant and has taken her 20+ years of experience maximizing adoption and increasing renewal rates to best-in-class 95%+ and 45%+ growth rates and turned them into playbooks, processes & templates for her clients to increase their customer retention and growth.
Priya Sarathy, Ph.D, CDMP is a data strategy leader and analytics enabler with over 15 years of experience in leading analytics solution design and build, and transformations across various industries, such as financial, telecom, technology, and services. She has a Ph.D. in Econometrics and Quantitative Economics, and multiple certifications in machine learning, programming, and Data management.
Ursula Llabres currently leads the Reality Labs Customer Growth Team at Meta. The team’s mission is to help clients solve business problems with tomorrow’s technology and open new markets bringing innovative XR Technology into the Enterprise. Ursula was one of the founding leaders of customer success practice (being one of the first 10 in CS at salesforce.com back in 2005) and since has transformed and led high performing global teams at some of the top tech companies like Oracle, Salesforce.com, Box, Microsoft, Insidesales.com and now Meta to name a few.
Dr. Beverly Wright serves as VP of Data Science & AI, and Executive Director for Data Science & AI at University of Georgia, as well as Past President of INFORMS Analytics Society, and Chair of Data Science & AI Society at Technology Association of Georgia. Beverly is a sought-after professional speaker at established conferences, presenting on topics related to data science, artificial intelligence, consumer insights, and marketing analytics.
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