I hear this one with a sigh. Somebody spent real money, there was a kickoff, everybody logged in once, and now it is a line item.
Why does nobody use it?
Three reasons, usually all at once:
- It does not fit the work. The tool assumes a process your team does not actually follow. So they do the real process the old way and update the tool later, or never.
- Nobody asked them. It was picked in a meeting they were not in and rolled out in a memo. People do not adopt things done to them.
- The old way is still easier. If the spreadsheet is open and the tool needs a login, the spreadsheet wins every single time.
None of those are fixed by training. Training is what companies do when they do not want to admit the rollout was the problem.
Is it the tool or the rollout?
Ask three people who are supposed to use it to show you how they do their job. Not how the tool wants them to. How they actually do it. If their real process could live in the tool with a few changes, it is the rollout. If their real process and the tool are describing two different jobs, it is the tool, and no amount of nagging will fix it.
Most of the time it is the rollout.
What is the fix?
- Put the real work on the wall. The people who do it, in a room, mapping what actually happens. This takes a day and it is the workshop.
- Change the tool to fit the work, not the other way around. Turn off the parts nobody needs. Rename things to what your team calls them. Connect it to the spreadsheet instead of fighting it.
- Make it the easy path. The tool has to be where the work starts, not an extra step at the end. If the order comes in by email, the tool reads the email. If the day starts with a list, the tool makes the list.
- Let the team pick what goes first. They know which part of the tool would help on Monday. Start there, and only there.
Should we just buy something else?
Not until you have done the four steps above, because you will buy the new one the same way and it will sit there too. The exception is when it is genuinely the tool, and you will know that in the first hour on the wall.
What does this cost to fix?
A day in the room is $3,500. If the fix needs ongoing hands, getting the team using it properly is $3,500 a month for as long as it takes, usually a quarter. Compare that to what the unused subscription has cost so far, and what another one would.
Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.