Fix the rollout before you replace the tool.
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?
Usually three reasons at once:
- It does not fit the work. The tool assumes a process your team does not follow. So they do the job the old way and update the tool later, or never.
- Nobody asked them. It was picked in a meeting they were not in and announced 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 time.
More training does not fix any of those. Training is what a company orders when it would rather not talk about the rollout.
Is it the tool or the rollout?
Ask three people who are supposed to use it to walk you through how they do their job today. If that process could live in the tool with a few changes, it is the rollout. If their process and the tool describe two different jobs, it is the tool, and nagging will not 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 happens step by step. That takes a day, and it is the workshop.
- Bend the tool to the work. 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 work should start in the tool, not end there as an extra step. If orders come 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 would help on Monday. Start there and only there.
Should we just buy something else?
Not until you have done the four steps above, or you will buy the next one the same way. If it really is the wrong tool, that shows up in the first hour on the wall.
What does this cost to fix?
A one-day workshop is $3,500. If the fix needs ongoing hands, getting the team using it is $3,500 a month, usually for a quarter. Hold that up against what the unused subscription has cost so far.
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.