This document discusses the importance of user adoption for social software implementation. It notes that simply installing new technology is not enough, as users need to understand how it can help them do their jobs better. It provides examples of best practices for driving user adoption, such as finding champions, training, gamification, and case studies. The document also shares lessons learned from U.S. Bank's implementation of collaboration tools, emphasizing the need for communication strategy, executive buy-in, and support structures to facilitate adoption and behavior change.

1. If You Build It, Will They Come? Driving
User Adoption for Social Software
Lisa Duke, Simplified Technology Solutions, Business
Development Manager
Kara Francis, U.S. Bank, Collaboration Lead

2. About Us
Lisa Duke ‐ Speaker – Social Connections
II & III
Host – Get Social Do Business
Podcast
Kara Francis ‐ Collaboration Lead, which
means focused on
meeting business needs

3. So, You Think You’ve Finished Implementing
Connections?
The environment is up
IT has played with it
All done, right?

4. User Adoption – The Missing Piece
User Adoption: we used to call it training, but
there’s no budget for training, so we came up with a
new name
Domino Developers – remember? You used to do
this after you created a new application

5. Why is User Adoption Work Necessary?
You are unusual
For normal people, playing with new technology is NOT fun and NOT
part of their job
This is why just putting up a sandbox and expecting users to play with it
will not work

6. Why is User Adoption Work Necessary ?‐ 2
It’s been 15 years since the desktop has changed – for most
people, this is their whole career
Need to help people understand that the way they’ve always done
it is not necessarily the best way to do it going forward
How will this help THEM do THEIR job
Better or faster?
How will this make their lives better?
Hint: Getting attachments off
the email server is not it

7. Why is User Adoption Work Necessary? ‐ 3
More users* = more value in the
network
Metcalfe’s Law – the value of the
network is proportional to the square
of the number of connected users
For social software, number of users*
is a metric of success
* Fairly active users – not just people
with a login

8. Find Best Practices and Use Cases
Understand the user’s job and issues, then show how this tool will
help them
Executives need to participate
Find the natural champions
Hire an intern to shift over key content to the new system
Webinars and classroom training
Lunch & learns
Gamification, like Kudos

9. Find Best Practices and Use Cases ‐ 2
Roll out everything to everyone – users will surprise
you
Use it to plan something fun
Newsletters
Michael Sampson is an excellent resource – check
out the book and/or hire him!

10. Case Study – U.S. Bank
U.S. Bank has over 65,000 employees (63,186 in the U.S.)
Collaboration is a core U.S. Bank value
All‐employee survey in 2008 demonstrated that employees wanted
ways to collaborate, communicate, and innovate
Enterprise collaboration team plays a strategic role and partners
with technology teams, internal communications, and all end user
business units
Strategic direction and support is needed from all business lines as
well as from an enterprise perspective

11. U.S. Bank – Installation: Integration
Lotus Notes Quickr and Sametime
Sharepoint
Connections Profiles in Quickr Sametime
Awareness in
Activities Profiles in
Connections
Sharepoint
Files
Sametime
Sharepoint library in
Profiles awareness in Quickr
Connections
Status Updates Profiles in Sametime
Quickr Connectors
Feeds
Quickr Places in
Places (Quickr) Connections (pending)

12. U. S. Bank ‐ Engagement: Awareness & Interest
•Multiple phases
•“If you build it”… only works for a short time and only for some people
•Strategic engagement plan included:
•Targeted communications and articles
•Contests
•Targeted communities (a few examples)
•Talk to US communities
•Diversity and Inclusion
•Regional (geographical) communities
•Onboarding sessions
•Business line presentations and staff meetings
•Collaboration Showcase sessions
•Road shows and partner halls

13. U. S. Bank – Adoption and Behavior Change
Convey business value and productivity increase
Start with the business process, then the tools
Migrate processes and disable former ones
Maximize engagement phase
Business line presentations and Onboarding sessions
Collaboration Showcase sessions
Demonstrate by example
Validate contributions
Provide support
Collaboration Tools User Group meetings
Communities of practice, i.e. community managers
Consultation sessions

14. U. S. Bank – Collaboration Implementation:
Lessons Learned
Have a clear strategy to communicate to employees
Provide a “blue print” of when to use which tools
Tell the right story
Obtain better (right) buy‐in before roll out
Identify stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities early
Architecture, development, and end user resources
needed
Establish support and governance models earlier
Enable engagement and support models to be scalable
Capture metrics and reporting from the beginning
Determine desktop support and workstation settings
Introduce tagging, which is a new paradigm
Have a mobility strategy

15. Thank you!
Lisa Duke ‐ about.me/lisaduke
lisa.duke@simplified‐tech.com
678 378 4278
Kara Francis ‐ Connect with me on LinkedIn and
Greenhouse