MS Office Migration: Why Fear Success?

Beneath the concerns and challenges lurks a huge opportunity for positive organisational change. Who dares…..

Very few people relish the prospect of change. Any change, no matter how significant, is ultimately defined by feelings of disturbance, conflict and a general sense of dread. The human response to the prospect of adjusting to new circumstances is commonly that of anger, unhappiness; even disillusion – “what’s the point?”

Like individuals, organisations and their key decision-makers harbour fear for the idea of change. Change in the context of today’s uncertain and ultra-competitive environment spells doubt and provokes unwelcome whispers of losses in efficiencies, productivity and most alarming of all, revenue. Conventional corporate wisdom tells us that altering our approach means changing what is already working well; this being a prelude to eventual failure.

However, this coming March, a significant percentage of the world’s IT bosses will have to face a common change in their respective software landscapes: a migration away from Office 2003 and/or Windows XP.

So why is migration an important event?

Migration is essentially a period of transformation for organisations; a unique occurrence in that it fundamentally and tangibly affects every company’s most critical asset: its people. IT heads all over the globe know they are now under the microscope; charged with the unenviable task of safeguarding the firm’s productivity, efficiency and revenue.

Senior IT management know what they want to avoid with regards to migration. At the outset, they will endeavour to keep the wolves from their own door, i.e. evade a costly scenario resulting in crippling demands on the tech helpdesk. Of even greater and wider organisational significance though will be eluding the hazards of a disgruntled, frustrated workforce. By insufficiently supporting employees through this period of transition, companies potentially leave themselves open to a drastic decrease in staff productivity. In this instance, IT generals risk accusations of forfeiting a firm’s competitive advantage by compromising the workforce’s ability to achieve optimum levels of performance.

If we know the pitfalls, what really is there to be fearful of?

Perhaps the real anxiety here is the simple question of how to sufficiently support employees through a migration? What is the right thing to do?

The genesis of any successful migration lies in identifying and defining the best approach to educating staff on the key changes that will directly affect them. Here, those decision-makers governed by convention will shun the opportunity for positive change and capitulate to fear, thus falling prey to orthodox training approaches destined to deliver mediocrity, or far worse.

As drivers of the migration, IT management must locate the training solution which is wholly suitable to the requirements of the project. An approach that:

Highlights new features and focusses on real business scenarios

Facilitates minimal disruption to the everyday work of employees

Delivers measurable return on investment through cost-savings stemming from reduced demand on the IT helpdesk

Diminishes the burden on line management by empowering workers to enhance their efficiency by being able to identify their own skill shortages and addressing them quickly

Increases knowledge retention by delivering training in an interactive and engaging fashion

Enhances staff productivity by instilling best practice methods

Is optimum transformation achievable through traditional modes?

If you consider the nature of standard learning approaches (classroom training and e-learning), you will instantly recognise that the above outputs are utterly unachievable through conventional training methods.

Classroom training is inherently time-consuming, disruptive, un-focussed and long-winded – leading to an obvious impact on knowledge retention, staff productivity and on-going line manager involvement (approvals, reports, bookings, etc).

Similarly ineffective, e-learning fails on a number of levels. While new features can be highlighted, the delivery is low on interactivity, thus again impacting negatively on knowledge retention which, in-turn, will father greater demand on the IT helpdesk. Furthermore, a lack of personalisation makes capturing the unique needs of the individual impossible – something which may manifest itself in lower productivity and staff morale.

So what is the key to turning the migration problem into the migration opportunity? Is there an alternative to these expensive, time-consuming and ineffective methods? If so, is the approach credible, measurable and possess a proven track record of success?

Introducing a new, dynamic learning solution

It is imperative that IT chiefs opt for a solution which simultaneously offers engagement, interactivity and minimal business interruption while achieving greater levels productivity, efficiency and morale.

This can be accomplished by offering employees a live learning experience, incorporating a modular syllabus which allows employees to simply address skill shortages. Such modular sessions must be short and focussed (30 to 60 minutes in length) while highlighting vital software features and changes in a setting that maximises student participation and knowledge retention. In the modern multi-device workplace, organisations are now capable of delivering such a service to staff without it resulting in days out of the office and the negative side-effects such a reality incurs.

For a cost-effective and truly transformative migration to be realised, our heads of IT must have the vision and courage to disobey convention and reward their people with a smarter learning alternative. It is either that, or risk being accused of squandering their firm’s competitive advantage.