Getting started
Getting your team to actually use it
The part that is not technical and decides whether any of this works.
Almost every abandoned tool worked fine. What fails is the moment someone is in a hurry and the fast route is still to send an email. If that route stays open, it gets used.
What works
- 1
One person, one process, two weeks
Have someone genuinely use it for their own work and have it pay off. That convinces more than any demo.
- 2
Let that person tell it
A colleague explaining how they saved three days beats a training session.
- 3
Close the old route for that process
"Supplier onboarding goes through here" has to be a decision, not a suggestion.
- 4
Add the next process
Once the first is habit, not before.
What does not work
- Training everyone on the same day about something nobody has used.
- Building twelve processes before one is in use.
- Letting each person decide: you end up with two systems and neither complete.
Watch out
If someone goes back to email, ask why before repeating yourself. There is almost always a concrete reason — a missing permission, a process that did not cover their case — and fixing it convinces better than restating the rule.
Worth knowing
The sign it has taken hold is not that everyone signs in: it is someone saying "we set this up in there, right?" without being prompted.
›How long until it sticks?
One process, a few weeks. A whole department, a few months.
›Is formal training needed?
Rarely. A real case, accompanied, teaches more.
›What about someone who refuses entirely?
Usually it is whoever moves the most paper. Start by making one concrete thing easier for them.
A real case
The situation
A company trains twenty people in one session and two months later nobody uses it.
What you do
- Starts again with one person and supplier onboarding
- Three weeks later she explains it at the team meeting
- Onboarding is decided to go through there
What you get
Three months on, twelve people use it, with no training session at all.
The situation
The tool is announced at an all-hands and nothing happens afterwards.
What you do
- Picks one specific process and one person responsible
- Makes the announcement once it already works
What you get
A real change is communicated rather than an intention.
The situation
Everyone keeps requesting documents by email because it feels faster.
What you do
- Makes the new way the most convenient for whoever requests
- Stops accepting the old channel once the new one works
What you get
The change holds without weekly nagging.
The situation
Whoever drives it goes on holiday and usage fades.
What you do
- Shares the process between two people from the start
What you get
Usage does not depend on one person being around that month.
The situation
The team sees it as one more tool to learn.
What you do
- Starts with what removes work, not with what adds control
What you get
The first experience is a saving rather than an obligation.
The situation
Nobody knows whether it is being used.
What you do
- Looks at which processes get launched and which stall
What you get
The adoption conversation happens with data.
This article answers
- the team is not using the tool
- how to train my team
- adoption of a new tool
- they still use email for everything