A champion network will make your organisation the real winner 

In this series of articles, we are outlining a strategic but pragmatic approach that will help your organisation and its staff maximise the benefits of Microsoft 365 through a training and adoption programme.

In previous articles, we have discussed the methods that help you develop a suitable training approach, determine your organisation’s preparedness, and identify tools that you can use to deliver and manage training materials and related information.

By working through these stages, you’re well on your way to creating an environment and culture that supports the dynamic and ongoing learning that works best for Microsoft 365, but there are further challenges that need to be negotiated, ranging from resistance to change to a lack of understanding of how to turn learnt knowledge into real business value.

This is where a champion network becomes important.

Champions are in a league of their own 

In short, a champion network is a group of employees who are enthusiastic about and advocate for new technologies or processes.  

Champions in business teams understand what their team is trying to achieve, and with the appropriate skills, they can reach their direct audience more effectively than a central training team. This is especially the case because learning via co-workers is fast becoming the most successful method to drive the use of new technology. 

Investing in Microsoft 365 champions reduces the burden on your project or training team and helps to drive engagement across your community.

Champions can help to build awareness of Microsoft 365, identify new ways of working, improve processes, inspire their colleagues, resolve their colleagues’ challenges, and provide tangible feedback to the central project or training team to shape future strategies. 

In life as in sports, not everyone can be a champion

Of course, it’s not quite as straightforward as just asking Dave from accounts to be a champion for his team. A champion requires specific attributes, and your organisation needs to put in the right foundations that support and nurture people to be effective champions.

People who are going to act as champions need to be enthusiastic about the technology, be willing to give up their time and knowledge to help others and be empathetic to other people who may not find it as easy to get to grips with new technologies, processes or ways of working.

Underpinning the champions network, there needs to be a full range of supporting elements, including a clearly defined set of responsibilities and expectations, full and effective training, and supportive materials such as user guides, FAQs and similar resources.

Finally, considering the extra effort they are putting in and the benefits to the organisation, the champions should be considered for additional recognition and rewards. 

A winning feeling

By utilising the enthusiasm, knowledge and expertise of internal advocates to support and encourage their colleagues, an effective champion network can help to build, grow, and sustain your Microsoft 365 adoption far beyond the initial implementation, leading to happier users, increased workplace efficiency, and maximised organisational value.

Helping you to develop a champion network

As we have shown across this series of articles, creating a training and adoption programme requires careful planning and execution in order to be effective and most organisations need help with at least some of these elements.

To this end, we have developed a modular and pragmatic delivery process, where each module, known as an accelerator, can be delivered as a standalone project.

Click on the link below to read the associated Champion Network Accelerator or find all the related training & adoption accelerators here.

We’re here to help

Our experienced adoption consultancy team has worked with many organisations across multiple sectors to design, develop and realise effective and customer-relevant user adoption programmes that really work.

If you’d like to find out more about user adoption and how we might be able to help you get the best out of your Microsoft 365 investment, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a no-obligation chat.