As the old saying goes, “A tool is only as good as the person using it.” This is especially true with unified communications (UC).
Though cloud UC may be rich in features that help boost staff performance, encourage group collaboration, and add much greater efficiency to a business’s communications overall, poor user adoption rates and a failure to utilise the software properly means it could end up doing more harm than good.
With this in mind, we’ve written a short piece on what businesses can do to help their staff get the most from their UC solutions and learn to love their revolutionary new communications tool rather than fear or resent it.
Set your goals
First and foremost, be clear in what you want your business to achieve with UC by locating the areas where you feel it could really make a difference. Perhaps have a meeting with your employees and discuss what it is they struggle with, what their weaknesses are, and from that determine what the UC solution could offer to help resolve these issues. In some cases, rather than overwhelm your users with hundreds of new features launched in one go, it may be better to focus on two or three use cases.
Once implemented, you can then set weekly goals and targets to encourage staff to use the UC solution to help them overcome their difficulties and make their lives easier, not just yours.
Offer adequate support and training
New technology can be daunting, and not everyone in your business will have had the privilege of growing up in a society where IM, video calling, smartphones, and tablets are just a part of everyday life. Especially for older generations, this new jump can be uncomfortable, and ill training could leave them feeling alienated from the rest of the team.
However, by offering video tutorials or screen sharing run-throughs on how to utilise the various functions, and building up a bit of rapport within the team and encouraging them to help one another overcome their difficulties, it’s much more likely your UC will be implemented successfully.
Make it fun
Not everything in business has to be serious, and sometimes a little bit of banter or friendly competition can really help move things along. If, for instance, your goal is to get more staff members engaging in video calls or utilising the BYOD feature via the UC mobile app, offer prizes to whoever makes the most video calls or uses their smartphones or tablets the most in each quarter. Encourage use of chat and team tools for social conversations as well as strictly business use.
Use the metrics
When implementing your UC solution, it pays to keep an eye on the metrics and pay attention to how your staff are using it and what areas deliver the best results. As well as giving you a better scope into what your strengths are, it also gives you the opportunity to customise your UC solution to suit the needs of your employees and provide them with a tool that helps them achieve their goals on a consistent basis.
Originally published Jan 30, 2018, updated Jan 16, 2023
