Follow-up after the launch of new digital work tools - how to do it!

Do you know how successful your IT projects are?

For a long time, IT projects have mainly been on a large scale - a major "big bang" project where sweeping changes are made through large migrations and implementations. But today we know that digitalization is not a project with an end date, but rather a continuous work in progress, with smaller implementations of new tools taking place on an ongoing basis.

Introducing new digital solutions always involves an investment - both in terms of time and money. It has to pay off in the long run and as a decision-maker you need to be able to clearly demonstrate a return on investment. Therefore, it is important that the solution is actually used and that it creates benefits by streamlining and improving employees' work or communication and so on.

Therefore, it is increasingly important to find the right approach and follow up on the success of the introduction of a new digital work tool. Otherwise, your implementations may not be successful and you may make the same mistakes over and over again.

Why is feedback and follow-up so important?

Feedback and follow-up is a way to ensure that the implementation is done correctly and that the tool itself is also correct - that is, that everyone is on board and using the solution, and that the solution creates benefits for the business. In addition, the follow-up becomes a way to engage the employees, which further contributes to the utilization of the solution.

But it is also a way of ensuring that old processes and working methods do not survive. Often you end up in a middle ground where you apply both old and new working methods and processes, or that you look for other ways outside the company's IT environment. A negative trend in the use of a new work tool is difficult to reverse and therefore you must quickly get feedback from the business. It is only in the follow-up that you will see if procedures and processes are lacking, and if you do not ask questions, you will not get any answers.

Another important aspect of feedback and follow-up is soft values in the form of participation and engagement. Younger workers often make higher demands for participation than older generations, so how you choose to involve your employees in the follow-up of implementation projects can affect your attractiveness as an employer. It is a way to show that you care and follow up on the feedback you receive.

How to follow up on your IT projects - our tips:

Monitoring can be done in a variety of ways. Fundamentally, however, it should be easy for users to make constructive suggestions - so make sure there are clear processes for how they can do so. Like the digitization process itself, monitoring should also be a continuous, ongoing process - not a one-off event.

You can also get technical feedback on an implementation project. User statistics that show the extent to which different tools are used can be very useful in the follow-up work and become a good way to show increased productivity. Are there fewer internal emails sent now that the organization works in Teams, for example?

Here are some examples of how you can work with follow-up and feedback:

• Look at user statistics - how is the service being used and how has it changed before and after implementation?
• Set up a survey (perhaps in Microsoft forms) asking users to rate their perceived satisfaction and engagement with the new tool.
• Use new employees - how easy is it to get a new employee on board? How do they feel the solution works? Ask them to note where they experienced problems or where they got "stuck".
• Make sure it is clear to users how they can provide continuous feedback and how this feedback is then used to achieve improvements. If you offer the employee the opportunity to give feedback, you must also act on it - if they never get feedback on what is happening, they will stop doing it.
• Have driving ambassadors who capture feedback on the tool in their daily work. Someone should own the responsibility for each department.
• Ask questions and make your own notes - in weekly meetings with your staff, for example.

At WeSafe, we know how important it is to involve employees in the development and monitoring of your digital tools. Do you have questions, or do you want more tips on how to proceed on your journey towards digitalization? Do not hesitate to contact us!