Four things your business must do when moving to G Suite (the non-techie bits)
Moving to G Suite is like going on a rollercoaster, most people feel anxious on the lead up. There’s ‘oh yeah’ moments, there’s ‘oh no’ moments. But, there's also that sigh of relief when the ride finishes and you think 'I did it and it is absolutely awesome!'.
Here are some tips to make sure your G Suite project is a success...
"I don't need training, I have Gmail at home".
Train your users no matter what.
A lot of your colleagues will already have a personal Gmail account. It looks the same, it works the same, but those people haven’t even scratched the surface in terms of the functionality you can utilise in the workplace (trust us). If someone has used Gmail for years, they may not learn as much as a newbie entering a training session, BUT they will learn something. Training will help change how people work, forcing new tools with no education will affect the success of the project.
Train your Service Desk.
We have worked on so many G Suite projects, where the main point of contact for everyone is the Service Desk, the problem with that being they haven’t been trained and they are already very busy. This is when the project begins to take a wrong turn and G Suite becomes a nuisance rather than the collaborative dream you have all been waiting for. This is because it does not work the same as Microsoft and people need a point of contact who can explain why and guide them forward.
Moving to G Suite is most likely a huge change for every single person in your organisation, don’t take for granted that your IT people and your Service Desk will just know it, because it's likely that most of them have lived and breathed Microsoft for years, just like you.
We recommend you train IT, train the Service Desk and let them test it for a few weeks. Then educate and implement it to the rest of the business.
Create a buzz.
The best projects are the ones with an exciting build up to the go-live day, creating a buzz by:
Freebie merch! Everyone loves a freebie, especially something to wear on go live day, Google t-shirt anyone?
A Countdown; T-minus 5 days until G Suite goes live. Tell them what they can look forward to, what are the cool, life changing features? What will happen? Where can they get help?
Floor walkers with bags of love for G Suite. We truly love the product we work with, and we have been told it shows. Get some other Google lovers involved and create a team of Google Champions.
Communicate, communicate and communicate some more...
After 7 years training on G Suite we have found a training session is the best opportunity to explain the project goals and timelines, however these messages are received better when they have already been sent out by key project members. Showing the businesses support and aims makes a real difference.
A Going Google site, is always a favourite, with online training and project communications all in one place. A one stop shop for help and support.
Another great way to communicate with everyone, is to go old school and whack some posters up. The more channels you utilise, the better. Don't overdo it though - we don't want to be printing much.
All of the above is what we love helping with and what we do best.
