Transform your IT investments into success stories through effective user adoption initiatives

Early in my IT career, I was focused on the technology. Getting systems configured and live was the key to success. It had to be on-time and on-budget. Nothing else mattered.

Then, while working as an internal CRM systems manager at Texas Instruments, my boss came to me and said, "Jason, it is great you have the system up and running. But if you can't get people to use it, and the executives don't see value from it, we don't need it - or you. So you better figure it out!"

These words changed my life and my career.

The goal post had now changed. It was no longer good enough to have the system working and live. Now I needed to ensure it was adopted and delivering a clear ROI.

The challenge was massive.

I asked myself:

• How do I get all the users (over 100 people - none of whom reported to me) to change the way they do their job - on a daily basis - to follow new processes and use the technology?
• How can we measure and prove to the executives we are delivering value?
• How can we keep this going as we deploy to new departments and launch new functionality?

I realized nothing in my education or career had prepared me to get people to change and adopt new systems. They were trained on the system. We had communicated our expectations and shared the "What's In It For me" message. None of this worked. None of this mattered.

I learned new skills

I needed a new approach. I need new solutions. The technology was not the issue - it worked just fine. I needed to learn how to address the users' human needs. I needed to learn to drive behavior change.

To address this gap, I went back and studied for a Masters in Organization Development and Human Resources. This part-time program gave me hands-on techniques to help people embrace change and new ways of working.

I learned new skills and techniques at my night classes, and then put them to work at my day job.

And amazing things happened!

By embracing new employee engagement techniques, I addressed the users' emotional and psychological needs. I converted conflict into productive collaboration. I helped people transform how they worked to embrace new processes and systems.

User adoption rates soared. Complaints dropped. And the Executives were thrilled!

By changing my approach to engaging users and driving adoption, we delivered amazing, tangible results.

• We increased adoption rates by 20x.
• We decreased time to close support tickets by an average of 5 days.
• We improved support contract renewals and increased revenues by 5x - 10x.
• We improved customer satisfaction scores within 6 months.
• We passed an ISO 9001 audit by proving effective, consistent use of the system to manage our support processes, ticket escalations, and quality control.
• The system and its use was listed as an internal company best practice.

My career takes a new direction

One day I realized that my new passion was helping to bridge the gap between people and technology. I loved helping people expand their comfort zones and embrace new ways of working. I get a kick from helping people overcome their fears and disbelief, so they see for themselves the benefits of using technology.

So, I pivoted my career focus. I launched my own company, Tri Tuns, with a focus on accelerating and sustaining user adoption of IT systems. In 2020, My career and focus further expanded when I became Co-Founder of Success Chain. I am priviledeged to work with great coworkers and clients. I get to do work I love while helping people improve their jobs and performance with new tools and technology.

Giving back and helping others

I have seen first-hand how c-suite leaders and IT project team members struggle to drive user adoption and achieve success with their IT investments. That is why I decided to launch this site and share my experiences and learnings. My hope is that you will learn new ways to engage your team and users, so that you get the results you desire from your IT systems.

I invite you to follow me on LinkedIn and to subscribe to my weekly newsletter, "The IT Adoption Accelerator."

Please let me know your questions and struggles. Share comments on my posts, and use the Contact page to submit questions or ideas for future newsletters.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the newsletter.