It is true that people are naturally resistant to changes in the workplace. But often times, a project management software is more than just a tool - it's a new habit people must learn. And when consciously building any new habit, there is always some time when it is difficult to fully embrace the change.
Making a new habit stick requires an average of 66 days, or roughly 2 months. For those who are not tech-savvy, the idea of learning the ins-and-outs of a new software might seem even more unpalatable. If your team has strong opposition to anything new, there are efficient ways to make Wrike easy to adopt.
As you try to get your team onboard the pro-Wrike train, you need to be firm in the stance that nothing is "real" unless it's in Wrike. This is one of the most common successful adoption strategies we found with our interviewed customers.
Unless you are unwavering in your determination to get everyone onboard, some projects will be put into Wrike while others will stay scattered throughout email exchanges, excel spreadsheets, and personal desktop folders. Lead by example and rely on Wrike completely for all of your project comments, work at home policy, and updates. Your model will let your team know that from here on out all projects should reside in one place - and that place is Wrike.
If one of your team members sends you an email asking about a task, this is the perfect opportunity for a gentle reminder. Prompt them to put their questions into Wrike before you respond. One of our interviewed customers went as far as letting a contractor know that he simply couldn't respond to the contractor's comments because the email "didn't exist." The contractor got the hint and turned to Wrike to continue the conversation.
Now, I'm not advocating that you also start "overlooking" task-related emails, but it does make a point.
Taken a hard stance and still facing adoption troubles? If your team members are committed to working out of their email client, they can continue this practice. In fact, that's why our easy-to-use email integrations exist! For one of our customers, most of their users don't even log into Wrike directly - they work from within their inbox. The key to this method is using our smart email integrations, including our Gmail widget or interactive add-ins for Outlook and Apple Mail. Team members can simply reply to an email when they want to comment on a task they follow, or even turn their emails into tasks for project discussion and updates. Management can check into Wrike to get progress reports and receive real-time updates, while team members can work where they are most comfortable.
Remember: using new software means forming new habits. Stay strong through the process and give your team the time and support they need to fully make the switch.
Have you had a successful experience implementing Wrike with your teams? Did you use a similar method, or something completely different? Let us know in the comments below! And stay tuned for the next two success trends we found: finding power users and creating clear usage goals.
