Key Questions to Ask Testers as you Modernize

#WorkplaceInnovators, consider 1. these key questions to ask testers as you #modernize, 2. why to involve the naysayers in the first group, and 3. the reasons to seek out #oneBestWay. ☝️

Ask: “Would you send this Contract PDF to your customer today? Does it have everything you need in order to move forward and conduct business?” That question has teeth — it gets you to the truth of the critical path and smokes out any hesitations. 😬

We love to ask: “What has to be true in order to adopt this feature for prime-time, real business use?” That brings much more energy and insight compared to a passive, “Would you please try this out and let me know what you think?” — which may not even gain a response from a busy teammate.

A Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at a client of ours recently offered a great tip: Instead of starting with your “friendly” feedback team for Beta testing, gather the naysayers — the hard-to-please folks — and address their objections head-on. If you can win over those voices, you can win the larger game! Better to smoke out objections to change than to chase whispers in the hallway. 😅

Once you’ve repointed navigation and given time to address blockers or objections, don’t forget to shut the back door. Strive for the #oneBestWay — not dual paths. Some teammates are early adopters. Others wait until given a final nudge.

Use a clear visual to transition: place a large red warning on the old system —
“Removing soon. Please click here to use the new system.”
And after some time, move old layout objects and buttons off screen (instead of deleting) — to avoid two ways of operating and to maintain an easy rollback in case a surprise pops up (like a yearly-only workflow). ✅