I wrote a previous item, Are your users revolting?, dealing with the subject of technology adoption, and the issues associated with user acceptance. It is one of those topics that is absolutely central to the deployment of multi-user systems since user acceptance is regularly quoted as a success criterion. Over a period of time I’ve had personal experience of good, bad, and downright ugly approaches to rolling out systems, and I count myself as a victim of a handful of projects when Management decided to introduce a new………whatever!
Recently I’ve been really pleased to read some informative posts on SpreadingScience which have touched on this subject, and address the 5 step process. This is basically the same process, albeit 5 steps instead of 7, as that described in The S-curve and the Assimilation Gap. Richard Gayle has added his own comments, Facilitated Change, to a piece by Chuck Hollis, Winds of Change, that sets out an action plan that is really worth reading for anyone with the responsibility of convincing users that they are about to face a new LIMS, ELN, SDM, Chromatography system, etc.
