ServiceNow IT Service Management (ITSM) platform offers robust capabilities to increase productivity and reduce costs. The comprehensive platform offers features that span the entire IT ecosystem from employees to end users, promising organization-wide digital transformation, budgeting for innovation, and an improved response to industry shifts. But to harness the full benefits of ServiceNow ITSM, organizations must first implement a strategy for ServiceNow adoption.
An implementation process goes far beyond “installing a tool.” It includes training people for new technologies and processes. That in itself can be half the battle as change is often met with resistance. Adoption is key to quickly seeing a return on your investment in the NOW platform. Here are three ServiceNow adoption tips to ensure smooth and speedy implementation.
Step 1: Get stakeholder buy-in for better ServiceNow adoption
Get stakeholder buy-in across silos and from the bottom to the top of the organization. This includes IT, the C-Suite, customer relations, sales, and any department or staff member who will have a ServiceNow touchpoint.
This should include a master change enablement plan, a change plan summary, and stakeholder analysis instructions. These deliverables will do the following: identify key roles, levels of influence on the implementation, levels of concern or resistance, level of organizational influence, attitudes towards change, plans to address, and stakeholder responsibilities.
ServiceNow doesn’t touch your IT team alone; it affects the processes and procedures at every level of an organization. Procuring stakeholder buy-in starts with mapping out the entire plan for ServiceNow adoption. This is an actionable summary to inform communications, engagement, and training plans.
Step 2: Ensure everyone receives training
Do the necessary work to ensure everyone receives adequate training; nobody likes being dumped into the deep end of the pool unprepared. Your team will thank you for the preparation and training that eases them into working with and on ServiceNow’s platform.
It’s no easy lift adapting to changing processes, especially if “this is the way it’s always been.” Easing your team into ServiceNow is simple with Adoption Solutions to meet every need.
Do it yourself: ServiceNow offers on-demand, out-of-the-box training courses hosted on Now Learning. This Adoption Toolkit is customizable and gives your organization baseline process user templates and how-to guides.
Get some help: Get the best out of the Adoption Toolkit with the Adoption Accelerator. This is a series of four guided workshops, and a personalized coaching session. It can be customized or used as is.
Expert engagement: What’s better than getting guidance firsthand? The Customized enablement services program offers user training for your configured ServiceNow app and delivered in multiple formats.
It’s important to have demos, trainings, Q & A sessions, team building, how-to guides, and continuous engagement to onboard your teams for frictionless ServiceNow adoption. As your team adapts to their role on the NOW platform, you’ll be able to shift resources to innovative projects rather than focusing on redundant, time-consuming tasks.
Step 3: Set reasonable expectations for ServiceNow adoption
There will be a learning curve, even with the best training available because a ServiceNow implementation is so specific to your business context. Make sure your team – and end users – understand you are there to support their success, not punish their mistakes.
Start by communicating expectations, and letting people know that it’s a team effort. Deploy readiness activities and communications in short sequences. Offer assistance to your team and guidance as needed.
Deploy training activities, and execute training evaluations continuously. Measure adoption indicators, collect and document feedback from your key stakeholders, and keep leadership informed. Setting expectations with your leadership team and communicating them to your IT team will set your ServiceNow adoption up for success.
A new system should never be kept in a silo. As you gather information and feedback from all levels of your organization, you’ll be able to adjust any implementation steps for faster adoption and maximized value.
Partner with technology specialists who champion your ServiceNow vision
ServiceNow adoption is not an overnight implementation. Even the most capable Directors of ITSM would find it a heavy lift. That’s why working with a dedicated ServiceNow partner is beneficial. From strategy building to ServiceNow implementation and training, these technology specialists map a course to faster ServiceNow adoption.
Windward is a Premier ServiceNow partner. We’ve helped over 100 organizations switch from complex legacy systems to ServiceNow, and upgrade to the latest version smoothly. If you have questions, we’d love to talk.
