Imagine you're walking down a path and you come across a garden. There are trees and flowers, lush, green grass, butterflies are fluttering all around. It's beautiful. You are truly amazed and inspired at the sight of it, so much so, that you decide to start your own garden at home. You go to the store, you buy seeds and plants, all the tools you need - trowels, gloves, watering cans, you name it. You go home and plant your beautiful garden, just like the one you saw on your walk. It's just a matter of time now before you have your own butterflies fluttering.
A few weeks go by and you notice your new flowers have gone out of bloom, then a couple more weeks go by and you see a few weeds, then before you know it, all of your plants are brown and crispy. What happened?! Things were looking so good just at the start. Well, despite having all the tools at your disposal, you didn't use them consistently. You didn't put in the time and attention it takes to grow a beautiful garden like the one you saw on your walk.
Adoption is a lot like a garden. It takes care, planning, and attention to really grow. Successful adoption and change management comes from the combination of people, process, and technology. None of them can stand alone and find success. If we think back to the garden, you had all the tools (technology) but you didn't set a schedule to regularly water or weed (process). You didn't seek advice from a master gardener or enlist your spouse or children to help tend the plants (people). It takes all of these elements working together to successfully grow a garden and it takes all of these elements to find successful adoption.
Now more than ever, companies are looking to invest in tools and processes that help them work smarter, not harder, but that results in a lot of "new" for any single organization. To help you put the pieces together, we've created an adoption framework that helps you find success no matter where you are in your adoption journey. Adoption is an ongoing cause that you have to nurture for the long-haul if you are going to truly see it grow.
Our GROW Adoption Framework guides you through the process by helping you identify where you are in your journey and providing guidance and resources to help you advance to the next phase. Our framework breaks down into four stages:
- Get Started
- This stage is just the beginning and sets the tone for what’s to come as you continue to grow your adoption efforts.
- Companies in this stage are often implementing new systems and processes or embarking on a re-implementation of existing systems and processes.
- Reinforce
- Now that you're up and running, it’s time to Reinforce the tools and processes you’ve implemented during the Get Started stage. Define new objectives and reinforce proper usage, training, and adoption efforts.
- Companies in this stage have defined processes, have trained their users, and are actively working to drive consistency across all teams.
- Optimize
- Everyone on your team is rocking and rolling, now it’s time to Optimize. Look for ways to automate and refine your processes to save time and let the platform do the work.
- Companies in this stage have consistent usage, all stakeholders understand the how, what, and why of the platform and the processes.
- Wow
- Wow – you did it! You’re a model of success, but it doesn’t stop here. Adoption is an ongoing process that requires continual development. Remember that garden? All those seeds you planted along the way still require care and attention to keep growing. Continue to assess your people, processes, and platform to ensure continued success.
- Companies in this stage are wowing their employees, their prospects, and their customers.
Just like a well-tended garden, you'll be growing in no time, but remember, you aren't in this alone. We're here to help and so are thousands of others who are also using the Sugar platform. You can connect with them here in SugarClub by joining our User Groups & attending our monthly Clubhouse sessions. Ask questions, connect with others, and get that garden growing!