Every day, organizations around the world introduce their users to new BI solutions to fulfill their vision of becoming a data-driven organization. But how can leaders secure commitment to this new data culture and avoid the common pitfalls of change?
Contents: (Click to Jump to)
Step 1: Communication
Step 2: Awareness
Step 3: Acceptance
Step 4: Participation
Step 5: Ownership
The shift from traditional BI to modern BI, like Tableau, is a vital move
in our digital age.
This change is often met with strong resistance and can put your
investment at risk.
However, through understanding the process of commitment to change, in
conjunction with Tableau Blueprint, leaders can effectively gain user
buy-in and ensure a successful implementation of Tableau to secure
their digital transformation and data culture.
Start with Tableau Blueprint
The most actionable way to begin this transformation starts with Tableau Blueprint, a step-by-step guide for organizations that guides executives and
empowers users to make better decisions with data.
During the first stages of Tableau Blueprint, organizations establish a
clear and strong vision for their Analytics Strategy
and identify Executive Sponsors and Project Teams.
Developing an
Analytics Strategy is a
key driver for success and creates a unified answer to, “What are we trying
to achieve?” Establishing clarity for your organization’s vision to change
will help unite teams and drive future objectives.
The next step of Tableau Blueprint is to identify
Executive Advocacy and Project Teams. This stage will define stakeholders, executive sponsors, communication
leads, and specific administrators to delegate tasks throughout this
process.
After these steps have been completed, your organization will have a clear
vision of what needs to be accomplished and who will empower your users for
success. Next, we focus on how best to implement this vision.
Resistance to Change
A common misstep for many organizations is to simply deploy Tableau to
users with little to no communication or training. Regardless of how
logical and beneficial the change is to the organization, Executive
Sponsors quickly find that this change to Tableau can be met with
immense resistance from users and can present a critical risk to your
organization’s new investment and vision for digital
transformation.
Why is there so much resistance to such a rational decision? The answer
is simple. Humans are not designed to be logical beings and we often
make decisions based on emotion. Humans also have a tendency to develop
emotional connections with things we have a strong familiarity with –
this includes our logic-based data tools.
It sounds silly, but the connection makes sense. People spend 40 hours
or more a week working with these tools that help provide quality of
life for themselves and their families. We form a familiar relationship
with these tools and shifting from this norm is routinely, and
understandably, met with opposition.
One of the best experiences I have encountered of this phenomenon came
when we were consulting a group of new Tableau Creators at a large
retail company; all of whom had ample experience with a traditional BI
tool. We were asked to provide guidance for a dashboard that took over 17
seconds to render. Through the implementation of Tableau best practices,
we were able to redesign the dashboard with a new load time of less than
one second. Thinking this was a slam dunk, we triumphantly reported this improvement to the team and their Vice President of
Technology. However, to both our and the VP’s surprise, the new design
was rejected by the team lead.
The reason? It didn’t look like the old report. Even though the new,
modern design was 1600% faster, the team still rejected it purely
because it was different and new. This was not a decision based on
logic, but rather driven by emotion and a resistance to
change.
So, how do we best transition from old to innovative?
How do we avoid disengagement and empower users to fulfill your
organization’s vision?
The solution is to understand how users react to change and recognize the
potential difficulties of the commitment process.
You may be familiar with the Commitment Model originally created by Conner,
Harrington and Horney (1999) that illustrates how commitment to change grows
over time. Below is an adaptation of this model based on my experience
across hundreds of engagements.
The first certainty I have found throughout my engagements is that Tableau Blueprint Executive Sponsors are paramount in driving commitment to change.
Consistent communication and establishing awareness is essential to avoid confusion and undue stress. It is then through education and training that user acceptance and participation are achieved to ultimately reach your vision’s goal of ownership, innovation, and growth.
Organizations can easily integrate the different stages of the commitment process into Tableau Blueprint’s Proficiency and Community workstreams.
Blueprint Workstream: Community
Blueprint Community Stage: Communications
Goal: Awareness
Accomplish by: Informing the users
Pitfall: Unawareness
Communicating your vision to your users is the single most important step
that many organizations fail to complete. Users are better suited for change
management when organizations are transparent with the end goal and why the
change is happening.
Many organizations may choose to have the CEO or CIO send out an email
communication, or address the vision in a organization-wide meeting,
describing the commitment to become more data-driven or to increase
analytics capabilities. This message is then then echoed by the Executive
Sponsors. Communication that emphasizes that users are the ultimate owners
of this change can instill a sense of comfort in times of
stress.
Step 2: Awareness
“Users are aware of the coming change and we will mitigate confusion by
understanding the correct approach to take.”
Blueprint Workstream: Community
Blueprint Community Stage: Communications
Goal: Acceptance
Accomplish by: Surveying the users
Pitfall: Confusion
Once the users are aware of the vision and the needed change, we can
begin to ask more about the status quo and the best approach to promote understanding and avoid confusion of the change.
What do you like about the current solution?
What are the gaps of the current solution?
Do you have prior experience with Tableau?
How do you feel about the change?
Being able to address concerns and formulate a proper plan for
education and training for onboarding with Tableau will minimize the
confusion and stress of switching to a different solution. Executive
Sponsors should continue to reiterate the vision and why the change is
happening, evolve approaches to the users based on survey results, and
communicate how this change will improve the user’s experience. The next
step is to gain user acceptance.
Step 3. Acceptance
“Users understand the vision, why the change is happening, and we will
continue to demonstrate how this change is beneficial for users.”
Blueprint Workstream: Proficiency
Blueprint Proficiency Stage: Education
Goal: Participation
Accomplish by:
Education of data visualization and Tableau concepts
Pitfall: Negative Perception
Everyone knows that Tableau is different, but what does that mean for
your users? For most organizations, the switch to Tableau is not just a
software change but a complete paradigm shift. Many users mistakenly
assume that crosstabs and text tables are intuitive, but this has been
thoroughly disproven as an efficient way for humans to understand
data.
Educating your users about the benefits of data visualization is a
critical prerequisite for user acceptance and a positive sentiment of
Tableau.
If this step is skipped, Tableau will be met with a strong negative
perception, and subsequentially, the overall vision will suffer.
“Users are involving themselves in the change and training on how to
correctly use Tableau.”
Blueprint Workstream: Proficiency
Blueprint Proficiency Stage: Education
Goal: Ownership
Accomplish by: Training
Pitfall: Rejection
Some pessimism is unavoidable in any change and learning curves will
always exist. Allow adequate time for training and encourage honest
feedback.
This is a crucial time to closely involve Executive Sponsors as well as
official Tableau Training and Tableau Professional Services to safeguard
your investment.
The Tableau Training and Professional Services teams not only help
implement Tableau best practices, but they also elevate your user
experience and ensure your Tableau vision is a success. The most common
misstep that we encounter at this stage of implementation is when users
with years of experience in other data analytics tools try to apply the
same logic to Tableau. This frequently results in bloated queries and
poor performance. However, with proper training and Professional
Services, your team is better enabled to facilitate a successful
implementation and a more positive user experience.
“Users have adopted the change, advocating for our vision, and finding
ways to innovate and grow.”
Blueprint Workstreams: Proficiency and Community
Blueprint Proficiency Stage: Measurement
Blueprint Community Stage: Engagement
Goal: Fulfillment of Vision
Accomplish by: Innovation and Growth
Pitfall: Stagnation
Ownership is the ultimate goal for digital transformation in all
organizations. In the Measurement stage of the Proficiency workstream in
Tableau Blueprint, we measure user adoption and engagement through the
utilization of Tableau Server. In the Engagement stage of the Community
workstream in Tableau Blueprint, Executive Sponsors can find new ways to
grow and innovate your organization’s data journey with continued
involvement and community engagement.
“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find
themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer
exists.” – Eric Hoffer
Every quarter Tableau introduces new features and updates to our products.
We at Tableau are constantly evolving and our organization has a steadfast
commitment to change encouraged by our
Data Culture. We are
highly transparent with our communications, training content, and we have
built a vast and rich community of learners dedicated to this shared
journey.
This agility has secured us as a trusted partner in building resilience
for the future for organizations across the globe.
By continuing to cultivate a thriving
Data Culture and
commitment to change in your organization, Tableau empowers users to
become learners throughout your data transformation to quickly discover
insights and make better decisions during times of constant
change.
Comments
Post a Comment
Leave a reply