{"id":6841,"date":"2019-09-11T14:50:15","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T14:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.walkme.com\/blog\/?p=6841"},"modified":"2023-05-02T15:46:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T15:46:53","slug":"5-software-onboarding-best-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walkme.com\/blog\/5-software-onboarding-best-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Software Onboarding Best Practices to Boost Productivity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Modern enterprise software promises to increase productivity, unleash new sources of innovation, and revolutionize the employee experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But unless your employees can fully adopt the technology, those benefits will remain out of reach. Employees need the right support and guidance to integrate the new digital system into their workflow.<\/p>\n

Without effective onboarding, employees will stick to utilizing just a few basic features, leaving the rest of the tool\u2019s value unrealized. Or, they will avoid using it altogether.<\/p>\n

On top of capping your ROI, inadequate onboarding can actually impose new sources of inefficiency into employees\u2019 work. Not understanding how to complete complex processes or utilize key features is frustrating for users and causes their productivity to plummet.<\/p>\n

By adhering to these software onboarding best practices, you can avoid these pitfalls and make sure your employees get the most out of your software investments \u2014 and send productivity soaring.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

1. Clarify the purpose of the software<\/h3>\n

Employee engagement<\/a> is critical during the onboarding process.<\/p>\n

To generate authentic engagement and support among employees, you must clarify the digital tool\u2019s intended purpose and value.<\/p>\n

For example, if you\u2019re implementing a powerful new analytics platform that will make reporting easier, more efficient, and more accurate, sell your employees on these points.<\/p>\n

Show them how utilizing the new tool will not only enable them to work more efficiently, but it will also help them improve their performance<\/a> (while having a better digital employee experience).<\/p>\n

If you fail to communicate how the software will support employees productivity, they will most likely view it is a hindrance instead of an asset.<\/p>\n

Is Poor Software Onboarding Putting Your Digital Transformation at Risk?<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n

2. Anticipate the usability challenges your employees will face<\/h3>\n

\"softwareAs you plan your onboarding strategy, being proactive about the challenges your employees will most likely face<\/a> during the onboarding process will give you a major advantage.<\/p>\n

But how can you find out just what those challenges are? One way is to simply read what other people have to say about their onboarding experience with the given platform. You can use software review and compare sites like G2 Crowd<\/a> to find out that information.<\/p>\n

Another approach is to ask employees about their prior experiences onboarding to other types of software.<\/p>\n

For example, common challenges that seem daunting to employees during onboarding include facing an unfamiliar interface and integrating new processes into the daily workflow. Both of these can introduce stress and incite resistance.<\/p>\n

Once you understand which factors trip up software onboarding, you can take steps to avoid them.<\/p>\n

Effective training<\/a> is fundamental to relieving stress and helping employees get up to speed quickly. However, traditional forms of training aren\u2019t equipped to cover the breadth of content employees must learn in order to fully adopt the platform.<\/p>\n

Digital solutions that provide onscreen guidance and support as employees actually complete processes not only improve knowledge retention, they also increase efficiency by enabling users to \u201clearn in the flow of work<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

3. Build a digital adoption strategy<\/h3>\n

Digital adoption<\/a> is defined as achieving a state in which people use digital tools as they were intended and to their fullest extent.<\/p>\n

When your employees have achieved digital adoption, they have the means to utilize the full range of features and processes and extract the tool\u2019s highest possible value.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Without proper onboarding, it will be impossible for your employees to reap all of the benefits of your software investment. That\u2019s why software onboarding best practices are so fundamental to the broader goal of adoption.<\/p>\n

The main tenets of a successful digital adoption strategy<\/a> include:<\/p>\n\n