A recent study found that 61% of maintenance managers found it challenging to onboard a new CMMS, often better known as a facility management software system. Part of this challenge comes from team members adopting – or not adopting – new facilities management solutions and ways of doing things.
If you invest in mobile CMMS software, ensuring your team members are engaged, excited, and ready to adopt a new system is crucial. Greater adoption of a system results in more significant and influential results and overall benefits to the facility management department and the organization.
To increase the adoption of a new mobile CMMS software system, consider using these four strategies:
- Collaborate Closely with Your Software Provider
Working closely with your mobile CMMS software provider will give your team more opportunities to learn, receive crucial training, and access additional support. When onboarding is a collaborative effort between the provider, managers, and technicians, new users feel informed and empowered, resulting in higher adoption rates and a team that uses the system to its full potential.
- Communicate the Benefits
Communicating the benefits of a new mobile CMMS system to your team will help them understand its value. Explain how the software system will organize and streamline tasks, improve efficiency, and allow mobile access to facility management tasks from the device of their choice. If specific problems are being addressed with this new facility management system, emphasize that throughout onboarding. When your team understands the value of your new mobile CMMS software, they are more likely to adopt it.
- Facilitate Comprehensive Training
The amount of training required to adopt a new facility management software system successfully can be underestimated, especially if there isn’t a current system. There is a learning curve for all users, managers, and technicians alike, so initial, ongoing, and follow-up training is the key to successful learning and execution. To accommodate different learning styles, you may also want to incorporate various training methods, like one-on-one training, online tutorials, and hands-on sessions.
- Encourage Team Feedback
During the onboarding process, encourage your team to give honest feedback about the mobile CMMS software, current vs. new processes, and their concerns. Be ready to address their questions and concerns. This open communication will help you utilize the software better and build trust and ownership among your team, promoting adopting the new system.
Adopting a new mobile CMMS software solution can be a significant change for your facility management team. However, you can facilitate smooth onboarding and increased adoption with the right strategies. Open communication, consistent encouragement, and promoting the positive results from your new mobile CMMS software system can also help increase adoption, helping your facility reap the significant benefits of this facility management system.