Top 3 Tips for Launching a Successful Google Workspace Organizational Change Management Program

Embracing change is vital for enterprises to stay connected, competitive, and sustainable. As more organizations transition to Google Workspace to solve current and future challenges, they demand a seamless, rapid transition driven by efficient organizational change management. However, with change comes resistance, which is no small feat to overcome.

Now more than ever, to meet these evolving demands, businesses need to deploy a comprehensive organizational change management initiative to address resistance, reach goals, and fully unlock the growth, productivity, and collaboration powered by Google Workspace. Projects that some organizations initially viewed as impossible end up reaping significant tangible benefits, including a substantial ROI, with proper organizational change management. 

So, where does an enterprise begin its organizational change management journey to successfully adopt Google Workspace in today’s landscape? As times have changed, so has the way organizational change management initiatives are rolled out. Backed by a global team of experts responsible for seamless transitions to Google Cloud and Google Workspace, Maven Wave knows what it takes to build and execute a robust organizational change management program, despite the current environment. 

From creative team-based organizational change management processes to tearing down technology barriers so businesses can work as one, here are three leading tips for launching a successful Google Workspace change management strategy. 

1. Champion Change From the Top

Having leadership on board from the jump is critical to employing successful change management. Over the years, we’ve identified key drivers and challenges, and effective sponsorship sits at the top of the list. With 46% of CIOs reporting that culture change is their biggest barrier to success, starting from the top is more vital than ever before. Without top-down support and involvement, transitions are bound to fail. By showing the rest of the organization that leadership is active and embracive of the process from laying the groundwork to post-project initiatives, employees are more likely to welcome change and ultimately succeed. IT leaders, C-suite executives, or others who are well known and admired across your organization must “walk the walk” and advocate for change to engage employees. 

At Maven Wave, we put a great deal of emphasis on developing Google Workspace organizational change management programs, and our team starts by listening to the unique challenges leaders face. No two organizational change management efforts are alike; between unique industry-specific obstacles to dispersed and hybrid workforces, we work closely with executive teams to identify and address initial pain points and hurdles to lay the foundation for a seamless migration. Having leadership aligned is the first step in making the most of your tangible investment. 

2. Create Effective Training That’s Exciting and Fun

Once you have leadership on board, it’s time to build an internal team of Google Guides to support your organization’s training process and transition to Google Workspace. Peer-to-peer support for your Google Workspace launch plays an integral role in making go-live day go as smoothly as possible. Since Google Guides understand their peers’ workflows, they provide more targeted, personal help, so IT staff can focus on more pressing issues. We encourage organizations to share regular progress updates to keep motivation high and celebrate milestones along the way, whether small or large. To learn more about how Google Guides help to enable positive change, click here. 

By leveraging Google’s extensive library of resources with Maven Wave’s stellar support, enterprises can create fun and unique messages to make employees aware of the change and excite them to get ready for the shift to Google Workspace. It’s important to have a mix of communication vehicles, so be sure also to use team meetings, virtual town halls, and other channels for getting the message out. This essential part of the organizational change management process is customized across verticals as messaging and training for healthcare professionals will significantly differ from manufacturing or retail organizations. 

Recently, Maven Wave pivoted in-person training events to virtual experiences for a large healthcare organization that were tailored to meet the demanding schedules of the professionals across the company. The initiative specifically addressed recent spikes in telehealth usage and became a catalyst for successful adoption. 

In another instance, Maven Wave built a Google Workspace organizational change management program for a well-established data storage enterprise. Here, the company needed to accommodate many team members who don’t have access to their own devices, so the group deployed shared kiosks to train and assist in the transition. Maven Wave also launched several organizational change management initiatives for manufacturing and financial services firms to meet current challenges with virtual support from Maven Wave’s organizational change management team, creating more of an on-demand training model.

3. Measuring ROI and Getting Past the Hype

Effective Google Workspace organizational change management creates a valuable, positive cultural shift across enterprises that translates into increased productivity, efficiencies, collaboration, customer satisfaction, and a significant ROI. How the ROI is measured is crucial. CIOs and CFOs need to look past traditional savings and gains when employing new technology. Net tangible benefits must be measured to get a clear picture of the return on the investment. Maven Wave helps organizations reach their goals and track these metrics by establishing technical and soft metrics to ensure teams are hitting crucial benchmarks and getting the most of their roll-out.  

After a successful Google Workspace implementation, organizations must focus on getting past the hype with ongoing support in place and a strategic focus on future innovation to continue growth and development. By following best practices and incorporating these post-launch goals into their organizational change management blueprint, enterprises can fully unleash the capabilities of Google Workspace to stay resilient for years to come.

To learn more about Maven Wave’s holistic approach to Google Workspace change management, click here. If you’re ready to start your migration to Google Workspace, contact us to connect with our experts.