Thats gratitude for you! Comments after Exchange 2007 upgrade

[ssiruuk2]

Over this summer I worked my nuts off and this Exchange upgrade being one of many jobs completed - Heres the thanks I get...

 

I tested it all after the upgrade to make sure the mail flowed ok, moved all the mailboxes and public folders over ready for the staff to return... In two days I must have had about 20 phone calls saying "can we have the old email system back!?" (everyone used OWA 2003), and "urrr not too keen on this" etc etc.

 

I give up!! I just tell people who don't like it to use the full Outlook client instead (as I'm certainly not going back to 2003,) the response is usually "whats that then?"

[beeswax]

Without wishing to add further to your woes, did staff know you were going to do this, or did they come in after the holidays to be faced with something unexpected? If this is the case, then I'm afraid that the reaction you found is probably normal.

 

“A new system is a hard thing to put into place, it is opposed by those that would be disadvantaged by the new system and it receives no support from those that would benefit.”

Niccolo Machiavelli

[ssiruuk2]

Nope - no one was aware that I was going to upgrade it. But then again the teaching staff don't have any input into a decision like that.

 

The old server was starting to get a bit flakey and would lock up now and again - especially on weekends for some reason so I saw it as a perfect opportunity to put that right.

 

How true that quote is.. - and there I was trying to do something beneficial for everyone! One thing I can't see that was available in 2003 is how to just show unread messages in OWA 2007? Maybe they have a point..

[webman]

Nope - no one was aware that I was going to upgrade it. But then again the teaching staff don't have any input into a decision like that.

 

Ah, there we go then

 

They don't necessarily need to have input into it; they just need to be made aware of what will happen, when, and how it will affect them. For example, I created this document for our users and gave it to them well before we migrated our email platform.

 

Feedback on this from staff was very positive, and that it "was a good thing we had that PDF".

[kmount]

That's a pretty neat PDF, is that a Zimbra client?

[beeswax]

We're currently looking at introducing Office 2007 to the school either later this year, or more likely early next year. In view of the drastic overhaul of the interface for Word, which, let's face it, will be the most commonly used piece of the Office kit, a change management strategy needs to be thought out for the diffusion (the process by which a technology spreads through an organisation) and assimilation (the formal adoption of this software by the 'workforce') of this software.

In your case, Exchange 2007 is just part of such a strategy, and you have to accept that for the most part, while your efforts will be appreciated on this forum, the staff at your school may well have dragged themselves in reluctantly after a six week break to be faced with an unheralded and unexpected change. They don't like this, especially when they're getting their backsides into gear. I do wonder if the start of the Autumn term really is the best time to introduce something new. You may well find that staff just starting out at your school this term, those expecting change won't moan as much.

I appreciate that in your case there were extenuating circumstances and you seized the opportunity of a six week break to upgrade things, but innovation in an organization has to be carefully planned and introduced. Otherwise I suggest you put your feet up for the six week break then stand in the entrance hall on the first day back for the staff and ask them to slap you about the face with a wet kipper. You'll feel just as under appreciated, but at least you'll have had six weeks of doing what you want beforehand.

Edited September 6, 2008 by beeswax

[beeswax]

Ah, there we go then

 

They don't necessarily need to have input into it; they just need to be made aware of what will happen, when, and how it will affect them. For example, I created this document for our users and gave it to them well before we migrated our email platform.

 

Feedback on this from staff was very positive, and that it "was a good thing we had that PDF".

 

Exactly!

[webman]

Thanks. The 'Zimbra Client' is nothing more than Mozilla Prism (FF3 engine without the UI chrome) directed at the web client; the same piece of tech they use in Zimbra Desktop.

 

We planned the move to Zimbra for almost a year.

[russdev]

What we have started this year (first one went out start of this term) is a IT update newsletter the feedback was very good. We put all changes and stuff we needed to communicate in that update.

 

Russ

[webman]

What we have started this year (first one went out start of this term) is a IT update newsletter the feedback was very good. We put all changes and stuff we needed to communicate in that update.

 

Russ

 

That's a very good idea. We've set up a blog (with the idea of having RSS of this on our intranet) as a means of communicating updates and progress about various IT things to staff; but haven't pushed it forward yet.

[beeswax]

What we have started this year (first one went out start of this term) is a IT update newsletter the feedback was very good. We put all changes and stuff we needed to communicate in that update.

 

Russ

 

Must be something in the air; we're planning something very similar.

[contink]

What we have started this year (first one went out start of this term) is a IT update newsletter the feedback was very good. We put all changes and stuff we needed to communicate in that update.

 

LOL.. I did that in one school and the feedback I got was

Oh? Were we supposed to read it?

[beeswax]

When we introduced Webman's Online Room Booking system last October to replace the much abused paper-based version. I created an animated walkthrough in Wink showing staff how simple it was to use, placed this in a network share and sent out a staff bulletin with details and a link to the share. Then I removed the paper-based version (which was in our office) from public access. Two teachers came looking for the book, they "were too busy" to read the bulletin and got an ear bashing from a couple of other teachers. Peer pressure is a wonderful thing.

You do all that is possible to explain and inform, however, if a teacher refuses to read the bulletin (which is a briefing for the coming week) then that's their problem, and the chances are that they'll miss out on booking rooms.

It's interesting to note how quickly the online system has been assimilated into the school system. This year because of a mistake with timetabling there's nothing available online, or on paper, and the number of phone calls I've had asking about it is testament to Webman's design (simplicity of use) and the fact that it's so much easier to go online and book a room rather than traipse all the way across school to check the paper version (it was the fact that so much time was being wasted which created a general mood for change and allowed me to bring in the system much earlier than planned-and with a lot less planning than would normally have gone into it*). Sad to say, but two teachers were booking rooms on Boxing Day for the coming January.

*An Improvisational Model of Change Management

[localzuk]

LOL.. I did that in one school and the feedback I got was

 

 

That is the one thing that's stopping me from doing something like that.

 

We have a noticeboard in our staff room which shows the status of different things like web access, email, file access, sims etc... but people still ask me, whilst I am actually in the staff room, why they can't get online. People don't seem to read anything IT related for some reason.

[ssiruuk2]

Update newsletters? Blogs? RSS feeds? Pah! you lot are far to considerate for my liking!

[Edu-IT]

That is the one thing that's stopping me from doing something like that.

 

We have a noticeboard in our staff room which shows the status of different things like web access, email, file access, sims etc... but people still ask me, whilst I am actually in the staff room, why they can't get online. People don't seem to read anything IT related for some reason.

I think it's perhaps because they don't have to. They know that they can call you and you'll come running.

[srochford]

We have a noticeboard in our staff room which shows the status of different things like web access, email, file access, sims etc... but people still ask me, whilst I am actually in the staff room, why they can't get online. People don't seem to read anything IT related for some reason.

 

I think it's more general than that - people don't read most of the stuff that's available in the way of notices, newsletters etc. Often, that's because they just get too much stuff and much of it's not relevant.

 

I suspect that if you talk to anyone who's trying to get out information about events or changes you'll get the same sort of message - no matter what they do, some people just don't take it in.

 

I don't think that means we should stop trying - there will be some people who will read notices etc and act on them and we should make sure we put out info when we can for the benefit of those who can be helped :-)

[john]

Ah, there we go then

 

They don't necessarily need to have input into it; they just need to be made aware of what will happen, when, and how it will affect them. For example, I created this document for our users and gave it to them well before we migrated our email platform.

 

Feedback on this from staff was very positive, and that it "was a good thing we had that PDF".

Very nice, someone has too much time on his hands though hehe

[webman]

Very nice, someone has too much time on his hands though hehe

 

Yeah. I don't have any MS updates to install or problems to sort

[john]

Yeah. I don't have any MS updates to install or problems to sort

What you mean you don't have projectors going pop to chase I aint been MS patching or MS problem hunting in weeks

[gshaw]

Yup I'm in the "document the lot" camp as well. I sent an email round immediately after the upgrade called "email uggrade... how will affect you?" with some of the benefits of Exchange 2007.

 

So far I've already had people asking about the remote file share access and pleased with the OWA 2007 enhancements. We'll make more guides for how to use the features then it all goes on our IT Services intranet site. Some people might think no-one reads the guides but if they're well written and easy to use I've seen people printing and using them

 

Also made a CD for our staff conference with the new SmartBoard v10 software on plus documents about changes to the PC setup so that way if anyone says they didn't know about the changes we're well and truly covered

[plexer]

I agree with the principal of informing users but have the same problem of people not reading stuff or not listening.

 

I once explained an issue in a staff briefing one morning which I think was to do with laptops and offline folders being moved.

 

Later in the day someone asked me about this problem and I asked if there were in the briefing becuase I had explained it all then, she said that she was but I hadn't started to say something technical so she switched off.

 

 

Ben

[plexer]

Another time....

 

I offered all staff a 5 minute lunchtime training session on how to log jobs on My Little Helpdesk.

 

I did this 3 times over 3 days and had in total about 6 members of staff I think it was.

 

I did the same last week albeit only 1 session for new members of staff starting this year which there must be a dozen or so, 2 new staff turned up and 1 existing member of staff.

 

So I give up.

[srochford]

 

So I give up.

 

Don't give up - talk to individuals and find out why they didn't come along. I suspect part of the reason will be the timing. Lunchtime is either a time when teachers (and most sane people!) want to try and get a break but it's often also frantically busy (all sorts of things go on in schools at lunchtime!)

 

Start with the people you think are reasonable (there will always be those that no-one gets through to!) It might be that they'd tried the software, found it easy and didn't want to spend time at lunchtime. It could be that they were busy that week but could have come before school/after school/at some other time. It might be that they would prefer to just read some instructions (I much prefer to be given a set of instructions I can read in my own time for anything new; I can then try things out and, only if I get stuck, ask for help)

 

I know it can be very disheartening when you think you've made a lot of effort to get things across and it's not taken up but as a couple of people have said in this thread it does benefit in the long run - people don't feel left out and can see you've put in the effort to make things work and explain what's going on.

[plexer]

I also gave up my lunch break to run these sessions to help them out.

 

If they can't be bothered to turn up I am not going to run around asking why they didn't come.

 

Ben