Supporting Microsoft Teams adoption for international business school

Support the global rollout and adoption of Teams

We were engaged by our customer, a leading international business school, to support the roll out and adoption of Microsoft Teams to all staff – positioning it as the primary solution for collaboration.

Key requirements included private and group chat, screen-sharing, online meetings, document sharing and collaboration, and project collaboration. The specific project objectives included:

• Pilot and evaluate the suitability of Microsoft Teams for staff collaboration
• Explore further use cases for Microsoft Teams, including integration with Office 365 applications and collaboration with external parties
• Achieve 80% adoption of Microsoft Teams

Two-phase project with comprehensive range of supporting activities

The project was delivered over two phases: an initial rollout to approximately one-third of staff within a selection of departments followed by a School-wide rollout to all other staff.

A feedback survey was sent to all users onboarded during the initial rollout, to gather feedback on Teams and the rollout process. Feedback from the survey was used to inform decision-making and planning for the School-wide rollout.

Project deliverables included:

• Phased rollout approach to evaluate the deployment process and change management activities
• Ambassador recruitment and onboarding to facilitate department-specific training and support
• Comprehensive communication strategy to inform staff about the installation process and training sessions
• In-person training delivered on-campus in France and Singapore, made available to all staff in scope for the School-wide rollout
• Technical and functional support models to assist users with Microsoft Teams

Project governance was via a steering committee which met monthly in person and a project team which met weekly via Teams, with Teams used as central collaboration hub for the project team and SteerCo, as well as for collaboration with ambassadors.

Project objectives achieved, with a foundation for future growth

Adoption and usage KPIs were measured weekly against baseline data, with a formal project review on completion which explored results, feedback and lessons learned. The resulting project closure document highlight the following key outcomes:

• Established Microsoft Teams as the primary collaboration solution for staff (key project objective)
• Sustainable level of adoption and usage, with data indicating a steady increase in active users
• Foundation for further expansion of Microsoft Teams within the School (including to faculty and student audiences) and integration with other Office 365 applications (for example, to leverage the content management capabilities of SharePoint)
• Development of internal systems, processes, and resources that continue to support users and add value (for example, MS Teams Help Centre)
• Developed internal skill-sets and know-how within the project team and wider School (including ambassadors and super-users / champions) to help support the ongoing adoption and usage of Teams.