Are You Making These 3 Critical Mistakes?
Are You Making These 3 Critical Mistakes?
Sometimes we move forward having no idea about common mistakes that are made. I mean, heck, if we knew that, we certainly would do everything possible to avoid making those mistakes. Am I right?
Well guess what... a Super User Network is no exception. There are mistakes that many others have made, and shouldn't you learn from them?!!
So let's dive into these three.
1. Thinking it's good enough to just have a list of Super Users and meeting with them on a regular basis.
One of the symptoms that this is not working so well is the level of engagement in the meetings. As a Super User Leader, are you doing most of the planning and talking?
I've seen many SUNs where this is the case. This points to a lack of overall structure tied to a solid strategy. If this is your story, there's work to do. So here's an idea for moving you in the right direction. Structure your meetings with a three-prong approach for content, 1) Projects, 2) Day to day support, 3) Cross-functional knowledge sharing. Next, start including team members in owning a piece of each. You can start by encouraging one or more team members to tackle #3. When you increase your community's understanding of the full end to end processes, ooowweeeee... that's where magic starts happening!
Can you start doing this right away?
Are you already using great techniques that promote great engagement? I would love to hear about that. Reach out, let's do a post or podcast together.
2. Getting overwhelmed with where to start measuring, so you just never start.
I've seen this over and over. Many Super User Leaders move into the role having never established metrics. Maybe you have been involved in gathering data that supports existing metrics, but you didn't actually establish the metric. A really easy place to start is with user support. Capture the support your Super Users are delivering.
Here's another area where engagement comes in, involve your Super Users in decisions around how you are going to collect that data. Heck, go ahead and have them decide how it's going to be collected. For control freaks, this can be unnerving. "What if they don't do it right?" Well, that's part of the learning process that promotes and drives ownership and engagement. So what if it's not perfect the first time. Involve them in all aspects, from how the data will be collected, to how it will be aggregated, to how it will be reported out. No doubt they will see process improvement opportunities. Be patient, be inclusive, don't try to solve all the problems by yourself. Once you start collecting one area of data, you will see other opportunities. Getting started is the most important step. Oh, and to connect this to this next critical mistake, include your Executive Sponsor. But, make sure you are in the driver's seat for the discussion.
3. Not spending enough time, and involving your Executive Sponsor, in goal setting across all structural dimensions.
Are you like, "What the heck are you talking about with structural dimensions?" Well don't worry, you're not alone. This speaks to the point I made in #1, the overall structure. A SUN needs a structure. Think about a house. If you are buying a new house and the realtor says, "Hey, I've got this great place for you. I can't wait to show you!" When you get there, you walk into a building that is one big room. No wall except the exterior. You will be like, "What in the world is this?" Well, it needs structure. That structure is based on what you do in a house. Your SUN is no different. Your structure should be based on what your Super Users do in the SUN. Think projects, support, business process execution improvement. Now back to goal setting and your Executive Sponsor. You will establish goals that support each structural area or dimension within your SUN. Your Executive Sponsor will be thrilled to have a hand in ensuring the goals map to the larger organization's strategic goals. This is seriously FUN stuff once you get your head wrapped around this and start doing it. OK, I'm a geek... I seriously LOVE this stuff.
Do you have ideas to share, I would love to hear from you.
If you picked up some useful information, I would love to know that too.
Until next time... Be SUPER!