Helpdesk Lessons Learned From Software Conversions

While statistics presented in the 2nd Edition Guru's Guide for Legal Service Desk Support show over 50% of all first tier user support calls are related to Microsoft Office (regardless of the version), and based on independent industry data that well over 50% of law firms upgrading Office are taking the major leap straight from Office 2003 (pre-ribbon interface) to Office 2010, the learning curve for end users is steep and the associated implementation and user satisfaction risk is high. (See, http://bit.ly/xhcDel.)

Office 2010 Rollouts and the Helpdesk

How the firm approaches the Office 2010 rollout ' an all-or-nothing approach versus a slower measured implementation ' is a major factor in determining the overall impact on the helpdesk. Using recent data from law firm service desks (with an average of 700 end-users), volumes increased by 42% during firm-wide software rollouts. In the case of megafirms with thousands of end users, those percentages reached the 50% range. Beyond preparing for the worst and hoping for the best from an “additional upgrade staffing” scenario, it is absolutely essential that the service desk, whether internal or outsourced, knows how to answer the questions that will arise in the first few days once a user's desktop has been upgraded. IT and helpdesk management must ensure that analysts have “tips and tricks,” FAQs and a comprehensive knowledge base at their disposal to enable efficient support of their user base.

In addition, there needs to be ongoing and attentive management of all service desk incidents during a rollout so that analysts can easily separate out the “How Do I?” questions from the bugs and standard version-specific requests. Firms are well advised to use helpdesk reporting tools to help them predict and anticipate common questions and build these into training and floor support staff checklists and custom user guides.

While the list is far from being comprehensive, based on hands-on experience with hundreds of Microsoft Office upgrades and dozens of Office 2010 implementations, every law firm helpdesk analyst should know how to resolve the following “Top 10″ questions that are sure arise within the first few days of the switch:

• Printer setup: “How do I add a printer?” Could this be automated or part of the rollout testing process and floor support checklist?
• Working with tables, in particular inserting and removing columns and rows.
• MS Outlook Out of Office settings: “How do I to set this up?”
• MS Outlook permissions: Typically users have to re-add mailboxes and profiles, regardless of versions.
• MS Outlook views: “How to I customize View settings,” e.g., in Outlook or FileSite?
• Creating signatures in MS Outlook.
• Creating labels: “Where and how do I access or need to reset the default label option?”
• Windows control panel settings: “Where do I adjust my screen resolution and other display options?”
• Formatting in Word: “How do I work with headers and footers in Office 2010?”
• Document creation: “How do I create PDFs from Word files?”

As evidenced by this short list of FAQs, the helpdesk and firm training department, regardless of whether these resources are internal, outsourced or a hybrid, need to work hand-in-hand to ease the transition and minimize the typical conversion-related shock to the user's system. Also be aware that it can take a long time after users have been upgraded to a newer version for call volumes to return to normal. In an ongoing analysis of “converted” firms, the “return to normal” volume can vary from two to six months.

Real World Conversion Tips

Beyond specific feature/function questions and customization requests, law firm IT and helpdesk leaders are well served to focus on and invest in training, user advocacy and firm-wide ' especially between IT and users ' communication flow. With that in mind, here are some additional best practices ideally applied to the next Office upgrade.

Don't Forget to Train the Service Desk

It is not just about end-user training, but how to best support and lead them. This means giving the firm helpdesk personnel the training and professional development they need to expertly lead users through the upgrade. If firms are looking to use an external provider to bolster their helpdesk, make sure the third party eats, sleeps and drinks legal and a law firm way of doing things. Be sure to ask how many law firm rollouts they have supported and how they work with internal IT, trainers and helpdesk folks to best serve the end user.

There's No Such Thing As Over-Communicating

Communication is especially critical during the planning process and throughout the actual rollout. Engage the legal user community early and get them involved by attending previews, making use of e-learning courses, offering deskside training sessions, useful “tip sheets” and other “how tos.” Have a daily debrief call involving the entire IT team, key external providers, user pilot groups and user advocates so that the entire implementation mechanism is engaged, active and fully understands what is happening and what is at stake.

Encourage User Advocacy

With a complete change in the Office interface, especially from 2007 to 2010, it is common for even the savviest of users to struggle with upgrades and the inherent changes. IT should get these “power users” on board with the software right from the start and position them as user advocates and champions of high user adoption and satisfaction rates.

You Will Do This Again '
So Capture User Feedback

Post implementation, IT is advised to survey users on their upgrade experience. Were expectations met? Was there anything that could have been done differently? Was the communication effective? Was the training appropriate? How disruptive was the entire process? What could or should IT and the helpdesk do differently next go around?

Conclusion

As with any major software rollout, a law firm's successful switch over to Microsoft Office 2010 or any other version boils down to effective resource planning, training, testing, relying on previous best practices/lessons learned, and consistent and firm-wide communications throughout the upgrade process. True to the Boy Scout motto, preparation is critical when guiding the firm through the oft-necessary evil of a major upgrade without losing user confidence or management buy-in.

Here's some not-so-breaking news from the world of major software conversions regarding, in particular, the amplified demand for Office 2010 upgrades within the last 9 to 12 months: It's an all around challenge and major resource issue for IT, the helpdesk (referred to as the service desk globally), trainers and users. So, prepare for it, absorb lessons from others who have gone before you, and achieve a smooth conversion with happy users and management (yes, this IS possible!).

Stepping Back to Look Forward

According to Legal IT Landscapes, a global legal IT survey on the technology issues affecting law firms in 2011, the biggest challenge legal IT professionals expect to face during a Windows 7/Office 2010 rollout is compatibility with existing applications, followed by how to train attorneys and secretaries, and the time or lack thereof, required to do this. (See, http://bit.ly/wBianS.) While the “dangers” seem apparent, they are not keeping law firms of varying sizes and complexities from implementing and planning short term Office upgrades. In fact, when looking at data presented in the 2011 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey, 42% of participating law firms implemented a newer version of Microsoft Office while an additional 34% planned to upgrade over the next 12 months (see, http://bit.ly/yg0VSa).

While statistics presented in the 2nd Edition Guru's Guide for Legal Service Desk Support show over 50% of all first tier user support calls are related to Microsoft Office (regardless of the version), and based on independent industry data that well over 50% of law firms upgrading Office are taking the major leap straight from Office 2003 (pre-ribbon interface) to Office 2010, the learning curve for end users is steep and the associated implementation and user satisfaction risk is high. (See, http://bit.ly/xhcDel.)

Office 2010 Rollouts and the Helpdesk

How the firm approaches the Office 2010 rollout ' an all-or-nothing approach versus a slower measured implementation ' is a major factor in determining the overall impact on the helpdesk. Using recent data from law firm service desks (with an average of 700 end-users), volumes increased by 42% during firm-wide software rollouts. In the case of megafirms with thousands of end users, those percentages reached the 50% range. Beyond preparing for the worst and hoping for the best from an “additional upgrade staffing” scenario, it is absolutely essential that the service desk, whether internal or outsourced, knows how to answer the questions that will arise in the first few days once a user's desktop has been upgraded. IT and helpdesk management must ensure that analysts have “tips and tricks,” FAQs and a comprehensive knowledge base at their disposal to enable efficient support of their user base.

In addition, there needs to be ongoing and attentive management of all service desk incidents during a rollout so that analysts can easily separate out the “How Do I?” questions from the bugs and standard version-specific requests. Firms are well advised to use helpdesk reporting tools to help them predict and anticipate common questions and build these into training and floor support staff checklists and custom user guides.

While the list is far from being comprehensive, based on hands-on experience with hundreds of Microsoft Office upgrades and dozens of Office 2010 implementations, every law firm helpdesk analyst should know how to resolve the following “Top 10″ questions that are sure arise within the first few days of the switch:

• Printer setup: “How do I add a printer?” Could this be automated or part of the rollout testing process and floor support checklist?
• Working with tables, in particular inserting and removing columns and rows.
• MS Outlook Out of Office settings: “How do I to set this up?”
• MS Outlook permissions: Typically users have to re-add mailboxes and profiles, regardless of versions.
• MS Outlook views: “How to I customize View settings,” e.g., in Outlook or FileSite?
• Creating signatures in MS Outlook.
• Creating labels: “Where and how do I access or need to reset the default label option?”
• Windows control panel settings: “Where do I adjust my screen resolution and other display options?”
• Formatting in Word: “How do I work with headers and footers in Office 2010?”
• Document creation: “How do I create PDFs from Word files?”

As evidenced by this short list of FAQs, the helpdesk and firm training department, regardless of whether these resources are internal, outsourced or a hybrid, need to work hand-in-hand to ease the transition and minimize the typical conversion-related shock to the user's system. Also be aware that it can take a long time after users have been upgraded to a newer version for call volumes to return to normal. In an ongoing analysis of “converted” firms, the “return to normal” volume can vary from two to six months.

Real World Conversion Tips

Beyond specific feature/function questions and customization requests, law firm IT and helpdesk leaders are well served to focus on and invest in training, user advocacy and firm-wide ' especially between IT and users ' communication flow. With that in mind, here are some additional best practices ideally applied to the next Office upgrade.

Don't Forget to Train the Service Desk

It is not just about end-user training, but how to best support and lead them. This means giving the firm helpdesk personnel the training and professional development they need to expertly lead users through the upgrade. If firms are looking to use an external provider to bolster their helpdesk, make sure the third party eats, sleeps and drinks legal and a law firm way of doing things. Be sure to ask how many law firm rollouts they have supported and how they work with internal IT, trainers and helpdesk folks to best serve the end user.

There's No Such Thing As Over-Communicating

Communication is especially critical during the planning process and throughout the actual rollout. Engage the legal user community early and get them involved by attending previews, making use of e-learning courses, offering deskside training sessions, useful “tip sheets” and other “how tos.” Have a daily debrief call involving the entire IT team, key external providers, user pilot groups and user advocates so that the entire implementation mechanism is engaged, active and fully understands what is happening and what is at stake.

Encourage User Advocacy

With a complete change in the Office interface, especially from 2007 to 2010, it is common for even the savviest of users to struggle with upgrades and the inherent changes. IT should get these “power users” on board with the software right from the start and position them as user advocates and champions of high user adoption and satisfaction rates.

You Will Do This Again '
So Capture User Feedback

Post implementation, IT is advised to survey users on their upgrade experience. Were expectations met? Was there anything that could have been done differently? Was the communication effective? Was the training appropriate? How disruptive was the entire process? What could or should IT and the helpdesk do differently next go around?

Conclusion

As with any major software rollout, a law firm's successful switch over to Microsoft Office 2010 or any other version boils down to effective resource planning, training, testing, relying on previous best practices/lessons learned, and consistent and firm-wide communications throughout the upgrade process. True to the Boy Scout motto, preparation is critical when guiding the firm through the oft-necessary evil of a major upgrade without losing user confidence or management buy-in.