Super User Networks for Software Projects

I’m Jayne Mather and I’ve been lucky enough to have carved a career niche for myself over decades of implementing new and emerging technology into organisations. I am the author of Super User Networks for Software Projects: Best practices in training and change management, which provides the tools, techniques and theory needed to give you a comprehensive plan for how super users can add value at each phase of your project.

I've seen the evolution of technology first hand, from my early days of replacing typewriters with Microsoft Word, to the latest advances in AI and cognitive computing — and along the way, I’ve been on projects implementing them all.

I’ve seen complex ERP systems make way for eCommerce platforms that enabled for businesses to reach a global audience, followed by cloud storage, SaaS platforms, and collaborative tools that allowed teams to work together from anywhere in the world. I’ve moved from seeing big data be the next new thing in business intelligence projects, to blockchain, right up to the space I’m in now: helping organisations integrate intelligent automation and AI technology into their working practices. Each project has been essential for the organisation to modernise, sustain and improve their business.

That pace of change is not going away; organisations need a model for rapidly and successfully adopting new technology before the next new thing comes along. As technology continues to advance, I'm excited to see how it will change the way we live and work and I want to remain at the forefront of successful digital transformation.

For those unfamiliar with the term: what is a super user? How would you explain the concept to leadership / the board?

A super user is a highly skilled user of a particular software application, who we use as a key resource to help us build, test, train and embed the new system into our business-as-usual ways of working. The role is required from the initial project inception until the end of the system's operational lifetime.

Super users play a vital role in the adoption of new technologies by helping to train other users, providing support, and advocating for the use of the new technology. They are often the go-to person for their colleagues when it comes to troubleshooting problems or answering questions. But not only that — they are a vital resource to guide your development team too, as they need to be consulted on requirements, design, UX, testing and many more activities. The whole super user journey is designed to enhance your chance of successful project delivery and product adoption.

And — while we’re talking to the board – what’s the business case for investing in a super user programme?

Super users can help to accelerate the adoption of new technologies by providing training, change management and operational support to other users.

Super users can help to improve the return on investment (ROI) of new technologies by ensuring that they are used effectively and to their full potential.

Super users can help to reduce the risk of project failure by identifying and mitigating risks early on.

Super users can help to improve employee satisfaction and productivity, and help to promote a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within the organisation.

Having a comprehensive super user program provides the organisation with a talent development pipeline of engaged employees who have people skills, leadership flair, process knowledge and system expertise.

I could go on — please point your board in my direction and I’ll convince them for you!

It’s a big question up next: McKinsey says 70% of transformations fail. How can super users contribute to project success?

The book contains extensive research as to why projects fail, meaning they aren’t delivered on time or to budget. The evidence demonstrates that using super users provides strategies for avoiding many common pitfalls and challenges in software projects.

Lack of training resource? That’s why we have super users. Lack of buy-in or active resistance? Use your super users as a change agent.

Users not aware of the benefits or the reason for change? Super users are amazing conduits for two-way communication. Risks not managed or legacy data not validated or migrated? You should have used super users for that. Benefits not tracked or realised? Super users should be doing that for you on an ongoing basis. Testing not completed? Super users have the perfect combination of skills to find and resolve your defects, or to advise you on how it should be working for the real-life use cases.

Leaders need to acknowledge that it doesn’t actually matter what the technology is, it is people that drive change and make things happen, and that’s where super user networks can have a huge impact.

I’m interested in where super users come from. Do they exist within the business prior to the transformation? Or are they hatched within the transformation team and sent to the business?

I advocate for recruiting the best of the best from within the business functions that are going to be impacted by the change. We want the people already showing potential; the people with high performance ratings, existing expertise and who we want to retain as talent to be developed.

Super users will have an in-depth understanding of the system by the time we are finished with them. They are going to have existing and new world knowledge of the business processes, their end users, and the day-to-day jobs of the people actually using the system. These things combined will add an enormous amount of value at each stage of the project, not to mention the gains we achieve by developing our people in this way.

This can mean project secondments, in which case the super users should be backfilled so they can focus on the project at hand. Without them the project can be at risk if all of the dependencies rely on a small testing or training team to deliver the training close to Go Live to a large end user population. Having super users can accelerate your time to rollout and enhance the probability of success.

Key users, power users, change agents – these are established roles/personas. How do super users differ?

Key users, power users, and change agents are all important roles in the adoption of new technologies. However, super users are unique in that they have a deep understanding of both the business and the technology and there are key differences.

A key user is a temporary resource to help with training and Go Live support, whereas the super user role is required throughout all project phases. A power user may be needed to govern, administrate or maintain data in your system via additional access permissions; we can give this to super users too if required as they’ll have the expertise to do it well, but super users will have many other activities they are responsible for. A change agent is a wonderful way of engaging stakeholders and facilitating change acceptance, but in the model I describe super users receive change management education and fulfil this role as well as being a system trainer and project consultant. Change agents belong to the project and their role ends when the project is live. A super user belongs to the system and stays in place for as long as the system does.

And really, I’m not precious about the name ‘Super user’, although it does seem to be very well recognised for this application. But I have seen the same role and responsibilities with other names such as Evangelist, Champion, or even Influencer, which amused me.

When software delivery has finished, will the super user stay embedded in a business unit? Or do super users travel with the transformation team on to the next project?

I’m afraid I’m going to give you a vague answer, and say: it depends.

Ideally, yes, the project finishes when it has transitioned into business as usual, and the project team can move on — but the super user returns to their business function. We want all that expertise to remain in the heart of the business, not in the heads of the project team. Super users will retain ongoing responsibilities such as knowledge management, testing and training of new features or developments, operational support, process improvements and many other activities that we will hold them accountable for delivering. They become a huge asset for the business when they return with their new skills and responsibilities.

However, let’s use the example of an ERP project that is deploying to multiple countries or locations via a phased rollout. Arguably, we want to keep that wealth of knowledge and acumen that the super user possesses throughout subsequent delivery milestones. I can certainly see the advantages for that, and it would continue to provide career development opportunities for the super user.

But we do need to consider the end users in the next location, who also need to be receiving training, communications and best practice advice from their own resident experts who they value and trust. So by parachuting in existing super users, instead of using people from their own locale, we may be missing out on that influence. How I have seen this handled before is by recruiting super users globally to begin with, so we have representatives from all locations and all business functions advocating for the best solution to be built and delivering it in the way they know best.

Consider your full end-to-end project when recruiting your super users and ensure you have enough of them to support both the project team and the end users. You’ll find a handy ratio in the book.

Times of organisational and operational change often afford cyber criminals the opportunity to pounce. People unfamiliar with systems can make mistakes. How can super users support information security?

This is why we want super users to come from within business; they already know the processes and data well.

When we give them the system expertise too they become valued experts who can help educate the project team on use cases, risk mitigation, data validation or identifying potential vulnerabilities.

Once live, super users can help to ensure that security policies and procedures are followed by leading the way, and play a vital role in supporting information security during times of organisational change.

How do you envisage AI becoming used within change programmes?

I am a huge advocate for AI technology, and there will be many ways that AI can complement and accelerate the work that super users do. We should look at intelligent automation for testing software or replacing repetitive processes; we can use AI tools to help us generate context, examples or content for training resources or even to suggest personalised learning plans to our end users based on individual needs. We can use embedded AI to provide real-time insights on system usage or help to the users of our software. These are only some of the many use cases.

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However, AI will never replace the need for, or the value gained from, human connection. Super users operate as a ‘Community of Practice’ based on shared values, trust and influence. Our end users will be receiving support, advice and best practices from the people they esteem to be the experts in their area, and they will trust and emulate this when it comes from a person in their community much more than if it comes from a faceless tool.

We need AI and automation to do what computers can do, but we need people to do what people can do more — to get creative with problem solving, build relationships, re-engineer processes, initiate improvement ideas. Any technology should enable and help us do more. If a business is considering implementing automation or AI technology, I think my book would really help to establish a strategy that can dispel the fears and myths and encourage buy-in.

Finally, the book! What motivated you to write it? And, if they forget everything else, what’s the one thing you hope your readers remember?

I actually began writing it in lockdown. I’d already decorated the house, finished Tiger King and mastered Banana Bread, so I needed a new project. I heard a song by a band I like, Broken Orchestra, and the lyrics were along the lines of ‘someone has pressed pause, if you’ve been wanting to paint the art, make the music, write the book, now is the time’. It motivated me to start writing, and the old cliché, you write what you know.

As an aside, I feel this also supports the compelling case for remote working or the four-day week. When humans have a better work-life balance they are able to spend the time on creative endeavours.

I felt the book became everything I wish I had known years ago. It took experience to see what worked and learn from the mistakes I made. I wanted to share that knowledge and experience to provide practical advice on how to create and manage successful super user networks. The end result is a unique book, applying the science and theory of training, change management and project management and tailoring it specifically to the introduction of new software solutions.

If readers forget everything else, I hope they remember this: super users are for life, not just for Go Live. They are not just a resource to deliver training — super users are essential throughout all phases of the software lifecycle to achieve true value realisation. If organisations want to achieve their digital transformation goals, they need to invest in super users (and in my book!).