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What is Change Management?

Change management refers to the structured approach taken to ensure changes are thoroughly and smoothly implemented and that people impacted understand and embrace the changes. It involves carefully planning communications, training, and support throughout the transition.

For an Atlassian rollout like Jira or Confluence, change management ensures your teams understand the new tools, are bought into using them, and have the knowledge to adopt them into their regular workflows. With proper change management, you prevent frustrations, delays, and wasted investments that occur when people resist or struggle with major changes.

The Steps of Change Management

Comprehensive change management for an Atlassian implementation involves:

• Identifying key stakeholders impacted by the changes
• Analyzing how work processes will change and developing a plan accordingly
• Creating a communications plan to inform people of upcoming changes
• Providing training on using the new Atlassian tools
• Supplying ongoing support resources and channels for questions
• Monitoring adoption and gathering feedback to identify areas needing more help
• Adjusting strategies based on feedback to ensure successful long-term adoption

Without these efforts, you risk team members continuing previous habits that don’t align with workflows in the new system. Missed opportunities and lack of adoption are incredibly common pitfalls when rolling out new software without proper change management.

Why Change Management Matters for Atlassian

Atlassian tools like Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket provide incredible capabilities. But they involve changes to operations that can disrupt productivity if not managed well. Some examples include:

• Moving from email and spreadsheets to centralized platforms
• Adopting new processes for tasks like project management and documentation
• Learning new interfaces and functions
• Collaborating across remote teams in new ways

These changes impact people’s daily work in profound ways. Even if team members are eager for new tools, change creates uncertainty and learning curves that must be addressed.

Without change management, you invite scenarios like:

• Employees not fully adopting new tools and sticking to old habits
• Knowledge and data siloed across both new and legacy systems
• Lack of visibility across projects and teams
• Frustrations around new interfaces and features
• Duplicate or conflicting efforts as some use new processes while others use old

Effective change management helps your organization transition smoothly to achieve the full benefits of new Atlassian tools.

Change Management Best Practices for Atlassian

The most successful Atlassian implementations incorporate change management from the start. Some best practices include:

Get leadership support

Having managers and executives visibly endorse changes goes a long way. Have them participate in communications and training when possible.

Identify superusers

Determine who can serve as experts and evangelists for new tools within each team. Have them train others.

Communicate early and often

Share information about upcoming changes, timelines, training resources, and ongoing support channels.

Make training engaging

Combine multiple formats like videos, quick references, live demos, and hands-on tutorials. Account for different learning styles.

Incentivize usage

Consider gamification through leaderboards recognizing adoption, along with rewards or recognition for top users.

Solicit feedback

Survey users and hold focus groups to hear about challenges or confusions. Adapt your approach accordingly.

Phase rollouts

Gradually releasing features allows users to get comfortable with basics before moving to advanced functionality.

Provide excellent support

Make sure users have excellent help resources to turn to, including documentation, ticketing/chat support, and a network of experts.

Audit and optimize

Regularly check system usage data and gather first-hand feedback on adoption. Identify areas to refine.

Atlas Bench’s Change Management Expertise

Atlas Bench recognizes change management is imperative for organizations to realize the full potential of new Atlassian tools. Our consultants employ proven change management frameworks tailored to each client’s needs. Key elements of our approach include:

• Kickoff workshops to define objectives, strategies, and plans
• Communications collateral to inform stakeholders throughout the project
• Curriculum design combining interactive live training with on-demand resources
• Superuser mentoring to create internal champions
• Reinforcement and celebration of usage milestones
• Assessment surveys and reports with actionable recommendations
• Ongoing optimization to refine the rollout and maximize adoption

With deep Atlassian technical expertise combined with change management proficiency, Atlas Bench enables organizations to smoothly transition to new systems, rapidly adopt changes, and achieve strong ROI on their Atlassian investment.

Let Atlas Bench Guide Your Change Management

Major new software rollouts require more than just technical implementation. Change management creates employee buy-in, prevents adoption roadblocks, and ensures you fully leverage your investment. Atlas Bench brings both technical and change management proficiency to all Atlassian deployments. Contact us today to discuss a change management plan tailored for your unique needs and culture. Our strategic support ensures you transition seamlessly to Atlassian tools that transform your organization.