Previously in our Lightning series, we took a great deep dive into the Build. Now it is time to make a Change (management).
Go to the Previous Post on Move to Lightning – Build Phase
Let’s change our shoes from builder’s to airline captain’s.
Yes, you read it well.
If you take change manager’s responsibility, you are accounted for transporting a great population of users as passengers from Classic to Lightning Experience, from one dimension to another, from an usual to enhanced Global Process.
After briefing with your crew (solution, business, deployment stakeholders) on the deployment journey and milestones, you are getting ready for takeoff.
Onboarding has already started.
“Lightning Boarding, Destination Success”
Your users/passengers are finding their way in your Lightning aircraft. Meanwhile, you need to think of which announcement to broadcast throughout your deployment flight to Lightning success:
- Is it transitioning from one interface to anot
her? - Is it transforming the navigation hence the user journey?
- Is it disrupting people’s habits?
Well… It is all at once. Up to you to coin the most comforting message, no the dreadful one.
You need to get the most comprehensive view of the users’ landscape.
Who are these users buckling up their seatbelts in the Lightning aircraft?
- When welcoming them, you should have taken time to segment them: by regions, countries, units or streams?
- Or a mix of macro and micro levels?
Then, you can determine whom to dedicate your crew’s efforts to. But let’s focus also on the users’ level of usage, adoption and maturity.
How impactful the Lightning flight would be?
- Is it impacting on their usual navigation?
- Is it impacting on their local processes?
Like a weather forecast, we need to assess turbulences users can fear:
- It can be Salesforce-related and impact on Classic Navigation Basics and standard features. => Regression Alert
- It can be Salesforce-related and impact on your Classic customization (including third-party apps) implemented. => Regression Alert
- It can be related to Lightning customizations you made even in order to avoid regression and enhance the navigation. => Regression Alert
O
therwise, at any announcement you make, you will not make the users look by the window and embrace the Lightning wonders. You can lose then the “wow” momentum.
“Dear users, let’s get ready for this ride across the Lightning transformation as smooth as possible”. This can be your message and your mantra.
Your plane already took off. Time for…
Lightning cocooning
During your flight, you can communicate on beneficial transformation, roadmap and milestones. More important, you have to comfort the users with blankets, appetizers BUT ALSO with resources they can consult prior to their deployment in order to be ready for the landing on Lightning tarmac.
Do not wait until the full deployment to provide refined resources. You should do the most agile way by providing “good enough” (BETA) version of it before the generally available (GA) one.
What to highlight in these “BETA” resources?
What is underestimated and underlying: Basics and Standard Features.
- How to switch to Lightning?
- The App Launcher and Navigation Bar to reach the tabs (Navigation Items)
- Standard buttons and Actions (Single or Mass)
- List Views
- Global Search
- Calendar
- Activities (at Object level/record Activity Panel)
- Homepage
- Record pages
- Notes & Attachments to be replaced by Files & Notes sections
NEVER underestimate these highlights: it can take up to 50% of the sensitization and the training processes.
Which format?
As long as they match with 3 criteria: accessible, diverse and reusable.
In addition to mini guides on paper, you can create videos (even without voiceover) so that it can “dubbed” or “subbed” at leisure.
What other tips?
You cannot expect users to know the foreign language of the Lightning world but they will be able to know its rudiments and fundamental idioms waiting for the full grammar and dictionary.
For example: users should be able to distinguish between pure navigation changes (Lightning standard behaviors), LEXification (Lightning translation of Classic usual processes) and Lightning process (Lightning assets used to enhance Classic usual processes).
Consequently, it will help changing mindset since users will better understand the logic behind Lightning translation and even adopt Lightning as their new native language.
Remember to ask your crew for help as you need to ensure it is as collaborative as possible between process, business, solution and deployment stakeholders.
Finally, regarding the finalized and detailed training materials, consider that they can be offered as a welcome pack according to the latest adjustments for the sensitized users and for new hires to be onboarded.
Lightning warmup
During Lightning flight, some users need to stretch waiting for arrival. There are multiple ways to let them play around but there is one single way to identify the key “players”.
Indeed, who should be the audience for this warmup?
No newbies who can be discouraged but champions. Indeed, you should have strong criteria to avoid dizzy spells onboard.
Rather than letting everyone in, you need to challenge:
- Number of volunteers for the stretching session
- Level of experience (process-wise), usage and maturity as “body” conditions
- Influence and Aura of confidence: do they represent a significant population and do they have influence towards their fellow colleagues?
Within “restricted” area within a limited time we may have before the deployment, we can provide these champions with:
- BETA testing and Pilot sessions during when these users can put themselves in Lightning shoes for real for a limited time
- Training Environment to give yoga moments in alternative world so as to test and experience further
This warmup period is then the opportunity to stress on some training aspects to strengthen users’ Lightning readiness. But this is also for your own crew (process owners, solution team members…) who needs to seize the opportunity to collect feedback from these key players as well as review it.
Regarding this primary feedback, you should be able to qualify, give a status and related to specific root causes (your own Lightning design or standard Lightning behavior).
But now you need to face something bigger such as…
Turbulences
This is what you need to brace yourselves for. As (un)expected, Lightning flight can be submitted to true disruptions not just related to your design but also related to Salesforce Lightning gaps.
You can face it during or after the “warm up” sessions, hence you need to be as transparent as possible in order to prevent users from panicking and fainting.
Some of them are worth referring:
- Missing Manual Sharing button
- Missing Recycle Bin
- Missing Multi-User Calendar (with ability to select multiple users and see their related calendars)
- Unability to Change Record Ownership in some cases
In this context, it is highly advised to list these misses and link them to Salesforce Known Issue (as bugs to be fixed), Salesforce Ideas (as improvements requested, gaps to be bridged) then drive users to upvote, subscribe and follow them.
This should leverage the level of transparency of your communication and foster engagement and interactivity.
Supposing the users want to take shelter in Classic zone, ensure you make them aware about the Classic behavior while they have a Lightning configuration (via profile and Lightning app assignment) specifically with third-party packages who can behave differently according to Lightning configuration even in Classic.
Time flies so fast that we are about to start the descent!
Keep Calm & Deploy
“Ladies & gentlemen” you announce “we are about to initiate our landing into Lightning. We request you to please stay seated”.
This would be this kind of message you should deliver. After spending lots of time and efforts on comforting the users and insisting on added value provided by Lightning, we need to bring order so as to switch users with the right configuration at landing, just like the “emergency chute” but cooler like children’s slide.
We do not need to foster more and more reluctance by letting more time or more area for discussion.
There can be different methods of deploying:
- Per Persona
- Per geographic region
- Both
Whatever methodology you pick, regularity is key. After global announcement and communications on Lightning deployment, you need to perform regular calls for localized deployment with relevant point of contacts (can be the champions you trained and deployment key coordinators).
In these dedicated sessions in addition to global ones, you should ensure everyone is aware of known impacts due to new Lightning configuration and then proactively address the following concerns:
- Should we fear or not to lose access or permissions versus Classic?
- What about multi-hat users?
- Do we have a specific Lightning app to use?
- Is it possible to switch back to Classic even after our switch to Lightning?
- When do you plan to switch off Classic definitely?
Without being too demanding, check with the “local” stakeholders you have an overall view on their high level planning, deployment approach, training plan, segmentation. Then cross-check with your global planning, approach and segmentation.
Indeed with your crew, you should have defined your users’ landscape prior to the takeoff since your Lightning facilities were probably designed according to personas 
represented.
Then, your passengers should have been categorized under the right persona so to land on the nicest tarmac and in the right shuttle. That is why it is always nice to ask and confirm your first assessment with local players who have more visibility on actual users tasks.
Again, by addressing the previous concerns, local deployment can be performed and driven accurately.
Landing is coming, meter after meter, inch after inch, smoothest impact as possible.
The switch to Lightning even if it is per wave is a simple yet massive update of configuration at profile-level. When you perform this switch, ensure as the air pilot to broadcast the successful landing on Lightning tarmac with next steps (which shuttle to take, correspondences, how to dress according to outer temperature…).
Depressurizing, opening the gates…
Each user can exit in order to fully enjoy Lightning experience on their persona path with the right configuration. But do prepare to see some passengers feeling dizzy, going backwards, being lost half way or never getting out, this is the Hypercare and Adoption phases that we can tackle later with following thoughts:
- How to monitor adoption?
- How to face Performance issues experienced with real data on objects and reports?
- What are remaining feedbacks submitted during Hypercare?
- How to adjust & maintain Lightning user configuration on the long-term?
- How to push the Classic Switch Off and take the Lightning project to a Close?
For your crew who can take some rest after this flight, the journey only begins. It encloses challenges but also discloses great opportunities to promote high added value and to foster excitement.
Lessons Learnt
- Keep consistent communication throughout deployment
- Know your users: segmentation, impacts, concerns
- Never underestimate basics when training
- Challenge beta & pilot users’ quantitative and qualitative criteria
- Get ready for Lightning behaviors
- Do not lose sight of added value to promote
- Switch users according to segmentation and roadmap agreed with locals
- Be aware of remaining milestones after deployment to bring closure: hypercare, tracking adoption
[Pictures from Piktochart]