In my book, User Adoption Strategies, I show a four stage approach to gaining adoption of new approaches and new ways of working. Stage 1 is “Winning Attention,” with the intent being to show why a target group should be interested. There are various strategies that can be used, and what you’re working toward is people saying “I want some of that.”

Microsoft has recently released the I Use SharePoint web site, which is filled with “winning attention” material. For example, you’ll find 10 short videos that show why SharePoint is better than current ways of working:
– “Sticky Situations,” about managing group tasks.
– “The Elusive Chris Smith,” about people search.
– “Cup of Chaos,” about document libraries.
– “Team Player,” about coordinating input from many people.
– “Take a Number,” about sharing what you know through a blog.
– “Gift Exchange,” about My Site.
– “Proposal Panic,” about real-time document collaboration.
– “Get the Massage,” about tracking assets.
– “Meeting Mayhem,” about Meeting Workspaces.
– “Begging for Approval,” about getting documents approved via workflow.

For each of the “winning attention” videos, there is then a longer explanation of “how” to make it work in SharePoint – at the Show Me How tab. This extends into Stage 2 of user adoption, “Cultivating Basic Concepts.”

I like it. Well done Microsoft.