Starting Small

I’m a big fan of guerrilla change management. This is how I’ve been implementing Moodle.

Build a small little toy. Place the little toy where it is easy to find. Take any openings people give you to show them the little toy and let them play with it. If it looks good and works, the person will spread the word.

I’m also a big fan of pilots.

First – you and a few co-workers get together and play with it. Invite the IT person you’ve cultivated to play with you. The boss too, if he or she is that type of person.

Second –with a wiki, choose something non-offensive. A project plan wiki for example.

Third – as you get more comfortable as a group, consider adding other tools. I’ve set up Moodle course that are really project areas. All of the members (all 5 of us) are listed as facilitators. We made the course private and any of us can download the most current item. Instead of digging through shared drives or mistakenly looking at outdated materials – everything is in one place. There may be some stops and starts depending on how much stress the team is under. Stress causes people to quickly return to old habits. That’s OK. If they saw it the first time, as soon as everyone has bandwidth – try again.

Fourth – If things are working the way you all want, take any opportunities to share the toy. “You know, we’ve been playing with this thing, it may solve your problem……”

Fifth – Offer to let them play with it. They may or may not say Yes immediately. That’s OK. It’s good to let things stew. With enough time, they will find uses for it.

It’s a slower process than the dramatic big bang implementations – but the change seems to be longer lasting and much less stressful for all parties.