Our implementation process focusses on delivering Atlas as smoothly as possible for our customers and with our modular training approach we try to get everybody up to speed on all features and functionality of Atlas in a very structured way.

Main topics in this article

Implementation Process

Firstly, to ensure a smooth implementation, we make sure that ClearPeople and our client's implementation teams are lined up, with all the necessary roles clearly specified on both sides.

The ATLAS journey is broken into three iterative phases: Getting Started, Experience and Scale. It is designed to allow us to deliver and adopt ATLAS services at different rates in different regions or segments of the business while shortening the time that individual groups of people may be working in the pre- and post-change world.

Getting started / Educate

In this phase we coordinate and help you with the technical bits to get Atlas deployed as well as setting up the necessary communication channels between the teams.

We use the Educate phase to discuss and implement Information Architecture (IA) & Taxonomy, Theming and Branding, and begin Adoption and Change Management (ACM) planning.

Our focus here is to make the complex as simple as possible.

Experience shows that it takes around 1 month to finalise this phase but some activities can overlap with topics within the next Experience phase.

Experience

The best way to experience anything new is to give it a try! ATLAS has many benefits, and this is what we try to convey during the Experience phase.

It is imperative that your ATLAS training is owned by one or both of the following roles from within your organisation’s project team to ensure training is coordinated successfully and followed-up on if necessary.

Platform Owner
IT Trainer/Lead Trainer

ClearPeople’s modular training approach provides a thorough insight and overview of the ATLAS product. We'll go into more detail below.

Opportunities to practice, apply and analyse the information and tasks within the training modules (i.e. self-learning) is an important consideration to ensure a successful training course.

A basic understanding of SharePoint can also help to assist a high-level understanding of how ATLAS works, however, we will cover some of this at the start of the training as an introduction.

This phase typically takes about 1 month to complete.

Scale

The final phase, Scale, is more client hands on. You will be creating content in ATLAS and preparing for your launch. Throughout this period, you will continue to engage the business with ATLAS.

The Scale phase effort will vary according to your internal systems and processes, organisation size and culture. Clients need to ensure that they:

Fully onboard champions
Work to understand tools and webparts
Refine requirements
Create, refine and approve designs
Provision workspaces
Migrate and or create content

Adoption is related with scaling. Begin with building awareness, understanding and engagement with the champions and then move onto other small groups until the whole business is involved.

Awareness validates the importance of change and ensures that everyone understands what is happening.

In our experience the Scale phase typically takes between 2-3months.

Example Implementation Plan

Below is a high-level implementation plan showing how implementation tasks run partially in parallel with service adoption tasks to get you live as quickly as possible.

Grey tasks are workshops run by our Implementation Consultant
Light green tasks will require collaboration between our Technical Consultant and your IT team
Pink tasks will be undertaken by your core project team
Yellow tasks will be undertaken by your project leaders and champion’s network
Turquoise tasks are optional tasks that can be planned as required

Atlas Modular Training

Training is more than just learning how to use ATLAS. It is aimed to empower key stakeholders to the possibilities of ATLAS, i.e. how key features and functionality can be used to your advantage, achieve KPIs, and relate to your key business goals and objectives.

ClearPeople’s ATLAS training methodology uses a course based modular training approach. Each course acts as a high-level guide for what the training will entail and helps dictate which user group receives the training, with each course containing a number of key modules. In turn, each module contains a number of ‘topics’ to help break down each module into more easily consumable chunks of information.

An example of how this modular approach works can be found visualised below:

The Modules are targeted to specific roles you can find in your ‘ATLAS Roles & Responsibilities’ document within your ClearPeople shared Teams workspace to ensure they are relevant to the right individuals.

Each module has an approximate duration of 1 hour (with a few exceptions). The topics which are deliver have supporting documentation or a related ZenDesk article which will be accessible to the project stakeholders both during the project and after implementation.

A key benefit of this approach is that each training session will be recorded and uploaded to your shared client area, so they can be re-visited by attendees, viewed by non-attendees, watched by new stakeholders brought into the project, and re-used internally for your own knowledge projects and internal training programs.

Atlas Champion Program

The ATLAS Champion training Program identifies key users who are excited by the prospect of ATLAS, have the ability to understand how to use it and how to relate it to the needs of their colleagues. Finding and educating strong champions will have a big impact on your success. Learning from co-workers is among the most effective and used methods in learning a new technology.

Champions, as well as the other ATLAS Stakeholders who own key roles and responsibilities, will be key recipients of training, however, it is important these lessons are taken onboard for re-use within your internal training, internal communications plan and overall Adoption & Change Management strategy (ACM).

It would be useful for ClearPeople to understand the roles and role background of the champions involved so we can help tailor the training and our general approach to each module. Your implementation lead will provide a form/questionnaire to fill-out to capture this information prior to the start of the first training call.

Atlas Implementation and Training