How To Answer Employee Questions About Migrating to a New EXP

Successfully migrating to a new intranet or employee experience platform (EXP) takes careful planning and preparation. Whether you’re migrating due to problems with the existing architecture, out-of-date functionality, or purely upgrading to a better system, it’s important to take employees on the journey by ensuring they’re involved and updated.

Keeping your people engaged from the outset increases your chances of a smooth and successful migration process. And most importantly, it means you won’t be starting from scratch when you’re ready to begin driving interaction with the newly-launched platform.

One of the best ways to keep employees informed and engaged with your migration is to ensure their questions are answered frequently and consistently. But this can be easier said than done, particularly within large organizations with geographically dispersed teams or high numbers of frontline workers.

So, I’ve rounded up some of the most impactful things you can do to put you and your team in the best possible position to answer every employee’s question about the EXP migration. Let’s jump in!

Communicate early and often  

One of the best ways to make sure all employee questions about the migration are answered is to address them before they’re asked. This means communicating early and often to keep everyone informed throughout the process.  

The first step is to communicate why you are migrating – is it due to a need to replace outdated software? To consolidate document storage? Or perhaps it’s in response to employee feedback about needing better workplace tools? Whatever your organization’s reason, you always need to start by setting the scene and explaining the why.

The next step is communicating how the migration will happen. Think about the kind of logistical questions employees will have, and address them straight off the bat. Will existing content be moved to the new platform? Will employees have to download or save anything ahead of the migration? Will anything change in terms of how they access their existing workplace tools?

Finally, you need to communicate when the migration will take place. Be transparent about the timelines for the project, and ensure you give employees enough time to familiarize themselves with the changes that are coming.

Remember to provide opportunities for employees to ask any questions early on in the process. This might mean inviting comments, questions, or suggestions when you first announce the upcoming migration. Or it could involve opening up a comment forum or launching a community space to encourage two-way communication.

Deliver training and support

Delivering training and supporting materials to users and admins encourages engagement and involvement from day one. Things like video tutorials and FAQ databases can empower employees to find answers to their questions without having to get in touch with the program team.

Remember that many employees will feel more comfortable asking a question to a peer in an informal setting rather than having to escalate to a manager or submit their question through an ‘official’ channel. This is why it’s so helpful to recruit and train ‘platform champions’. These employees can become ambassadors for your migration, helping to drive engagement and create awareness and understanding among their colleagues.  

And even when the migration is complete, it’s always helpful to continue providing training when new features get released.

Host regular Q&A sessions

No blog post about answering employee questions would be complete without reference to a good old-fashioned Q&A session!

These sessions could take the shape of a regular ‘drop-in clinic’ to help employees troubleshoot any queries or concerns, scheduled webinar-style events, or even a weekly ‘live chat’ with members of the program team.

Whichever format you decide will work best for your organization, consider hosting different sessions for different internal audiences who might have feature-specific queries. And it’s always useful to publish a summary of the questions that were asked and answered at the end of each session. There’s nothing worse than having to answer the same set of questions on repeat each week!

Most importantly, be sure to set an open and welcoming tone for the sessions. Remember… employees sometimes need to be reassured that there’s no such thing as a stupid question! 

Keep informal channels open

It might be an inbox where employees can send their platform-related questions, a community space within Workvivo, or a channel within Slack. Whatever you’re using, keeping these kinds of informal channels open after the launch is a great way to keep your finger on the pulse.

For example, it might be time to swap around some of the quick links if you’re regularly receiving questions from employees about how to access a certain tool. Or it might highlight the need for some additional training sessions if you notice a flurry of questions about how to complete a particular task without the site.  

As always, make sure you regularly update the FAQ page within your new platform to keep things fresh and relevant. The page should be an employee’s first port of call when they’re looking for an answer, so keeping it truly alive will ensure it’s a valuable resource for them.

Workvivo is the world’s leading employee experience platform

We can help to simplify communication and drive engagement within your organization, creating a more connected and inclusive work culture. Schedule a live demo to see what we can do for you!