A pilot with one team and one channel: why starting small holds

Large rollouts rarely fail because of technology. They fail because of assumptions nobody tested early enough: that a process runs the way it is documented, that an interface delivers what it promises, that the team will take to the new interface.

A pilot with one team and one channel tests exactly these assumptions before much depends on them. At Univerx it is the second of three steps: workshop, pilot with one team, then rollout.

Onboarding

1. 01WorkshopGoals, channels, rules
2. 02PilotOne team, one channel
3. 03RolloutChannel by channel
4. 04OperationsCustomer Success, Academy

#What a pilot should prove

A pilot answers a few clearly framed questions. The more precisely they are put beforehand, the more meaningful the result.

The right-hand column matters as much as the left. Expect too much of a pilot and you will judge it wrongly. A pilot that finds three gaps is a success, because those gaps would otherwise have hit the rollout.

#Why one team and one channel

One team means one team lead, one shared working day, a manageable group that gives feedback. Problems can be traced directly and fixed quickly. And anyone who reports something during the pilot sees that something changes as a result.

One channel means you get to know the platform thoroughly in one place rather than superficially in five. Routing, knowledge, analytics and roles are set up properly once. Every further channel builds on that.

#Finding the right team

The ideal pilot team is not the strongest but a representative one. A team of experts shows what is possible at best. For the rollout, though, you need a picture of ordinary working life.

• A team lead who wants to try new things and gives honest feedback.
• A mix of experienced and newer agents.
• Requests that are typical for your organisation, not the exception.
• Time for training and feedback, planned in rather than squeezed in.

#Setting success criteria in advance

A pilot without criteria agreed in advance ends in a round of opinions. Decide in the workshop how you will measure success, and record the baseline before the pilot starts.

1. Business criteria. For example, the share of requests resolved at first contact, or follow-up questions per topic.
2. Technical criteria. Stability of the connections, availability, response times of the business systems.
3. Team criteria. How do agents experience the new way of working? A short, regular survey is enough.
4. Decision rule. What must be met for the rollout to begin, and what leads to an extension?

The fourth point is the important one. A decision rule fixed in advance protects against the urge to talk the pilot up or down after the fact. On which metrics actually say something, see Measuring customer experience without vanity metrics.

#Connect existing systems, do not replace them

A pilot does not have to wait until everything has been switched over. Existing systems are connected, not replaced. The current phone system can be linked step by step, and CRM and business applications stay where they are.

That lowers the barrier to starting and keeps the way back open. The guide Cloud migration from your existing system describes how a step-by-step move works.

#Three mistakes that devalue a pilot

The first mistake is a pilot with no end. It keeps running because nobody decides, and becomes a permanent stopgap. Set an end date, even if you later extend it on purpose.

The second mistake is a protected pilot. Special treatment, extra support and hand-picked requests produce results that everyday work will not repeat.

The third mistake is a silent pilot. If the rest of the organisation never hears what was learned, the rollout starts with the same questions as the pilot.

#After the pilot: rollout channel by channel

Once the decision rule is met, the rollout follows. It goes channel by channel and team by team. What was set up in the pilot is carried over: roles, rules, knowledge articles, analyses.

The lessons of the pilot go into a short list: what do we change before the next team? That list is the real result of the pilot, worth more than any single metric.

#Who accompanies the journey

Univerx Services accompanies the introduction from workshop to operations: with consulting and implementation, a guided migration and customer success that supports the rollout with a success plan.

Where a works council is involved, the pilot is also a good frame for reaching agreement. More on this in Talking to the works council about analytics.