Friday, August 20, 2010

Managing Change - Blackboard 8 to Blackboard 9

Laurence Technical University in Southfield Michigan, have come up with a novel way to promote a big change in their organization - an upgrade of their Blackboard system from version 8 to version 9. They are using a YouTube campaign to promote this change - the videos are based on the fantastic Old Spice ad campaign. They are funny, but also have a serious message to get people interested and excited about the change - watch...


...and...


Large upgrades to on-line systems in most institution are often met with resistance - we've all heard comments like "not again", "remember what happened the last time?", "why do we need to change - the old version works fine", and so on. Change must be managed no matter how big or small it is. Many Colleges, like NCI, go through major system upgrades during the summer - much unseen back-office stuff that often is not noticed by the end user. However - this summer we are switching from Lotus Notes to Outlook 2010, and from Office 2003 to Office 2010. I'm looking forward to these changes - I've been through a Notes to Outlook change before (in SmartForce/SkillSoft) and in general it was a smooth transition. It's a bit like getting a new postman! The change from Office 2003 to 2010 will be huge for most people - the difference between versions is a major one. Happily, we are practicing what we preach (Change Management is a module on a lot of our courses) - with tips, advice, instructions and much training being organized. We not using YouTube though - maybe next time.

I first read about the LTU videos above at Karl Kapp's Blog - Kapp Notes.

7 comments:

  1. Dude. These are hilarious. kudos * 1000

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heads up: it's Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love these videos! Great stuff!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fantastic ads. Great to see an upgrade displayed in such a positive light.

    ReplyDelete