Right around mid-October, we started seeing a trend in the Savvy offices: law firms are using their end-of-year budgets to scratch one long-running to-do item off their lists. They are upgrading to Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 2016! YES! They will be so happy they did!

The people calling us are like the rushers on a football team. They’ve been given this ball (“Make it happen.”) and they are trying to run, head down, arm outstretched to knock out opponents and obstacles, to the end zone. The smart ones are making sure they’ve got a good team backing them up, and they’re calling us.

Why? Because, even if your attorneys and staff are familiar with Windows and MS Office, these upgrades will disrupt some of their habitual processes and you need to make sure that disruption is as limited as possible. You need to incorporate training into your upgrade plan.

But before we discuss training, let’s discuss why you should join the Q4 Rush and migrate to Windows 10 and MS Office 2016 as soon as possible.

Why migrate now?

• If you don’t, you will soon lose not only the tech support you desperately need because the world will pass you by, but many of the cloud-based technologies that you would like to add to your workflow processes (LMS, DMS) won’t work with your old operating systems.
• The law firms that have already migrated have a huge advantage over you in sheer productivity levels.
• Your clients are likely already using Office 365 and Office 2016.

Need more evidence that now is the time? Consider this: Office 2016 was built for teamwork! It brings your productivity to a higher level with sharing, co-authoring, mobility and more. Check out some of my favorite features of Office 2016, particularly when purchased through an Office 365 subscription:

• Office 365 Planner: This is a brand new tool and it’s like a virtual project manager. Your teams can create workflows, assign tasks, share files, set due dates and publish status updates.
• Work anywhere on any device: Since your files are stored on the Cloud, you can work from any up-to-date web browser. You don’t have to install the Office software on the computer! You can also use the Office Mobile Apps, so you can use Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and OneDrive from your smartphone or tablet. Imagine the increased productivity if your attorneys can work from anywhere.
• Real-time co-authoring: Your attorneys and staff can collaborate real-time and see one another’s changes, commenting instantaneously so that work can move forward quickly.
• Retrieving the right document: Along the same lines, with Office 2016, you can now be sure that you’re working in the right version of a document thanks to co-authoring features. You can see which changes were made, by whom, and when.
• Skype in-app chatting: Teams across multiple law firm branches can chat, share screens, have audio or video conversations without leaving the other applications they’re working on.
• Turn your spreadsheets into Power Maps: Excel is just getting better and better. It can now create powerful, interactive maps out of data. There are many new ways to analyze, visualize and present data using Excel.
• Easy PDF conversion: Finally, right?

And there’s so much more. Truly, your law firm needs MS Office 2016 as soon as possible.

Training to Support your Migration to Office 2016

Now, of course, it’s not like you install this and people automatically know how to use all the new features. That’s why you need training support. From pre-launch to launch-day to ongoing help, a good training program will assure that your law firm stays productive and then maximizes the new resources you’ve provided to them.

Here are the training steps that you should add to your migration plan:

• Pre-Launch Training: Using in-person and web-based delivery methods, prepare your team for the changes they’ll see so that they don’t flip their computers on one day and say, “Wait a minute? What IS this?!” From the first time they use Office 2016, they’ll have a working knowledge of how to access their work and keep it moving forward.
• Launch-Day/Week/Month Training: Once you launch the new software, your team will require transition assistance. Seek a training partner who can deliver in-class, in-person, web-based and “roving training” (walking the halls to answer questions on the fly) throughout your office and in every branch so that productivity doesn’t dip. (Check out the innovative DMS rollout we did with Moye White.)
• Ongoing Training: Once your team is up-to-speed and working well on MS Office 2016, offer ongoing training support through monthly classes, webinars, virtual help desk assistance and more.

And now, my shameless self-promotion for Savvy. We’d love to be your training partner and we’re among the best in the industry. Just ask our clients…

“[The technology consultants] trained the administrators on the system and I could tell that they were just checking boxes off a list when they trained us. Savvy offers much more comprehensive, observant training. They work hard to understand how their students are doing. They spend more time on areas where it’s needed and less time if everyone gets it. It’s a much more tailored approach to training.” – Brad Crook, Director of Information Technology, Moye White

“I have never before experienced the type of support from any vendor that I have seen from Savvy. They love what they’re doing and it shows. You can see it in the products they produce and the way they treat their clients.” — Teresa H. Beatty, Kaufman & Canoles, P.C.

To read more client testimonials, click here.

It’s no secret that your law firm needs to migrate to MS Office 2016. The question is how you do it smoothly with minimal frustration and productivity snafus. That’s our job – our expertise – at Savvy Training & Consulting! Would you like to learn more about how to migrate your law firm to Office 2016? Contact me! Let’s brainstorm the best approach for your firm. Doug@SavvyTraining.com, 303-800-5408.