How do you get your team to actually use it?
Written lesson · about 3 minutes to read
The short answer
Show people the tool on their own everyday tasks, start with volunteers who want it, and make it part of how the work is normally done. Remove the friction, use it visibly yourself, and check each week who is using it and why the others are not.
Three things to remember
- 01Show it on people's own tasks, not in a demo, and start with volunteers.
- 02Keep working prompts in one shared place, and make the tool part of the normal routine.
- 03Check weekly who uses it, ask why others do not, and stop paying for unused seats.
Show it on their own work
A general demo of what AI can do rarely changes anyone's habits. Sit with someone and try it on a task they did this week: the reply they dreaded, the notes from a meeting, the job ad. When they see it handle a piece of their own work in a minute, they understand what it is for. Then leave them with that one task to repeat.
Start with the volunteers, the few people who already want to try it. They will find the rough edges, and their results will persuade colleagues more than anything you say. Do not begin by ordering the sceptics to use it.
Make it easy and part of the routine
Remove the friction. Have the accounts ready before the first session, with a simple sign-in, and the assistant connected to the shared drive or whatever sources it needs. Put the prompts that work in one place everyone can find, such as a shared document, so nobody starts from a blank page. When a prompt works, add it.
Then build it into the way the task is done. If the Monday morning inbox is sorted with the assistant, write that into the routine instead of leaving it as an option. A tool that sits outside the normal process tends to be forgotten.
Use it where people can see
If you and your managers never use it, the team will read that as a sign it is optional. Use it visibly. Mention that a draft started in the assistant, show the summary you made, share a prompt that failed and how you fixed it. Make it normal to admit that a first try went wrong.
When someone does not use it, ask why. The reason is often practical: the tool cannot see the right documents, the answers are poor for that job, or nobody said what is allowed. The person who owns AI in the business should listen and fix what can be fixed.
What to do this week
Pick your volunteers and sit with each one on a task of their own. Set up the shared place for prompts that worked. Check that every account is ready and that signing in is simple.
Then look each week at who has used it, from the administrator screen if your plan has one, or simply by asking. Talk to the people who have not, without blame. After a fair trial, stop paying for seats nobody uses. An unused seat costs money and tells you the tool has not yet fitted that person's work.
More in part 4
- 1Build vs. buy AI: which makes sense?
- 2What should AI tools cost a small business each month?Written
- 3How much should an AI project cost?
- 4Are you paying for AI seats nobody uses?
- 5How to pick an AI vendor
- 6What questions should you ask an AI vendor?
- 7How do you run your first AI pilot, step by step?Written
- 8AI pilot vs. production: what changes?
- 9What breaks first when you scale an AI pilot?
- 10Who should own AI in a small company?Written
- 11How do you talk to your team about AI and their jobs?Written
- 12How do you train your team on AI?
- 13How do you get your team to actually use it?WrittenYou are here
- 14How do you prove AI ROI?
- 15How do you know it's working? Picking the right metrics
- 16What is uptime, and what happens when AI goes down?
Next step
Where does this fit your business?
Six quick questions about your business, then your AI plan: what to start with, what a person still checks, and the lessons that go with it. Or bring it straight to a free thirty-minute call.