One of the best resources for launching Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 may be your co-workers.

There’s probably a group of people in your organization who will volunteer to help design the system and evaluate it. And this ambitious group is in the best position to get others excited about using SharePoint Server 2007. Think of these people as Super Users. They can be your partners in helping others to adopt SharePoint Server 2007. You will want to identify and reach out to these people early in your deployment.

Finding the best super users requires a little effort. The following list will help you identify, inspire, and make best use of the Super Users in your organization:

1. Why do I need Super Users?

   Your Office SharePoint Server 2007 deployment will be more successful if you base your planning on real-world usage. Just as end users helped you identify pain points in the Get Ready phase, a select group of ambitious end users can help you design a system that will help them the most.
   
   Super Users are also vital to testing. If your deployment involves custom components, real-world usage in a pilot stage can help you identify potential problems and areas of improvement you may not have found on your own.
   
   Finally, Super Users work side-by-side with regular users – the same people you’re trying to reach with your end-user excitement efforts. They may go out to lunch or coffee with those users. They may hang out together after hours. If your Super Users are excited about Office SharePoint Server 2007, you can be sure they’ll let their colleagues know. And that excitement can be contagious.
   



2. How do I identify them?

   You will need the managers of the various departments in your organization to suggest candidates. Do not, however, let managers pick the Super Users for you. Their idea of what may make a good Super User may not match yours.
   
   To help you get started identifying Super Users, we’ve prepared a Super User Request e-mail that you can send to the directors or managers of departments such as Human Resources, Marketing, Sales, and Administration.
   
   Send a reminder e-mail if you don’t hear back from a particular manager. Once you have a list of candidates, call them in for short interviews. You can use the Super User Invitation e-mail to invite them to the interview.
   



3. Qualities of a Super User

   Bring candidates who are willing to help in for a short information session. Here’s what you’re looking for in a good Super User:
   
   
• Likes to try new things and able to provide honest, useful feedback
• Excited about volunteering time to make the project a success, and has the time and support of their management team to add this to their schedule
• Able to get up in front of their peers and tell them that Office SharePoint Server 2007 will make their lives easier
• Good at research and comfortable interacting in online forums
• Very organized, not only in their own jobs, but also as they work with others
• Clear communication

Ideally, Super Users should represent a good cross section of your workforce, though brand new employees and interns are not good candidates. While new employees can offer you outside experience, they could slow down your efforts by asking too many basic questions about your company. Being a Super User also is not a temporary job. Super Users provide on-going help throughout the release phase

Super Users do not need to have advanced computer skills already. In fact, having advanced computer skills may be a disadvantage. Advanced users may not help you identify problems less experienced users would see.

Technical skills can be taught; the ability to speak for and to others cannot. A good Super User will also be someone who is good at research and pro-actively reaching out to SharePoint Server 2007 experts on forums, through books, and within your company.



4. Managers as Super Users?

   Don’t be afraid to invite a few department heads and other managers to be Super Users. They are in the best position to provide you with a higher-level view. Lower-level users may not have broad enough experience to see how everything fits together. Even if you don’t use managers as Super Users, try to keep them involved in the process. The more involved they are, the more excited they will be about the deployment, and the more they will work to make sure it’s a success. Ask them to nominate Super Users and to check in regularly with the users you ultimately select. This helps managers see the success of the project. It will also help motivate the Super Users, since they will see their boss is invested in the project.




5. How many do I need?

   Ideally, you want one at least Super User per feature set. Of course, the number of users needed varies by organization. In a very large organization, you may want a couple of Super Users per department.
   
   If your pain points are mostly related to businesses processes that span departments, you will want to have Super Users who can work across the various departments to help them set up the best workflow.
   



6. When do I reach out to them?

   You should reach out to Super Users at the beginning of the site design and information architecture process. They can act as focus groups to test design concepts and task flow.
   
   You may be tempted to wait to reach out to them until there’s a complete system ready to test. If you do that, however, you will be missing out on a lot of the insight that they can offer early on. In addition, you may need to provide special training to the Super Users.
   



7. Super Users and Regular Users

   The job of the Super User should not end on launch day. By launch day, Super Users should be well educated in Office SharePoint Server 2007. They have valuable expertise, especially since they helped you design the deployment.
   
   Encourage your Super Users to develop wikis and blogs, built on SharePoint Server 2007, where they can help other users take advantage of the system. They may also want to operate discussion forums where they can offer suggestions and help others with their issues.
   
   Finally, encourage Super Users to help other employees, and champion Office SharePoint Server 2007. When everybody uses the system to its full potential, everybody benefits from streamlined business processes. And the company will see a much better return on investment.