Change is not something that can just be done by the flick of a switch. Our old way of doing things is deeply entrenched in our habits. Routines that also carry over to our work. If managers or directors want something to change, they usually just send an e-mail. But does the change take effect just because of that e-mail?

No, it’s not enough to manage change from a top-down perspective. You need to have people buy into the change. Here, the purpose of identifying and educating super users becomes clear. The typical super user’s role and responsibilities revolve around championing the change at a user level.
In Sekoia, we regularly help guide organisations from primarily working on paper to a digital solution. A profound change. Here, we’ve found the benefits of super users to be invaluable.

The term super user, or superuser, is a widely accepted concept within the world of IT. The key quality of a super user is to act as a change agent in the organisation. They are incredibly valuable if you are going to make fundamental changes to the known way of working.

A super user is your internal expert on a system. They’ll be able to answer minor questions, so you don’t have to wait around for the supplier to respond.

Super users will usually be more enthusiastic about the system than regular users. That helps everyone get on the same page about the new system. Enthusiasm is contagious.

From a technical perspective, super users often have more system rights than regular users. It could be the ability to configure the system or access certain information.

In a digital care planning solution like Sekoia, only super users can add residents, while all members of staff can add an ad-hoc task.

Judging from the way we talk about super users; it might seem like a superhero-like employee who swoops in to save the day whenever there’s trouble. Not a true reflection of reality.

Yet, in our humble opinion, most people can be like a superhero. We’ve identified the qualities of a super user. And it’s got nothing to do with having superpowers!

Super Users are not necessarily technical experts. Instead, they are open-minded and willing to assist their co-workers.

Super Users are the frontrunners. The pioneers, who can lead by example. Encouraging their colleagues to take part, and make the organisation adapt to the change together.

When described like that, the super user job description sounds more like a manager. And super users and management go hand in hand when it comes to leading the change.

They plant the seed, organically grow it, and keep motivating peers by sharing “how and why to…” information. This kind of bottom-up approach helps reduce uncertainty. During implementation and in the initial phase of operating the new technology, before settling into a more natural state of use.

Social care is not a sector you normally think of as “tech-savvy”. Nonetheless, we’ve had great success training super users in the sector.

A lazy comparison would be that since it’s software young people should be super users. After all, they grew up with technology so it’s a natural choice…right?

It’s a dangerous assumption to make. As the 5 characteristics suggest, a super user is more defined by soft skills than age or education.

When we introduce care staff to Sekoia, we create separate training sessions for super users and employees. Super users are trained before the other employees. So they can already start to show off their new expertise when the regular employees receive their training.

The training itself is dependent on the complexity and design of the system. In Sekoia, it takes approx. 1 day to become a super user while regular employee training usually takes less than 2 hours.

You can read more about our onboarding and implementation here: Onboarding with Sekoia