Meet and Eat Session 1 - Driving Smartsheet adoption at your company

Rebeca S.

Hi Community,

Have you heard of the Meet and Eat sessions? They’ll take place at ENGAGE on September 19th, but we want the members at home to participate in the conversations from the Community as well.

Before

• Read the prompt and share your thoughts and personal experiences.

After

• Read the highlights from the Champion & Overachiever pair that moderated each session.
• Continue the conversation with the people that attended right here!

Ready? Let’s go!

Share experiences about driving Smartsheet adoption at your company, including successes, challenges, tips and more.

Stacy Gumula

In the higher education landscape, driving Smartsheet adoption has been quite the journey. The atmosphere can be a bit polarized, with some individuals eagerly embracing new tools, while others are more resistant, clinging to the familiar "way we've always done things." One of the biggest challenges I've faced is the limited network of Smartsheet users within the higher education realm, making it challenging to exchange ideas and kindle excitement about innovative solutions. (If YOU are in the higher ed world, please connect with me so we can share more! https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacygumula/)

Our progress has been a slow burn, but we're definitely moving forward. One valuable lesson I've learned is the importance of active listening. Rather than imposing what I think people need, I've found it more effective to respond to their specific requests. By delivering what they ask for and then enhancing it as they become more familiar with the product, we've been able to build trust and enthusiasm.

The primary hurdle we encounter is the time constraint—people simply don't have the bandwidth to learn something entirely new. To overcome this, our approach emphasizes how Smartsheet can save them time and effort, rather than being an uphill learning curve. It's all about demonstrating the tangible benefits and emphasizing that the learning curve is an investment that pays off in efficiency and productivity down the line.