Buying Software? Your Team Knows What the Demo Doesn’t.

The go-to files your staff depend on may hold the best clues for your next technology decision.

Imagine unveiling a new platform. There’s a launch meeting, a training session, and a slide containing the word “streamlined,” which has apparently never attended one of your staff meetings.

A month later, everyone is still using their spreadsheets.

Where the Head Honchos might see an adoption problem, I just want to see the spreadsheets.

Some of those spreadsheets deserve retirement. Some need serious adult supervision. But before concluding that staff are allergic to progress, I’d like to know what those rows and columns actually do for them.

Buying new software can feel like buying a fresh start. I understand the appeal. Unfortunately, unclear responsibilities and awkward processes do not disappear when the payment clears.

There may be a useful explanation hiding in column GGG.

Software Adoption Problems? The Spreadsheet Would Like a Word.

Picture a fictional program coordinator. Let’s call her Denise.

The registration system tells her who signed up for a workshop. Her spreadsheet tells her who needs a confirmation call, which room is available, and whether the instructor has acknowledged a schedule change.

In this example, the system records the registration. Denise’s file helps her coordinate what happens next. Which explains why she’s holding on to it like a seagull with a stolen french fry.

Perhaps the platform could be configured to handle those tasks. Perhaps Denise hasn’t been shown how to use that part. Perhaps it genuinely can’t do what she needs. We don’t know yet. Each explanation calls for a different response.

Starting with “How do we make Denise stop using spreadsheets?” risks removing the very thing helping her get participants into the right room.

Instead, I'd start with: “Hey Denise, show me what needs to happen before this workshop is ready.” Software can support that work. But first, we need to understand what the work fully entails.

Before Buying Software, Follow the Work—and the Workarounds.

A product demonstration usually shows a carefully prepared example. Daily tasks have a way of wandering off-script. I also want to know what happens when somebody mangles a booking while the manager is refilling the towel dispensers.

The U.S. General Services Administration’s guidance on contextual inquiry recommends observing people in their normal environment (with permission, ofc) and asking questions about what they do and why. Government guidance: rarely my first choice for a beach read, but it can occasionally be very worthwhile company.

For one of Denise’s fictional workshops, I suggest identifying a central, common task and following it through to completion. In this fictional case, lets say its a workshop registration. Where is information copied? Who is waiting for an answer? What happens when the instructor changes the start date?

Then I’d examine the spreadsheet with Denise, without treating her like she’s been caught operating an underground fight club.

A “Called?” column might reveal a missing follow-up step. A color code might flag an urgent exception. A separate list might exist because someone cannot access the information they need.

We might also find a step nobody needs anymore. Understanding a workaround doesn’t mean granting it tenure.

Spreadsheet Management: Who Owns This Information, Anyway?

A spreadsheet can be entirely appropriate. It can also become an awkward place for several people to coordinate work, especially when they disagree about what the information means.

“Everyone uses spreadsheets” tells me very little.

“Three people update the room assignment, and nobody knows which update takes precedence” gives us a problem to solve.

A new platform might make changes easier to track. It still needs people to decide who can change the room assignment, where that change belongs, and who tells the instructor.

Otherwise, we’ve just given the confusion a nicer interface.

Find out who maintains the file, who needs access, and what happens when it conflicts with another record. Check where it lives and whether competing versions exist.

A file displaying information from another system raises questions about freshness and access. A file containing changes that never reach the official record raises a wholly different problem.

Understand which situation you have before making the file disappear.

Use your imagination before your credit card.

The 18F product guide recommends defining a problem in a way that lays the groundwork for possible solutions without calling dibs on one in advance.

Here’s where creative thinking becomes useful.

Ask staff to sketch the steps in a common task: what happens, who does it, and where someone has to wait. Paper is fine. Rectangles and arrows will do. I promise nobody is grading the your cross-hatching.

For Denise, the useful improvement might be a shared view of upcoming workshops, unresolved changes, and the person responsible for each next action.

Look for duplicated effort, decisions that happen too late, and steps that can simply go away. My favorite improvement is occasionally the one we can stop doing.

Try more than one possibility. Reorganize an existing dashboard. Move an approval earlier. Test a different handoff. Consider new software if the current tools genuinely cannot support the work.

“We need a more innovative platform” gives a sales representative plenty to work with. “We need to see which workshop changes are still awaiting approval” gives everyone something to test.

Six Questions to Ask Before Buying Business Software:

Before your next software purchase, ask a staff member to show you one important file and a recurring task it helps them complete.

Walk through these six questions together:

1. What does this file help you accomplish? Describe the result: confirming a workshop, for example.

2. Where does the information come from? Identify anything copied or retyped.

3. Who uses or changes it next? Include colleagues outside your department.

4. What happens when plans change? Follow a cancellation, correction, or late request.

5. Where is the agreed official record? Establish which information guides decisions and how corrections get back to it.

6. What would make this file unnecessary—or appropriate— to keep? Leave room for either answer.

   
   

Turn the answers into something testable: “The coordinator can see unresolved workshop changes, identify who need to approve them, and confirm the final details before contacting participants.”

Now bring that task to the demo. Include the inconvenient version: the instructor changes the date, the usual approver is absent, and someone has already sent the confirmation email.

Let the software meet one of your regular Tuesday mornings.

Choose Business Software for the Job, Not a Promised Miracle.

Before choosing a solution, decide what success looks like and test it with the people doing the work.

Can Denise find the current room assignment without checking three places? Can a colleague cover for her? Are fewer details being retyped? Does the improvement remove effort or move it onto someone else?

A less-stressed Denise would also be encouraging.

Compare a purchase with the other plausible options: a process change, focused training, a better configuration, or a well-managed spreadsheet.

Include setup, data cleanup, staff training, ongoing administration, and the transition in your assessment. A modest subscription fee loses some of its charm when someone has to untangle thousands of duplicate contacts by hand.

New software can solve specific problems. Buying it does not, by itself, solve the organizational decisions wrapped around them.

I’m all about useful technology. I just like to give it a clear job description before expecting a miracle.

You may still buy the new platform. You’ll just know what job you’re hiring it to do, what your team needs to change, and what success will look like.

And you’ll have heard column GGG’s side of the story before signing the contract

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