Migrating from Workplace? Don’t forget these 3 key steps

If you’re one of the thousands of organizations using Workplace from Meta to power your internal communications, you’re probably in the thick of figuring out what you need to do next ahead of the Workplace sunsetting beginning in 2025. Researching, selecting, and implementing a Workplace alternative is likely taking up the bulk of your time and energy and may feel like an overwhelming project to tackle.

The good news: With the right platform — and technology partner — you can take the stress out of migration and continue to give employees the intranet features they know and love.

Whatever your vision is for your new platform — maybe a familiar format, or something new and improved — it’s important to get migration right. A smooth migration process can set you up for success and minimize headaches for you and your workforce.

In a recent webinar, Blink’s migration specialists outlined their full 5-step guide to a successful Workplace migration. While we (of course) believe there are lots of benefits to choosing Blink as a Workplace alternative, these steps are relevant to any platform you choose to use.

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3 key steps to Workplace migration  

Migrating to a Workplace from Meta alternative is about more than moving data from one system to another. A successful migration requires meticulous planning and a launch mindset. It keeps disruption to a minimum and supports a seamless employee experience.

Important steps you need to take when migrating from Workplace include:

1. Scope and plan the migration

2. Verify data mapping and reconfigure settings

3. Activate and engage users

Let’s take a closer look at how these can make or break your migration journey.

#1. Scope and plan the migration

Migrating to any of the Workplace from Meta alternatives available is a huge change — and it’s one you want to get right first time by thoroughly scoping and planning your migration.

Bear in mind that while employee communications platforms tend to have a lot in common, no two tools are identical. There are bound to be differences between Workplace from Meta and your new intranet platform.

To ensure each business function is accounted for, bring together people from across your organization. Discuss platform differences. Gather a wide range of perspectives on platform and migration needs. Also, clarify what you want to achieve with regards to user experience and platform capabilities.

As part of the scoping and planning stage, consider incorporating the following tasks:

• Analyze data quality: Take stock of the data you have on Workplace. Are all user profiles activated and complete? Are all groups still relevant? Does your content have contextual elements, like author names and publication dates? Assess which data is complete, which needs to be improved, and which should be deleted or archived.
  

• Review mobile vs. desktop strategy: Consider which data you want to feature on mobile and desktop versions of your platform. For companies with a frontline workforce, it’s wise to include exactly the same data on both mobile and desktop devices — ensuring everyone can enjoy the same great employee experience.
  

• Identify champions and trend-setter groups: To boost early adoption and usage, treat your Workplace migration as a new platform launch. Identify champions and trend-setter groups who will be excited for the new communications hub and encourage peers to join them.

#2. Verify data mapping and reconfigure settings

It can take anywhere from days to weeks to run a migration, with timing depending on:

• Your chosen platform

• The size of your organization

• The volume of data you want to migrate

But as soon as you’ve executed the technical migration, you can begin examining the details of your new platform. The first tasks on the list are verification and reconfiguration.

At Blink, we use our own migration matrix that allows us to clearly map Workplace data and content to corresponding Blink content. However, with any technology switch, it’s always good to be prepared for potential hiccups. Data and settings don’t always transfer neatly to the new platform and post-migration tweaks often have to be made.

To ensure the best user experience post-migration, check that your important data — including user profiles, groups, and knowledge base content — has been transferred correctly, imperfect data has been updated, and settings have been reconfigured as needed.

User profiles

Review the user profiles that have been transferred from Workplace. Check that all details — like names, roles, and profile pictures — are correct. Delete any duplicate users. Also, verify that your organizational hierarchy has transferred correctly, with the right employees assigned to the right managers.

This is a good opportunity to check the permissions and notification settings associated with each user profile. Do this during the verification process and you won’t have to revisit each user profile to make changes later.

Groups

Look at the groups that you’ve migrated over from Workplace. Check that their names are correct. View members and admins to ensure nothing has gone awry during the switch.

You should also take the time to look at dynamic team membership rules to ensure that employees are automatically assigned to relevant groups going forward.

Knowledge base content

To ensure a consistent employee experience, it’s important that users can access the resources they need as soon as they log in to your new internal communications platform. Check that content is in the right place and that users will be able to find it easily. Confirm that all contextual information, including author names and publication dates, is visible and correct. Review permissions for publishing, editing, and sharing rights.

And don’t forget about formatting: Check headings, double-check hyperlinks, and make sure your multimedia content, such as videos and images, looks good and works well.

#3. Activate and engage users

If you’re at this step, it means you’re ready to launch your new intranet to the workforce. Congratulations! To maximize engagement and encourage adoption, you’ll want to give employees an incredible experience on your new platform starting day one.

Decide how you’ll build buzz around the incoming platform. That may mean notifying employees that your new intranet is imminent and incentivizing them to log in on launch day. You can consider running giveaways, creating gamified experiences, or planning a launch party — all with the goal of boosting in-platform engagement.

Remember that you’re launching a social platform: Creating an immediate sense of active community will be the difference between delight and disengagement. By going live with a published backlog of engaging content, employees can be welcomed to the new platform with a lively and pre-populated news feed.

Education is another important part of the puzzle. Help employees get the most from your new solution through training sessions, Q&A forums, and dedicated support channels.

This is also a great time to promote the internal champions and trend-setter groups you identified earlier in the migration process. These ambassadors can spread the word about your new platform, drive activation, and offer support where it’s needed.

Making your Workplace migration successful

Whether you want employees to instantly feel at home or are relishing the opportunity to start afresh, a clear migration plan can help you minimize disruption and keep the company conversation flowing during the transition from Workplace to your new company hub.

By starting the process with a thoughtful migration plan and ending it with a robust rollout strategy, you can supercharge employee adoption on day one and drive engagement long past launch day.

For our full 5-step guide to making migration easy on you — and your workforce — download our on-demand webinar: From Workplace to Blink: Migration Made Easy for actionable advice helpful for any organization exploring alternatives to Workplace.