Workplace is Sunsetting–Now What? Top Considerations Moving Forward

Meta has announced that their Workplace tool will sunset by September of next year. 2025 feels so far away, right? Perhaps it seems that way now, but the process of evaluating business needs, reviewing vendors, navigating procurement, onboarding, testing, and launching can be a months-long project. But that doesn’t mean it needs to be overwhelming. By taking incremental steps starting today, organizations can have a smooth journey to a post-Workplace future. 

Here are some recommended steps to take to get you started:

1. Understand your business needs

As a strategic communications leader, you need to understand and be able to articulate to executives what value the organization is losing in Workplace, and what your recommendations are moving forward to drive even more value. To do this, you’ll need data–both quantitative and qualitative. Review any engagement and use metrics you can, and be sure to survey users across the organization, including leadership. Ask them if and how they used the tool, what they felt it may have been missing, and how the tool impacted their daily work and the organization as a whole. 

2. Find vendors that match your requirements

Once you have a strong analysis on your business needs, it’s time to begin reviewing websites and comparison sites like G2 to find vendors that claim to meet those needs and provide value for users, and a return on the investment. Finalize a short list and start setting up demos and meetings to assess them. 

3. Assess your vendors

Some considerations when you go through the sales process are the three Ps–product, partnership, and price. Of course, you will want to review the product to ensure it meets your needs, or, ideally, exceeds them. It’s equally important to assess how strong of a partner the vendor can be in terms of implementation and launch support, as well as support  for adoption post-launch. Finally, we come to price. It’s important to understand exactly what you’re getting from each vendor for the cost, but possibly more important is to understand potential value the platform will provide over time.

4. Build a business case

At this point, you have almost all you need to build a strong business case for your new solution. You have determined your business needs, found vendors that can meet those needs and assessed the costs and potential returns. The final key to leveling up your business case is to have an executive sponsor. Find a leader who understands the importance of the choice and will back your recommendations. This will make executive buy-in much smoother. 

5. Onboard, test, and launch

Once your organization has selected a vendor, you can begin your new strategic comms journey, starting with auditing your current content and determining what to retain or retire. Your vendor should be able to guide and consult your organization on how to structure and improve your strategy, drive user adoption, and get the most out of your investment. 

Use Change as a Springboard for Opportunity

As you start the process of vetting and selecting a new vendor, consider that this may be the most opportune time to shift from social engagement to more strategic communications and knowledge management platforms. Many platforms, like Happeo, provide a space for employees to connect while also broadening the scope and value of the platform by providing Pages for evergreen content, structured internal communications, and fast, reliable search. This connection of knowledge, comms, and people means you get happy, connected employees and a more efficient organization overall.

It’s time to get the most out of your internal systems. 

If you’re interested in learning more about your platform options as you move forward and are seeking support during this transition, join Happeo for an upcoming webinar to help organizations find success in a post-Workplace world.