3 Ways to Get Buy-In for Ditching Spreadsheets

Despite the rise of WFM systems, spreadsheets remain deeply embedded in resource planning teams. They are familiar, flexible, and widely trusted – even when they are stretched far beyond their original design.

This is creating friction for many leaders trying to modernize their resource planning function and make it more efficient – particularly as the conversation is no longer simply about whether spreadsheets can be replaced but about how to get Resource Planning teams to accept the need for change when they have relied on them for so many years.

That’s why we asked our panel of experts for their best advice on how to get buy-in for finally ditching the spreadsheets in favour of a WFM system.

1. Help Stakeholders Experience the Difference Between Their Current Reality and New Ways of Working

Making your case should never start with systems and features. It has to start with a story! After all, the most effective change narratives are built around helping stakeholders experience the difference between the current reality and a better way of working.

So, instead of focusing on spreadsheets as a problem, the emphasis should be on what daily work looks like under them – such as the chore of manual updates, repetitive fixes, and the risk of errors caused by constant version changes. However, describing this is not enough on its own!

“Paint a picture of your team’s current day versus what WFM professionals in other companies are doing with all of that extra time. The most effective comparison is experiential.

Like buying a car, people need to sit in it, interact with it, and understand it in context. This is because demonstrations and peer exposure are far more persuasive than slides or specifications.

If you can share what it’s like to work in a spreadsheet versus show what a tool is like and the benefits, it will go a long, long way!” – Bryce Ackerman, Workforce Management Internal Consultant at Roche.

This is where site visits and peer benchmarking can be really powerful, as your team can begin to experience how other contact centres operate and reframe the art of the possible.

Note, early-stage vendor involvement can sometimes distort this process, so build up some positive enthusiasm through this type of peer benchmarking before rushing into procurement conversations, as timing really matters here and doing this too early can undermine internal alignment.  

To help put your best foot forward to convince stakeholders that a new piece of technology is need, read our article: What to Include in a Business Case for New Technology

2. Be Mindful of the Very Real Need for Transparency and Control

While spreadsheets are often positioned as outdated, the reality is more complex. In many organizations, they persist because they offer familiarity, transparency, and control – not because teams are resistant to progress.

And technology alone does not guarantee improvement either! Without aligned processes and clear organizational readiness, systems risk becoming underused or misapplied.

For example, you may find you “win” in replacing spreadsheets in theory, while in practice all your team are actually doing is replicating the work. This creates an “expensive shiny toy” effect where the system exists, but behaviour does not change.

Another challenge is ownership, as spreadsheets often represent control and accountability. If a new system feels like a “black box”, this will also create resistance, and users will naturally revert to what they understand.

“The real issue comes back to trust, familiarity, control, and transparency.

If the spreadsheets survive because people understand them and can control them, then the question will always be asked, “why switch?” and if no one is onboard, you’re just setting everyone up to fail.

I’ve seen so many WFM systems just sitting on the shelf for two years or, worse still, teams still doing everything in the spreadsheets and then loading it up to the WFM system as an admin task.” – Doug Casterton, Workforce Optimization Consultant and Co-Founder of Right Time Right Place.

As systems become more complex, this risk increases too – as often without understanding how outputs are generated, users cannot confidently challenge or validate them.

So don’t overlook your team’s very real need for transparency and trust. Look for a system that unearths that “black box” for people, so they can begin to trust the new WFM system in the same way they’ve trusted their spreadsheets for so many years.

3. Identify the Problems You’re All Trying to Solve

It can also help your case to collectively define the problems you’re trying to solve. So before beginning any discussion about tools, there must be clarity on what is actually broken.

For example, in many environments, the issue is not spreadsheets themselves but the fragility they create when over-relied upon.

“Start by recognizing the single points of failure within your planning team and map them out together.

This could be some of the limits of Excel and version control, to recalling the time when the latest version of a complex spreadsheet was lost, and even discussing the issues of relying too heavily on individual capability, such as “Only Alan knows how to do this and we really struggle when Alan’s on holiday”.

This exercise can really help to remind your team of the pain of doing it the way it’s always been done and create a firm, collective view of what you’re trying to fix.

All of which helps build rationale for ditching the spreadsheets, but only – of course – if the new solution would actually fix those problems.” – Matthew De Giovanni, Workforce Optimization Consultant and Co-Founder of Right Time Right Place.

There will likely be a lot to talk about here and possibly even over multiple sessions, but it’s time well spent to build a firm picture of recurring issues – across version control failures, access limitations, and system slowdowns when handling large datasets, etc…

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But Don’t “Ditch Spreadsheets” for the Sake of It

Perhaps most importantly, there is no universal rule for replacement. In many cases, spreadsheets remain powerful in complex, long-range planning environments, while WFM tools are better suited to structured, operational execution.

The real challenge is not to “ditch spreadsheets” for the sake of it but to understand exactly where they still add value – and where they are no longer enough.

How Did You Get Buy-In for Ditching the Spreadsheets?

Click here to join our Readers Panel to share your experiences and feature in future Call Centre Helper articles.

With thanks to the following people for sharing their thoughts for this article:

If you are looking for more information on improving WFM in your contact centre, read these articles next:

Author: Megan Jones

Reviewed by: Jo Robinson