The challenges of implementing a new system (and some things that can help)

Implementing new systems in a team or business can be tricky. A good example of this is when an organisation is implementing a new I.T. system. I have worked with many teams/businesses who have done this, some successfully, and others…very badly. In my experience, the main reasons that new systems fail or do not work as first planned are:

a)?? No buy-in from the end users – they do not see why they need a new system.

b)?? Inadequate scoping of the project/process/system at the beginning.

c)?? Lack of inclusion and relying too much on old knowledge (how the business has operated in the past).

d)?? Perpetual changes dribbling into the project (there will be changes – it is better and cheaper to bring them in in batches, as few as possible).

e)?? Inadequate testing by users during the testing phase.

f)??? Inadequate training of users prior to and immediately after launch.

g)?? ‘Overselling’ of the system leads to its failure to live up to expectations and therefore negative feelings.

Ideally you would not spend lots of money on something to simply be thrown onto the business and expect it to run smoothly (although I have witnessed a few businesses trying to do this). You would have a (usually quite long) consultation phase with everyone that will be impacted by the system and the people delivering it. Before anything else the business/team should be asking the question, ‘why do we need this?’

There may be very legitimate reasons for a new system but how many people are aware of these reasons? There needs to be complete clarity of what the current dissatisfaction is with the current reality and then an inspirational vision of what the new looks like. If you do not do this, then you will meet resistance from people. Make those who will eventually use the new system aware of what is not working with the old system and why it needs to change to the new one. You must sell this to people, create a vision of the new that will influence their thinking in a positive way. This must be from their perspective – what is in it for them? This is massively important because if your business (the people) are not ready for the system, then no matter how good it is, it will not work (as you want it to). People will fight against it. The key ingredient here is people’s motivation (want) and their ability (can) for the new system.

If your culture is not ready for a shiny new system, then do not try to implement one – get the culture right first by including everybody.

Let us say that your culture is in a good place and, is likely to adopt the new system, i.e. it is widely agreed that the new system is actually needed, and it will be a good thing. At this stage it would then be extremely advantageous to set up a non-live test environment and carry out in-depth user testing to see how the system stands up to real use. This would involve various people who can test it from all angles. No holds barred, really give it a battering. If bits need tweaking or even changing completely then do it at this stage – don’t kid yourself that you are just wasting more time and money now and it will sort itself out when it lands on the business – it will not.

If time permits, do at least one more final user test (not live) with all the tweaks completed. Concurrently to this the marketing, I.T., SLT and L&D teams would have been creating ripples across the business to get the people ready for the process/system to land. This is the hearts and minds bit – the leading change which is so vitally important when something new is introduced. As previously mentioned, people across the business/team should understand the problems with the old and what the inspirational new vision is – people can actually see the benefits.

The system needs to be fully tested, then applied and used – this always works better if the process is broken down into easily recognisable steps. Plus, concurrently with the roll out there needs to be full and realistic training on the system with ongoing support once it is live. This gives users the capability for the change.

Do not ever kid yourself that throwing more money at a new thing will make it right. Get the foundations in place first. If you do not, you are simply throwing your money and time away. Do not build all your foundations based on your knowledge of what has been. Set up test environments for what could be.

All the best.

Dave

Extract from www.teamfoundations.co.uk

www.thesuccessfactory.co.uk

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