There is no doubt that most businesses are going through
constant processes of change, meaning that they are going to need to be fully
ready for anything that is coming down the line. At the same time, they all
need to be fully ready to make any periods that could be potentially disruptive
as calm as they possibly can be. There is no doubt that the introduction of new
software is one of those times that has the potential to cause a big upheaval “
especially if there are plenty of people at the company that are already
naturally resistant to change and prefer to keep things at the current status
quo for as long as possible.
With all of these factors in mind, it is certainly going to
be worth introducing any new software to your business in a manner that is
totally seamless. Ultimately, this means anticipating any potential disruptive
events and making allowances to defend against them in a successful manner. So,
let's look a little bit closer at a few of the top tips that can help you out
in your eventual aims.
Ensure You Have Chosen the Right Software
To begin with, it is certainly going to be worth taking the
time to ensure that you have chosen the right software in the first place.
Essentially, this is going to mean that you are not going to go through the
process of disrupting your company to bring in some new software, only to decide that it is not as appropriate as you had hoped further down the
line. Doing your research is going to be a useful initial starting point, but
you should also try to have a trial of the software to see how it would fit in
and function at your company. Appoint a few leaders who are able to deal with
the implementation successfully but remember the old adage that too many cooks
can spoil the broth.
Communicate with Staff Members Early
First of all, once you have decided on the specific package
of software that is going to be most useful to your needs as a company, it is
then going to be highly worthwhile ensuring that you communicate the changes with your staff members early on. Rather than highlighting any
disruption that will be going on, you are going to be much better off
communicating the benefits that the software will bring into their lives.
Perhaps it will reduce some of their least favourite duties, leaving them to
get on with the more positive aspects of their job. Otherwise, it could be that
the software is going to make their jobs less stressful than they currently
are.
Ensure That Integration Happens Smoothly
Once the communication stage has happened effectively, it is
then going to be your responsibility to ensure that the integration occurs in a
similar manner. Of course, there may be some disruption along the way, but as
long as you have made a plan to keep this to a minimum, you are much more
likely to find yourself in a positive situation. It could be that you need to
think about how the software is going to work with anything else that you
currently have in place like other software “ in which case, you may need to
look into an API gateway and exactly how this is going to function alongside it all. If
there are any issues that start to spring up along the way, it should certainly
be the case that your staff members feel fully comfortable communicating them
with the relevant people.
Appoint Some Software Champions
While you may already have some technical experts in place,
it is a good idea to assign some specific software champions at your
organisation. These people can have the specific remit added onto their role to
be able to get to grips with any software that you are putting in place. They
also need to be highly effective communicators as this will make it much better
in terms of ensuring that they are able to properly tell people about the
specific features, and staff members will feel fully comfortable approaching
them as and when they encounter any specific issues. This also has the added
advantage of getting people enthusiastic about the tool, ensuring that they are
going to be a positive voice in favor of it rather than being against it for
any reason whatsoever.
Train Up Your Teams
There is no doubt that the training of the teams is going to
be a vital part of the journey. If you can start with the theoretical side of
it all before you have even got the software, this is already going to ensure
that you have gotten off to a running start. There are bound to be some people
who feel fully comfortable bringing on board these skills sooner than others,
which is why it is going to be worth not assuming any prior knowledge and
letting people take their time. The software providers are often going to be on
hand to provide some specific demos, so it is certainly going to be worth
roping them into the process as and when this is at all possible. Bear in mind
that it is going to take time, and you can safely assume that there will be
some mistakes that are coming along the way.
Ensure That Feedback is Actively Encouraged
As has been pointed out throughout this blog post, while you
will want to make sure that it all runs as seamlessly as possible, there are
bound to be one or two issues that spring up. When staff members feel fully
comfortable to let people know when these are happening, it makes it much more
likely that the issue can be resolved quickly. Not only this, but it is also
highly likely that many other people are going through the same type of
challenges, and they will also be able to have their problems sorted out sooner
rather than later. Based on the feedback that you end up receiving, you can
then ensure that there are some additional training sessions that are
organized, allowing improvements to be made in the most seamless manner
possible.
Keep on Reviewing How it is Going
It is certainly not going to be the case that bringing new
software into your business is as simple as simply hoping for the best and
thinking that it is all going to work out without a problem. Instead, you need
to keep on reviewing
the process to determine as and when potential changes are going to be needed.
It could be that you are going to need to bring in some refresher training to
help out those that are particularly struggling. It could also be the case that
more features of the software will start to be discovered, which is going to
mean that improvements also have the potential of being made along the way.
Learn for Next Time
While you have new software coming in at this time, it may
well not be the last occasion in which it is going to be the case. Therefore,
you certainly need to be able to learn for next time based on what has gone on
now. Think about what went well and what could still be improved. It is going
to be the latter category that needs some obvious work to ensure that as much
as possible can be ironed out for next time. This way, you are likely to make
it all run even smoother in the future.
There you have just some of the ways that you have available
of ensuring that new software is brought on board in the most seamless manner
possible. To begin with, you are certainly going to need to take the time to
ensure that you are choosing the right software in the first place. Once this
has been assured, you are then going to be able to set out ensuring that you
are communicating with your staff members in the correct manner “ particularly
highlighting any direct benefits that they can expect from bringing on board
the new software.
You are then going to go through the integration stage, and
there is no doubt that appointing some champions in the first instance is going
to be highly useful. At the same time, there is also plenty that you can be
doing in terms of training your staff members in an effective manner. Feedback
needs to be actively encouraged at every stage along in the journey as it can
end up being so useful for all of your staff members. You should also put in
place a series of constant reviews along the way. The final review is also
going to be highly important as this will help you out as and when you need to
bring in any additional software into your business. This can make all the
difference in the future.
