What organizations tend to forget when they implement new IT systems
When a company or big organization set themselves the goal of implementing a new IT system they do it because they want something to be improved or changed.
The organization want to get better customer relation management and customer insights and therefore wants a new CRM system. They want better control over cash flows, invoices, predictions and handling of sales, economy and data analysis and therefore want to introduce a SAS or SAP system. Or they want to improve information within the organization and communication among the employees so they set themselves up for a new intranet. Or they want to revolutionize their products, the way they do business or something else to get a competitive edge compared to other companies on the market.
Whether it’s one or the other it’s a big task for an organization to implement new IT systems. It’s expensive, it takes a lot of effort and resources and the road can be bumpy. However the organizations often forget that not only does it take a lot of effort on the implmentation side, it also involves changes in the company itself and getting the right people onboard to advocate and teach the system. Let me explain with an example from the real world.
An example from the Pharma industry
Some time ago I met an HR Manager from one of the largest Danish Pharma organizations and a global market player at a networking event in Copenhagen. At one point in our conversation I asked her if they in their organization had implemented any larger IT systems recently. She responded that yes, they had actually just completed a big implementation project getting a new CRM system and that had been quite a tough job overall.
“Oh, that is great”, was my response to her. But I also knew that it was likely that it hadn’t turned out completely as expected, so I retorically asked:
“And with that implentation project you then involved stakeholders and user groups from the start and made sure to communicate why you were going to implement the new IT-system and how it supported the overall vision and strategy? You treated the project as a change management project and of course you engaged key people and change agents in the departments that were going to use the system? And you established learning, training sessions and best practice for the users once the CRM system was implemented?
Her resonses were unfortunate and as expected: “Unfortunately, none of the above. Once completed the responsibles implementing partners just took off and engaged in other projects”. “Ohhh, and do you consider that these steps would have beneficial”, I then asked? “Highly! I really wish we had done this, but we never really seem to get around such matters when we implement IT systems. I don’t know why, though.”
360 degrees approach
The case proved my point which is that far too many even highly successful and competitive organizations, whether they are commercial like this global leader in the Pharma business or big governmental institutions often fail blatantly when it comes to implementing new IT-systems into the organization. They often lack the understanding of the need for a 360 degrees approach to the implementation. How could such a 360 degrees approach look like then? Here are 4 steps you can work with:
- Clearly define and communicate the purpose, goals and scope of the IT system and make it clear how this supports the overall vision and strategy of your organization.
- Localize and engage key persons of each department who are going to use and will be affected once the new IT system is in place. Let them become change agents that help communicate, celebrate and advocate for the success of the project.
- Treat the implementation of the new IT system as a change management project and make sure that key stakeholders understand the need for the new IT system, then challenges it will face and the roadmap for success. The company culture is the most important first thing to change to embrace the changes the system will involve. Reality is that this project will – as most other IT implentation projects – face challenges and even fierce resistance from within yoour organization both under and after implementation.
- Setup and run a learning project in parallel with the implementation of the IT system. The aim of the learning project should be to teach the end users in the company / clients best practices of the System and it’s integration with the company’s overall business needs and strategy. The learning project should also help ensuring that end users fully accept the IT system once implemented, that they are feeling engaged and involved and that they gain the needed knowledge and knowhow to be able to integrate it into their daily work.
Should you be interested to know more about how to introduce a 360 degree approach to implementation of IT systems in to your organization involving Change Management, Stakeholder and end user involvement and e-learning don’t hesitate to contact me for consulting or advice.
Best regards
Jesper