Marquis has been with Advicent Solutions for over 14 years. His in-depth industry knowledge has helped the large firms and organizations he works with create more efficiencies for their businesses.
Economic changes and business conditions are ever-changing the landscape of how companies need to meet their client demands. When implementing new policies, procedures, and best practices, organizations are faced with change management.
Some of the challenges are resistance and disruption. You can keep these at a minimum if you roll out your new technologies with some simple thing in mind. I have worked with firms of all sizes and the most successful rollouts that I have seen with the adoption of new software have the following elements.
You are only as strong as your weakest link
Strong leaders in your organization are key. They must have history and experienced the changes in organizations. With this, they would have gained knowledge and training, and they would be best-suited to manage and influence all departments that will be affected by change. They are able to stay focused on the task at hand and adjust with any unanticipated issues that may arise or delay timelines.
Fear of change
Humans are creatures of habit. We find repeatable processes to make our day to day tasks easier. When changes occur we tend to build walls and create resistance. Some individuals may even have anxiety about their job security. One method to reduce this effect would be to implement the change in multiple phases.
Interruption in productivity
This is another area of risk that can be minimized with a phased roll-out. You can be strategic with the phases, as well. Find your “champions” at all levels. Make them the first to adopt and provide positive feedback and success stories. You can also leverage their knowledge and experience to create focus groups. Share failures as well, this will only make the group stronger and help avoid pitfalls in the future.
Commitment to change
Empower your management teams. Help them understand the importance and the need of the change. They would then transmit the same message to all others. Show your commitment and empower your workforce by providing training. Make your champions visible and accessible to your teams. And above all make sure the ones you lead are respected, nurtured, and rewarded.