From our previous blog, you should now have a deeper understanding of holistic project management. One of the strategies that QuantumMark recommends in our holistic project management approach is to create a clear vision for the future state of your organization. In this post, we will talk about the importance of developing a strategy to engage your staff as early as possible. Read below to learn why this is important:
Eyes and Ears to Your Customers
One of the main reasons you want to have input from your staff is because they are the true eyes and ears of your organization. They see and hear things that you, as leadership, might not. Your staff likely engages with your customers directly, which means that they understand your customers’ experience and pain points. These are the types of things you will need to account for as you implement a new system. Remember that the purpose of implementing a new software is to make the lives of your staff and customers easier.
Stakeholder Buy-in
Staff are also key at driving internal buy-in for the new system. When you generate buy-in at the onset of your project, it can make the difference between having champions to support your project along the way versus launching a new system alone with zero staff support. When your staff feel that their input and experiences are heard and valued, they will also bring your customers along in the software rollout.
We have seen two common scenarios play out when our clients skip this step. The first is that the clients eventually realize that the features they have selected for their new system don’t actually them any time or effort in their daily work, since they don’t understand how their staff work. The second is that the client’s staff resist having to adapt to a new workflow, since they did not get to provide any input on the changes that the new software brings.
Software implementations are complex projects. There are many moving parts, all of which need to be tracked and monitored. As we’ve shown, using holistic project management eases the burden. It helps to ensure you’ve properly created a future vision that meets business goals. It also helps to engage your staff early on, ensuring buy-in and avoiding major roadblocks.
In our next blog, we’ll explore how engaging your stakeholders is another key step towards successful system implementation.