A Practical Guide to Implementing New Software in Your Business

Change is hard. Even the most well-meaning change initiatives can be met with resistance.

The good news: You’re not alone - there are decades of research and proven strategies that you can put into place to ensure the next piece of software you implement provides the benefits you were promised. Combining our experience rolling out OPAS Mobile at companies just like yours, and the practical insights of Clampitt, DeKoch and Kotter, we’ve tailored our process to ensure success. If you’re an OPAS Mobile customer, you’ll know that we follow a detailed yet efficient onboarding process designed to ensure you really get value from our platform. We’re relentlessly focused on making our platform as easy to use as possible, and that starts long before we train your first employee. Long before the software hits your network you need a detailed plan of how you’re going to roll it out, how you’re going to identify issues early and how you’re going to address them. Whatever software you’re implementing, this 6 step guide will give you the tools you need to significantly improve your odds of success.

‍Identify Scope, Challenges and Risks

‍The first step in any project should be laying out the scope, identifying challenges and risks, and developing a mitigation plan. While each company and project is different, we always consider these points which are often overlooked during planning but consistently arise during roll-out:

• Functional Status Quo – If current methods function, there will inevitably be pushback to not fix what isn’t broken. The value proposition needs to be clear at each level.
• Unknown Platform - You're often implementing a platform that’s new to your industry or region which brings many unknowns.
• Stakeholder Acceptance - Shareholders must be identified and consulted. Many folks consider their internal team, but don’t forget 3rd party regulators.

It’s important to consider what other challenges and risks you might see and develop a practical way to address them.

‍Own the Conversation

‍Word travels fast, and rumors travel faster. Get out ahead of the noise and control the narrative before damaging rumors can start. It’s better to tell your employees the facts, even if you don’t have all the answers yet. Simply let your employees know you’re exploring a new software package, the goal of the project (including why you’re exploring a change in software) and that they’ll receive training and support in the near future. This serves many purposes; more people than you expect will likely be excited with the promise of something to make their lives easier, the naysayers will often present themselves, and you’ll have an opportunity to listen to (and address) the fears and concerns of your front line staff.

‍Define a Training Plan

‍You need a schedule, and it needs to be visible. Depending on your workforce demographic there may be significant concerns surrounding the difficulty of learning new software and their ability to continue performing their job. Scheduling the roll out early is required both to allay fears but also to ensure enough participation. We typically require a minimum of 90% participation in all training modules such that other employees can support their peers with questions and challenges in the months to come. Train the Trainer

Many companies, OPAS Mobile included, offer many different options for training. We can offer premium training options where we conduct comprehensive training with every member of your team, but we prefer to train the trainer. Focus your training efforts on key individuals within the organization who will then train the remainder of your team. This often includes the Respected Champion we talk about below. Not only is this a less expensive option, it builds greater knowledge within your organization and is far more effective long-term in our experience. Small Group Training

We often hear companies want to train the entire company at once - a single one hour session. We understand the scheduling challenges and financial impact of training but, much like grade school, training class size directly impacts the eventual success of a project. We have found that training is best conducted in classes up to 20. Any less is inefficient. With more than 20 you quickly lose the focus and one-on-one attention to questions and challenges unique to each person. Training does not have to be long, nor should it be. We like to keep training to 50 minutes. This maintains focus, allows people to schedule around their typical daily responsibilities, and minimizes unbillable time. We follow this up with very detailed, comprehensive reference guides that are available in print and digital formats.

Drop-in Refresher

Everyone learns at a different pace. It’s important to have accessible, frequent optional drop-in sessions where folks can come with questions. OPAS Mobile hosts public weekly drop-in sessions but we recommend hosting in-person sessions at least once a month for the first 3 months to ensure everyone knows how to use the tools.

Identify Respected Champion(s)

‍If you take nothing else from this guide, take this. Identify a few key individuals within your company that are respected by their peers and reports, and who are bought into the software. These champions need to be directly involved in the communications and training.

We typically recommended one champion per business unit, per physical location. With the rise of remote working this might not be possible but there are still individuals within your organization who have the power to sway the thoughts of the group. You likely know who these people are, but we’ve found that simply asking people on the floor “Who around here can answer questions that no one else seems to know the answer to?” tells you who they look up to and respect. This is often not someone with the highest title in the company - you’re looking for the person that your team naturally gravitates to, often leading without a title. Not only will this be easier with their support, it will be near-impossible without it.

Start Small & Find Quick Wins

‍‍Most software has an endless list of features and it can be easy to get drawn into the trap of trying to implement everything at once. OPAS Mobile, as a turnkey operations management platform, has an ever-growing list of features but your staff will be overwhelmed if you try to roll everything out at once. Start small and find quick wins. In every business there are 2-3 areas of constant frustration - time-consuming, complex or expensive processes. These could be due to outdated or ill-formed procedures, or they could be regulatory. These are your opportunities for small, quick wins. Implement the features that soothe this pain point, make your employee’s lives easier and you’re already won half the battle.

‍Provide Ongoing Support

‍A conscious effort is required to maintain changes, especially in the medium-term. Often thought of as un-freezing, changing and freezing - it is important to focus on the change and then ‘re-freeze’ as the new status quo. Why - What’s In It For Me?

Show employees at all levels the reason for the business need for change, and also how they will personally benefit.

Uptake Incentives

‍When used correctly, incentives can be very effective in the early and late stages of adoption. Significant, visible awards for power users are proven to motivate other users to embrace new technologies simply so they have a chance to ‘win’. Though simple and unsustainable, prizes such as iPads, afternoons off and brand name merchandise have been shown to influence behavior in the later stages of adoption where ‘freezing’ becomes the focus. Ongoing Feedback It’s important to put a feedback system in place to identify and mitigate any issues as early as possible. Make it incredibly easy to provide feedback and give the option for anonymous feedback. Employees must know their concerns are understood and considered moving forward.

‍Take it Further

‍Larger scale initiatives require a bolder approach. We like the unfreeze & freeze approach. While this is outside the scope of post of our deployments, if you’re particularly interested in effective change management, we recommend these sources which we used to develop our client onboarding process:

• Beer, M., & Nohria, N. (May 2020). Cracking the Code of Change. Harvard Business Review,.
• Clampitt, P. G. (2011). Transforming Leaders into Progress Makers. Los Angeles: Sage.
• Clampitt, P. G., DeKoch, R. J., & Cashman, T. (2000). A Strategy for Communicating about Uncertainty. The Academy of Management executive, 41-70.
• Clampitt, P., & DeKoch, R. (2021, December 14). Retrieved from Transforming Leaders into Progress Makers: http://www.progressmakers.net/students.php
• Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading Change - Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review.

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