When Jumping into an ERP Project, It’s Sink or Swim!
Your core ERP project team is your life jacket! The strongest individuals for implementing a new ERP system are the same people that run your day-to-day business. Buoyancy is key to holding up your daily operations and smooth sailing in the ERP project.
Keys to Building a Team for ERP Project Success!
- Opt for people that understand multiple parts of the business, not just their own little world.
- Opt for employees that demonstrate a willingness to change.
- Opt for influencers, those who can persuade and direct.
- Opt for employees that always look for a better way to get things done. Look for futurists.
- Opt for employees that are outgoing, people who get along with outsiders.
- Opt for contributors that are cooperative, resilient, yet strong in conviction.
Once you have chosen that team…
- Make ERP software their full-time job. The more time spent working with the ERP system, the better. A concentration of 50% on two jobs will breed failure in both.
- Back-fill their positions! Even if it is not full-time, there are some days that the core team will be involved all day, every day, especially near completion.
- Thoroughly explain the reason they were chosen and how they will accomplish the goals of the implementation.
- Allay their anxiety by developing a plan that includes managing both workloads.
- Introduce them to your expectations in the coming months.
- Expectation of time spent
- Working with outsiders
- Presenting their needs to people who are not familiar with their daily activities, maybe numerous times
- Provide support
- Give your team a place to express concerns openly
- Plan team building events
- Schedule meetings with your team, without everyone else, so they can discuss their progress openly
- Reward their efforts. Not monetarily, but with recognition and updates to the company on their performance
Remember, for many, this will be their first ERP implementation. They need to understand the process. Others will have been through this before and may recall the process as very stressful. Be sure your ERP project team understands their efforts are appreciated, and the company’s success depends on their support and cooperation.
Your ERP project team is your life raft. They will be the catalyst for safely navigating your ERP system in port!
Blog entry written by Jeanne Hedman, an ERP Consultant at Panorama Consulting Group.
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About The Consultants' Corner
The Consultants' Corner features blog entries direct from our ERP consultants. These ERP blog entries provide real-world examples of ERP software selection projects, ERP implementations, and organizational change management engagement. The Consultants' Corner bloggers include Larry Bell, Meghan Buchanan, Jeanne Hedman, Annel Henderson, Jason Henritze-Hoye, Sandy Kaufman, Steve Matthews, Ipsita Mitra, January Paulk and Brian Potts.
The characteristics of an ERP Project team could easily be translated to any work group looking to investigate strategies to move themselves and their work group forward, whether it be goal planning, project design or even project evaluation.
Specific to my work in the arena of strategic planning, the behaviors suggested for team support are essential. I see respect, responsibillity and recognition as key components in building individual and team capacity. Once a project or activity has been completed, the skills and behaviors remain thus strengthening the work group from within.
Thank you for the insight.
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While reading blog on When Jumping into an “ERP Project, It’s Sink or Swim!” It is very useful us to observe how could we built real team for ERP. All of us already heard about the need for ERP tool. We need it
*for management to know what is happening in the company
*One solution for better management
*To reduce cycle time
*To achieve cost control and low working level
*To satisfy the customers with high expectation
But for us it was discovery to face with preparation for real ERP tool.
But one question still persists why you didn’t want of rewarding their efforts without fee, but with recognition and updates to the company on their performance? We think that large amounts of workers may shun their regular labor and undertake training. It may disturbs the regular functioning of the organization but also runs the organization in the huge risk of losing potential business in that particular period. Let’s built the real ERP which enables companies to optimize their business processes and analysis capabilities for improved speed and efficiency with of course real responsible team.
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