From Chaos to Clarity: Strategies for Successful Technology Implementation

Successful implementation of new technology tends to be a rare phenomenon. As a result, most people groan at the first signs that a new technology implementation is looming. Consider these strategies to ensure successful technology implementations are the norm for your firm or department.

The best-laid plans are bound to change once you begin executing. However, this shouldn't prevent you from spending the time to build a good implementation plan. This serves not only as a roadmap for the steps to be taken, but it also assigns accountability, so when things change, it's clear who's responsible for the next move. Additionally, don’t get stuck attempting to create the perfect implementation plan. Focus on the major components and leave room for adjustment.

The major components and milestones to include in your plan are as follows:

Timeline

When beginning to build your implementation plan, start from your “Go Live” date and build backwards. When selecting a “Go Live” date, it's critical you don’t rush the implementation and, while this might seem counterintuitive, don’t avoid busy times of year for implementations. Conventional logic suggests you should make changes to your technology when things are slow and everyone has time to breathe and digest. However, during slower times, the level of engagement can often be lower, and the change has to be re-lived when things get busy. You shouldn’t avoid slow times because of this but take this into account as you create your timeline.

Defined stakeholders

Include all stakeholders who will be impacted by the new technology as well as everyone responsible for supporting the implementation. This includes internal IT resources, external vendor resources, consultants, leadership, and representatives of the impacted team members. When creating the action plan, it's important every item includes a stakeholder who is accountable for executing tasks and achieving milestones. If no one is assigned, you can guarantee it won’t get done.

Definition of success

This is quite possibly the most important aspect of a successful implementation. With no shared definition of success, it's impossible to determine if it was successful. Ask every stakeholder what success looks like to them, being as specific as possible. Using their answers, craft a definition the entire group agrees upon and is comfortable sharing with the organization. This activity also creates the opportunity to correct inaccurate expectations. For example, an individual might say, “Success means we will no longer have to do X in order to achieve Y.” If that statement is incorrect, now is the time to address it and clarify that the expected outcome is actually, “The steps to perform X will be more efficient, however not eliminated, with a successful implementation.”

Tech/software setup or design and data migration

Generally, the vendor or consultant will support these steps. It's critical that the right people are involved in both the setup and the data migration. Overlooking the teams most impacted can lead to major mistakes. However, don’t get stuck moving forward bad processes or unnecessary data just because, “We’ve always done it that way.” This is the time to stop cutting the ends off the holiday ham before you cook, because as it turns out, Grandma only did it that way because her pan was too small.

System testing

For testing, nominate a few people intimate with the systems or processes being impacted. Allow them the time to test the new solution as thoroughly as possible. Don’t just nominate your most tech-savvy team members. Ensuring a diverse group with different tech aptitudes will also help to determine where the most training will be required. If there's a need or desire to run the new technology in parallel to the existing process for a period, define that period and a clearly defined plan to compare the results and take corrective action if required.

Training

Avoid training too soon and for too long. A frequent mistake is scheduling eight hours of training days or even weeks before the new solution goes live. It's difficult for the human brain to absorb eight hours of training on new software or tools never used before. In the case of new software, for example, a one- or two-hour training the same day of going live or no more than one day before going live is recommended. Once you've gone live, schedule daily trainings to cover deeper content in bite-size increments.

Use a combination of live and on-demand training. Vendors often have a library of on-demand training videos; however, it’s recommended to use videos that have been recorded using your firm’s unique setup. A daily video tip can have a major impact with limited effort.

Support

Provide team members clear direction for obtaining support if and when they have questions. This should come in multiple forms, such as the internal IT support system, vendor support, and internal champions. Encourage the use of shared channels such as Slack or Teams channels for asking questions and communicating solutions.

Communication plan

Without a communication plan, implementation will be turbulent. The best offense for helping team members with change is clear and consistent communication. A good communication plan should include the below tips.

Consistent updates to everyone impacted are a must. Don’t allow for an extended period of time to pass without providing an update on the progress. Even if little progress has been made, an update to the team clears anxiety and questions.
A clear explanation for why the change is being made, what the expected outcome of the change will be, and the process that led to the decision, as well as those who were part of the decision process. It can be easy for people who struggle with change to write it off based on lack of representation or understanding of the “why.” Don’t give those people the opportunity to voice dissent based on lack of knowledge.
Communication of the general implementation plan, timeline and milestones.
Celebration of milestones as they are achieved. A great way to build excitement for the change is to celebrate even the smallest of moments along the way.
Assignment of accountability for who is responsible for all communication.
Multiple communication channels to ensure it is received by everyone on the team. This includes email, MS Teams or Slack channels, videos, and any other medium appropriate for your firm. Hit them everywhere to ensure nobody can say, “I didn’t get that message.”
A feedback loop for team members to share concerns and ask questions. One of the biggest sources of frustration and anxiety comes when people don’t feel like they can be heard. While you might prefer not to address all the random feedback you may receive, it's incredibly important to receive and acknowledge it. It will be appreciated and lead to support for a successful implementation.

Now that you've got your plan, it's time to execute. The implementation should have a regular cadence of check-in calls. The format of these meetings should ensure an efficient use of time to allow the team to focus efforts on the execution, not meetings. The implementation lead should run through upcoming steps of the implementation plan and do a quick check-in with each person accountable for that task. The check-in is not a summary of everything they've been doing; it's simply, “on track” or “off track.” Anything off track should be noted. After running through the check-in, the implementation lead reviews any off-track item and focuses on what is needed to move it back on track. This is not a blame session; this is a time to focus on who can step up to help and assign specific tasks or actions that will be taken before the next meeting to get things back on track. The end of the meeting is a good time to agree on what communication will be sent out and who will be responsible.

Don’t forget to support the team working on the implementation. Generally, these team members are setting aside (or adding to) existing responsibilities to work on this project. Providing a couple of paid-for lunches or other simple “thank yous” will go a long way to acknowledging the hard work of the team that's making magic happen.

The implementation doesn’t end the moment you go live. There's still work to do to ensure success. As discussed previously, provide a variety of training and support on an ongoing basis. A favorite medium for ongoing support and training is the “office hours” style meeting. This is an open meeting for anyone to join with multiple expert resources to ask questions. Schedule these “office hours” meetings on a regular basis and encourage team members to join even if they don’t have specific questions. The entire session can be Q&A, and if there aren’t questions, show up with prepared tips and tricks to teach the group. If the meeting is virtual, leverage breakout rooms if someone has a specific issue that wouldn’t necessarily apply to the larger group.

In the planning phase, one step was to determine an agreed-upon definition of success. When the new technology is in place and there has been enough evidence to determine success, it's time to revisit that definition and decide, “Was this a successful implementation based on the agreed-upon definition of success?” If yes, it's time to wrap up the communication plan with a reminder to the team of what success was going to look like and confirmation that it has been achieved. Or, if you have not achieved success, the implementation team should revisit the original definition and determine if the original definition was inaccurate based on new information or if there's additional work to be done.

As discussed, successful technology implementations are rare. Following these steps will help you and your organization achieve success and limit the frustrations and anxiety frequently experienced during change. It's also worth noting that it will take time for everyone to settle in. Sometimes the most vocal and resistant team members become the biggest advocates of new solutions once they see the results.