People in your business are as important to the process as the technology you upgrade or implement.
When businesses look at technological improvements, the is a hyper-focus on the tech solution design without engaging the right end users.
Over the years, I have seen a misunderstanding of existing processes because pivotal staff had not been given the opportunity to contribute during the discovery stage or strategic design.
Engagement with end users can give project owners remarkable insights into current processes impacting the type of solution and UX layout.
Booking training at the end of implementation is not enough; this is often the first-time end users are exposed to the project and raise vital information.
This approach can be costly and could have easily been discussed in the discovery phase had there been the opportunity.
A great example of the importance of engagement is a retail client implementing a new POS to be rolled out to over 200 stores.
The team running the project had enlisted the assistance of two long-time store managers to quantify what they had designed before proceeding.
The store managers highlighted that it contradicted the policies and procedures manual they had referred to over the last few decades.
The project team were new and unaware that this document existed, and had they proceeded without engagement, the impacts would have been significant.
Understanding and clearly defining the processes with key staff is vital to the system design. It is also imperative to regularly engage key staff throughout the project to validate system and process changes.
Not only will this ensure that the solution is fit for purpose, but gives a sense of ownership to the end users.