5 Steps to a Successful Rollout of New Software

Written by KOVA Corp

Rolling out new software like a workforce management suite or a workforce optimization suite is an exciting, yet challenging experience. As a leader in your organization, it’s up to you to make sure your workforce actually reaps the many benefits that this software offers - better productivity, easier communication, and increased efficiency among others.

But as any IT professional will tell you, rolling out new software is a complex process that often includes a few twists and turns. Follow these guidelines to help make your rollout progress smoothly.

1. Establish and document clear business objectives from the outset.

In any rollout, communication is key. You probably know exactly what benefits the new software will bring to your organization from the time you spent building your business case for it. However, you need to remember that your team hasn’t spent nearly as much time thinking about the software as you have.

Even if you’ve already discussed why you’re implementing new software, you need to establish a clear set of business objectives if you’re going to get your whole team fully on board. Share this strategic vision with your team early, before the rollout process begins.

2. Plan when to roll out the new software carefully.

Planning when to roll out your new software is just as important as planning how to do it. Choose a time when your team members don’t have lots of other projects, deadlines, or additional pressures to deal with.

Likewise, it’s probably best to avoid the week around a holiday, when team members may be taking time off or not as focused on their work.

3. Review your current business processes and workflows to identify where changes will need to occur.

Once you’ve established your business objectives, it’s time to start reviewing the way your business currently operates. Using your business objectives as a guide, look at the various processes, workflows, and operations that will be affected by the new software. How are they working currently? Are there specific points at which bottlenecks or confusion tend to occur?

When you’ve identified these points, document them clearly and add this list to your business objectives. Together, these documents will show your team the reasons for adopting the new software.

4. Define any new workflows, processes, and changes in responsibility.

New software will almost undoubtedly mean that certain workflows and processes will change. While many of these changes may be welcome ones, depending on how broken or tedious your current processes are, there will be others that may be met with resistance.

Laying out exactly what will change, and how it will change, will help your team members feel more comfortable and prepared for the new software rollout when it occurs. For each new workflow, define the benefits that the new technology will offer, the steps that must be in place for a successful adoption, and any changes in responsibility that team members may have.

5. Invest in training.

Finding the proper training should be part of your plan from the beginning. Training is key to the success of new software, because if people don’t know how to use it - and especially, if they don’t know how to use it in a way that makes their jobs easier - they won’t bother using it. If that happens, all you’ve gained after all that work is a very expensive program taking up space on your server.

It’s important to schedule the training sessions in a way that will make them the most efficient and effective. While everyone should most likely attend an initial session to introduce them to the new software, after that it may work best to offer smaller, more focused trainings on specific functions or workflows.

This way, team members don’t have to spend inordinate amounts of time learning about features they may never need to use.

Rolling out new software is a complex process, but the benefits these systems can have for your employees are huge. To learn more about how enterprise software solutions can help your contact center, read our post “Revealing the Benefits of Unified Call Center Solutions.”

 

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