I think people like short and sometimes too short deadlines on a project work. In this way, there is always a bit of a pressure and no time to relax. I am not going to discuss here if this is good or not, but let me just say that normal, realistic deadlines are better for a project and better for all involved partners.
Some could say that short deadlines and fast implementation can reduce your initial costs.
There is nothing wrong with this kind of thinking and it is true in some cases - when you have prepared your project, as it should be.
But if you are implementing something that is not out of a box product and needs many adaptations, then it is much better to do your job well, professionally and fast but not too fast just to finish the first part of the project in due time.
You may ask,why.
The answer is simple. Because you will have higher cost of support later on, after the first step of the implementation is over.
How to Work with Users
Users can find an overnight change of their usual application very stressful.
Sometimes they are given just a few hours of prior training, probably carried out weeks too early.
Be patient, even if you think that the first day is the worst day, it is not.
Example of Good Practice:
After starting with a new programme, there was a lot of grumbling among the users, and there were complaints. Therefore, we decided that the OU that was the first to adopt the new system would receive daily training,every morningfor at least an hour. Every day we went trough the same procedure as the previous day and at the end, I added something new. This drill lasted for ten consecutive working days. It sounds a lot or even too much but the participants were our employees, our users who will have to work on a new system for the next few years, every single working day.
It was worth doing it! The users gained confidence in their work and skills, and were no longer afraid of new procedures they had to deal with.
There were some comments about the application, how nothing was like it should have been etc.
I would say those are almost regular and typical comments in such situations.
The first few days I was repeating myself, but in the next days things slowly changed to better.
The progress was significant and the users started to work more and more without help.
I planned to give them as much time as they needed. They knew they could ask someone if there was a problem and they knew they were not left alone. Normal working processes were a little bit slower at the beginning, users needed more time for a routine work then before, but that is normal and expected.
{There are always some users who think that they do not need this. Those users are troublemakers and you have to be very strict with them. Fighting with them is a waste of time. It is much better to make a working process better for others who will later on force the troublemakers to apply the new system.}
First Cold Shower:
I had the very first big confrontation with a manager of this OU after the first month of the implementation.
His/her comments were such as:
- Nothing is working as planned,
- we cannot work like this,
- this is a big step back,
- we want to work as we did before,
- we want all our data back in the way it was before...
This kind of a decision cannot be made only by one person, since the project is more strategic.
I tried to get out of those complaints as much information as I could. I told them to be patient and that a final decision was to be made after a month on a review meeting.
The first reaction was to interview all employees who were involved in a working process within that OU. As I suspected, there were no real complaints form their side, except some technical problems and some bug reports. But their work was going on normally and it was getting better every day.
I stated looking for a reason for such a negative attitude at the morning's meeting. I found out that (I could have realized earlier) there were users who did not want to work with the new application and were trying to manipulate their superiors because they were late with their own work (Human resources is another topic).
First Success
After a week there was the first big success. A user who had been looking for a solution for his work process for a long time told me he was really happy because the whole new system that covered business processes of the entire OU ended up helping him to reduce the time spent on his own work. We are talking about time reduction by 40%.
I could write some more examples, but after that first period of training, things have improved.
- Now the users find the application useful,
- it helps them organize their work,
- it speeds up some of the processes,
- they have better control over their work, and, finally,
- it has helped them to automate some working processes so there is less typing and less mistakes and,
- there is also a financial benefit; KPI shows production growth by 30%!
Conclusion
- Plan your project work;
- Spend extra time on teaching;
- Never loose your temper, remember that if this kind a project is stressful for you, try imagine how stressful is for end-users;
- More or less it's all about how you present a new project;
- Remember, it is worth being cooperative with users and open for their questions and problems related to a new project!
