frank ERP transformation

ERP: The Ultimate BusinessImperative // How to Inspire Human Transformation in the Heat of Tech Transformation //frank files// © frank., llc | areyoufrank.com

IT: Finance, Ops, HR, meetMarketing, Internal Comms and ... oh yes, LegalWhile it’s often the case that innovative, business-intelligence 3. While tech transformation makes complete sense to ITinitiatives are driven by visionary IT leaders, all functional folks and business analysts, it can be experienced as aleaders are needed on the ERP branding, education, severe, long-term migraine to other employees. Thetraining and implementation team. The sooner the better – sooner leadership can bridge that gap and create a commonfor at least five very important reasons: understanding, the more efficiently and effectively you’ll optimize your multi-million dollar technology investment.1. Any organization going through extensive ERPtransformations can expect different levels of internal 4. We know it but often deny it: it’s never about theresistance from folks. That’s natural. Big changes require technology, it’s about the people. End-user adoption ispower and control to be shifted from one part of the critical to successful software implementation and its on-organization to another. And that affects people in all corners going optimization.of a company. 5. ROI rules. Everyone on the team wants to add impressive2. Since you’re likely shooting for “one-ness,” that is, a results to their resumes, so bonding earlier, watching eachmore cohesive, collaborative organization with your ERP other’s back, supporting each other’s strengths and filling intransformation, modeling this at the outset builds the weaknesses will ultimately generate the best integratedcredibility. business results. © frank., llc | areyoufrank.com

co-createa tangible brand with a nice smile :) A brand? Yes, develop a durable brand identity about the business-critical nature of your transformation mission. You’ll be dealing with this transformation for years, so keep the communications real, fresh and frequent. Build the brand into the flow of everyone’s work. Into every meeting conversation. Into performance evals. (Gotta love brilliant IT leaders, but they often don’t care about this brand stuff. See why you need a totally collaborative leadership team to implement all of this?)Take it from Flo: Progressive Insurance does a And: inspire employee-participation in this brand right away. brilliant job of making the intangible tangible. Make sure the name, the theme, the tagline ties to the big pic business vision See the goods here: http://pgrs.in/i9RUnA and has some teeth in the most challenging parts of your organization. You’re shooting for buy-in at all levels of the org so make sure the overarching brand is clear, simple, compelling. Flexible enough for everyone to see themselves and the work they do in it. Disciplined enough to keep everyone accountable. © frank., llc | areyoufrank.com

If you’ve recruited well, you have a core ERP team with a lot of experienceand foresight. (And they’ve come back for more!) Fact is, your core ERP teamloves this stuff so flatten things out and listen to them. About the attitudes in thedivisions and departments from which they came. Where things will be a joy.Where change will get turbulent. Where the blind spots are.Inspire them to co-create and evangelize an integrated, long-term roadmap. Arm them with the right tactics to communicate the right message at theright time. Employees will be impressed at the precision and passion of this Learn how brands build word-of-mouthteam, which will speak volumes about your overall ERP program management. marketing and bring some of those ideas inside. Check out these evangelism case studies from WOMMA: http://bit.ly/hWOVLZNo doubt you’ve got heroes on your ERP core team. Also make it their jobto find new shining stars throughout your organization. And find ways toamplify those authentic voices every chance you get. People pay attention topeople helping people – especially during trying ERP times!unleash a communityof ERPvangelists © frank., llc | areyoufrank.com

educate &empowermagnificent managers Are your managers all in – or do they have one foot out the door? Everyone knows the research about great talent ready to bail when the economy improves. Since your managers are the linchpin to Create a new deal for success between leadership and employees, take the time to check in to see if they’re ready to check out. middle managers: “Middle managers are critical to improving Big changes can challenge managers the most. So get ‘em on board. overall employee engagement and Then, load them up with cascading education materials about thecorporate performance. They see the vision transformation ahead. Build them a special Manager’s Kit chock full of at the top and the pain at the bottom.”- Boston Consulting Group white paper, inside-info about your ERP campaign and their role in it. Give them http://bit.ly/ib7OQ9 plenty of answers to questions you know will be coming from employees. Point the spotlight on those managers making magic with their teams. BlessingWhite research confirms that successful managers leverage relationships not skills: now’s the perfect time for these team members to deepen their commitment to their people. © frank., llc | areyoufrank.com

employee roll out: (with a special nod to Deb Smith working the third shift in your Peoria plant)Want some gritty business insights? Want a reality check? Want to be relevantin all of your future communications to all levels of the organization? Thencreate a plan for all senior leaders to get out there and talk to people in the cubes, onthe phones, at the plant, on the retail floor ... wherever your front-line customercontact is. Those folks will tell you how it is in plain language without the high-gloss Take it fromPowerPoint slides. the Mayor: Make like Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory who ditched theThen listen. Explain your plan. Then listen some more. That’s it. Don’t try to cuff-links and C-level posturingconvince anyone about anything yet. The listening is the thing that will be pay big to undercover and gain first-dividends later. (Of course you’ll want to catch a lot of this on video or with photos: hand insights into the city’ssincere outreach can be leveraged time and time again at all levels of the municipal departments.communications campaign ahead. Employee ownership of this transformation is key.) - Undercover Boss, 3/6/11, http://bit.ly/euKiO7Sounds simple but it’s not what typically happens. Just remember: when folks seea genuine attempt to be heard and contribute to the big picture strategy, theynaturally support the final approach more passionately. © frank., llc | areyoufrank.com

build anarchitecture of participationWe’ve heard it before: change is a positive when we do it to ourselves, it’s anegative when it’s done to us. So don’t just push communications on people.Pull them into the conversation and give them plenty of room to co-create solutions Boost brain powerbased on what’s happening in the trenches. with SBS power:You can do this with a blended mix of communications that leverages the insights, Consider Social Business Softwarelearnings and themes from the earlier ideas. You can do this by implementing the (SBS) to make more of the amazinglatest collaborative, internal technologies to keep employees up to date work people are doing. Play with Brainpark.com as an example. It learnswhile giving them 24/7 ways to not only join the conversation but get into action in what employees are working on, deliversco-creating new solutions. (And of course, while blueprinting your communications related and relevant information fromcampaign, be sure to respect different learning styles, locations and online within the company, then connectsaccess.) employees with co-workers to collaborate to get the job done more effectively.It’s tough just telling people to “be social, be collaborative” and expect results –especially if they haven’t worked that way before. The real opportunity is to bakecollaboration into the campaign itself. © frank., llc | areyoufrank.com

This pageintentionally left blank. Create a tight, integrated approach. Roll with it. Stick to it. Trust it. Then let go of it occasionally. Simply watch, listen and live with your community. Quietly. They’ll give you plenty of great new ideas. Learn to see them. © frank., llc | areyoufrank.com

refine. recognize. reward. repeat... Finally: “Go Live!” with energy, excitement and ... err, humility. Yes, every new release should be celebrated. And leave plenty of room for real conversations about, well, the things that just didn’t go as planned. Games are A frank friend is fond of saying: “Perfection in the team is moregame changers. important than perfection in the product.” The hard data will show you Powerful way to get folks all the ways to improve with each release – from a technical point of view. engaged? Gamify your Then, also stay committed to improving your global team along the way. communications campaign Kick open up the public discussion about what worked, what didn’t, what futureby offering points, status and recognition for authentic, release-teams should anticipate and improve. Celebrate the success. long-term participation. And continue to build an open, collaborative platform for everyone to contribute - Rack up the ideas at: and amplify their voice of experience about all that’s ahead. http://bit.ly/gp99jc In the end, the best way to increase your company’s business intelligence is to harness your company’s collective intelligence. © frank., llc | areyoufrank.com

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frank ERP transformation

by frank on Mar 10, 2011

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frank ERP transformation — Presentation Transcript