Hi! Thanks for tuning into this video describing our unique concept of Better Change for business application initiatives.

As you can tell from the intro slide, we went through several iterations of what exactly to call our approach before settling on Better Change. So, in this video, I’m going to describe the basis for better change and how Better Change works. Let’s get started.

Better Change is based on three pillars widely accepted in the industry as necessary to successfully execute change during a business application initiative.

The pillars are:

Applications – we’re talking about business applications that are broad and deep in terms of capability and functionality. Applications with 3 letter acronyms like ERP, CRM and WMS.

People – can also be described as actors. It includes every person who will be impacted by the business application initiative.

Finally, Process – the way YOU get work done. This is where your secret sauce is. This is where you differentiate yourself from the competition. This is the reason people want to come to work for your organization.

Better Change starts with an understanding of how the 3 pillars work together. People ALWAYS create process. Even if you deploy an over-used term in the software “best business practice”, someone designed that process.

Process – your secret sauce – must manifest itself in the application. If you lose your secret sauce because of an application, you need to think hard about the change initiative.

Application – finally, the application is consumed by people – the same people who designed the process. They must be able to see “their” process in the application.

As you can see, people are the start and stop point – everything done within the business application change initiative revolves around them.

In terms of deliverables that are created while executing Better change, their similar to what is normally expected. To document process, process flows, requirements checklists and design documents are created. The application is configured and customizations are developed to make the application conform to your unique processes. Finally, application documentation is created specific to your organization, end-user training materials are developed, classroom training is conducted and post go-live support is put in place.

Here’s the thing though. When planning, most organizations develop a budget and work plan that they believe adequately addresses people change. In reality though, the implementation usually turns out to be harder – much harder – so what’s short-changed? The people part of the project.

So, how does Better Change work and what makes it unique. Great question! Before I start explaining that though, it’s important to note that Better Change is based on concepts taught to me by a friend and mentor, Dr. John J. Sherer. John developed an organizational change paradigm called the “Porpoising Model”. With his permission, we’ve adapted it to address the unique change management required when deploying a business application.

Better Change starts with calling the initiative what it is – a CHANGE initiative. It’s not a software implementation, it’s not a technology deployment. It’s a CHANGE initiative.

It also recognizes 2 essential parts of the initiative. The people, in this case your internal team who’ll be executing the initiative and an application. Either an existing application you’re upgrading or a new application. Let’s call the people the “soft components” and the application and things associated with it, the “hard components”.

Hard components include things like your work breakdown structure and project schedule, the process documentation you’ve developed, the project budget, project reporting mechanisms, and finally, ways to manage project scope.

In terms of the soft components, this is where Better Change starts to get interesting. The first thing we do is change the definition of “internal team”. In Better Change, the internal team includes EVERYONE who will be impacted by the business application. It’s not just the people assigned to the application initiative itself.

In addition to your internal team (who may or may not have worked together in the past), the team will consist of:

• Various folks from the software vendor
• A team of specialists from the application implementation partner
• 3^rd party vendor teams – every deployment of an enterprise class application will involve 3^rd party applications
• A project manager – usually, a consultant who specializes in implementing the business application
• Your customers – yes, your customers. They will be impacted by the change initiative. The impact might be minor (like getting a new invoice format) or it could be major (like requiring all customers to enter their own orders via a customer portal)
• And finally, your suppliers. With the change, you’re also going to want to deploy concepts like EDI to 100% of your supplier base. This will require change on their part.

Most initiatives create a wall between the hard and software components. The wall is only breached in a controlled and deliberate way with something called the “Communication Plan”. It is intended to keep the organization informed of the initiatives progress and create excitement and build momentum within the application user community for the business application.

The problem is, that momentum and excitement is never built. The wall just becomes a wall.

Better change views the wall as a permeable membrane. The initiative must continuously keep the user community informed of progress and solicit feedback as to approach and decisions. In other words, it has make the user community feel like they’re part of the change initiative. In the past, this rarely, if ever, happened. That’s why we created Better Change.

At this point, you might be asking yourself, yeah sounds great, but what is this going to add to my initiative? Another great question. We estimate using Better Change during an initiative will add approx. 5 – 7% to the project budget (time and money). That extra budget allows us to consider all the actors involved in the change and perhaps most importantly, allows you, your initiative and your organization avoid the “Training Trap”.