In today's fast-moving business environment, digital transformation is here to stay. Historical analysis and future-facing insights show that companies are continuously moving away from legacy software or recycling through newer tech to gain efficiencies, enter new markets, or meet operational goals.
Consider enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, which touch every aspect of a business -- IT, finance, HR, logistics, you name it. In retail, for example, they're used to manage inventory in real time, improving visibility across the supply chain and ideally lowering operating costs. In the produce industry, businesses use ERP systems for everything from working with growers to planting the right varietals to meet demand to distributing produce in the right packaging. These systems are foundational and business-critical.
From ERPs to CRM tools, human resources information systems, and more, tech implementations are far more than an upgrade -- each is a massive, multiyear undertaking that requires dismantling legacy systems, replacing them with cutting-edge solutions, and aligning policies and procedures to support them. If not managed properly, they can significantly disrupt operations across the organization.
This is where change management becomes indispensable. With millions, sometimes even billions, of dollars at stake, the margin for error is slim. Change management mitigates risks by ensuring that people across the organization are aligned, engaged, and prepared to adopt new systems and processes.
Here's what you need to know and do to successfully manage change and support your organization through an enterprise tech implementation.
Change managers are dedicated to ensuring that people recognize the value of the investment and are supported through the implementation. They're like "honest brokers," identifying gaps in the design and raising concerns the technical team might miss. They ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding the goals and expectations of the new system.
That's why bringing change managers in early during the design and build phases is crucial. They identify "from-to" changes: What processes are shifting from the old system to the new one? It also allows for the development of comprehensive change management strategies that align with the project's overall goals.
In addition, most enterprise tech solutions require customization to meet the unique needs of the organization. Change managers play a vital role in documenting these customizations across various functions and user groups, and this ultimately informs the enablement and training required ahead of go-live.
If you're doing a full-scale system overhaul, you'll need more change management support than you would for a minor update. Customization and cross-functional impact drives up complexity and requires even more detailed change management.
Match your investment in change management to the complexity of your project to protect your investment in the new system. Ideally, you can expect to spend 7.5 percent to 10 percent of the total project budget on change management activities.
The role of a change manager also involves gathering feedback and keeping users engaged. It's not just about training people -- it's also about ensuring that they are part of the process from the beginning.
Change managers act as listeners, connectors, and problem solvers throughout implementation. For a smooth enterprise tech implementation, you need to work with key functional users to outline what the old system doesn't do and what the new system needs to do better. This helps in gathering comprehensive requirements and addressing concerns upfront.
Because it can be difficult to connect with each individual user in the organization, another way to engage users is through a "change network" of influential individuals across functions and levels. By enabling them to act as "change champions" with basic change management communication skills and additional insights into the project, they can help encourage and support the greater organization.
After cataloging all the changes, the change management team needs to determine what kind of communications and training is needed to support each of the different user groups. When you look at the number of user groups, the complexity of plans, and the level of support required to execute them, it quickly becomes a multi-person effort.
Change managers lead this planning, ensuring that people are aware of and equipped to succeed in the new system. They may then be required to build the training materials; organize and host training sessions; draft communications, presentations, and talking points; and provide support resources to help users adapt to the new system while still managing their regular duties. These responsibilities require the change management team to partner with the tech team for development and material review and with business partners on delivery. Consider distributing change management roles based on training or communication development efforts or by business function support.
Change management can help justify the investment of time and money spent on implementation by measuring the organization's progress toward successful adoption. This also allows the change management team to assess what efforts are working well and where more support is needed.
One way to measure success is through readiness surveys to assess the organization's awareness, alignment, ability, and adoption throughout the project life cycle. You may also consider tracking engagement activities, such as participation in town hall presentations, training completions, or interactions with updates on an intranet or message board.
As data is pulled, presenting it to key project leadership via a dashboard can provide a sense of reassurance the team is either on track or aware of any necessary strategy adjustments needed.
Change management shouldn't end at go-live. Hypercare is critical for sustained success -- by providing ongoing, real-time support for a period of time following implementation and gathering and responding to immediate feedback, the change management team can help prevent any major disruptions to business operations and adoption of the new tool.
Real-time support and feedback could include pre-scheduled office hours to answer questions, available virtual technical support for troubleshooting, or just-in-time pulse surveys for feedback. As these efforts are implemented, change managers track issues and feedback, reporting them to the appropriate owner for resolution, and communicate solutions back to the users. Without this activity, an organization creates gaps for its users to disengage and resist the new tool, wasting its investment.
An enterprise technology implementation is more than just an IT project -- it's a catalyst for transformation that touches every corner of the organization. By prioritizing change management, you can set your teams up for success. Start early, right-size your resources, and focus on training, communications, and stakeholder engagement throughout the process. Along the way, measure your progress and ensure that your support extends beyond go-live. In the end, change management ensures that people recognize the value of the investment; with such large projects, you can't afford to miss.