Great expectations

Make your information systems better with a good plan and well thought-out implementation

by Christian Burger

Remember that wonderful dream?

Your Information Technology (IT) department installed the “great new system” that would save thousands, streamline billing and job-cost reporting, and make jury-rigged spreadsheets history.

Has the dream come true? Or has the reality kept you awake at night? Sleepless nights are not uncommon when contractors square off with a new software system. Typically, expectations are too high for what the software and vendor can deliver — especially early on.

Reasons for missed expectations
Expectations must be realistic and be communicated to the person or group that must deliver them. Companies may also miss the mark if there is no commitment to truly integrate software into company work practices. Poor training and communication, lack of accountability and discipline, or poor system selection from poor due diligence are all too common.

To be fair, setting lofty goals is not always management’s fault. Vendors make glowing reports about how the system saved one company this or allowed another company to do that, but they rarely share what it takes to make success possible.

Budgeting effort and resources throughout the implementation is vital. Companies often reduce time and effort after they write the check to purchase the system. Companies should conserve energy and resources for after the purchase. This gives them the legs to make it through implementation.

Companies also believe users can train themselves on the software. We’ve worked with a range of construction companies — from $1.5 billion heavy-highway contractors to 150-person regional specialized general contractors — and in our experience, making users figure out systems and user-interfaces by themselves doesn’t work.

It’s not fair to ask people under pressure to perform and to learn a new system on their own. If they don’t readily understand it, they’ll use what they have in the past.

Manage change
Management may be unwilling to enforce a new way of doing business. Lack of accountability and discipline can sabotage even the best system. If a company invests in a new system and then doesn’t require workers to adopt it, it may as well just throw the money away.

Mandating that reports and data be in a specific format can cripple a new system. We call this the “Has-To-Be-This-Way” syndrome, which can create special programming needs. In most cases, the highly formatted reports and output weren’t really needed. The reason is usually, “Because it’s always been that way.” Explore these requests carefully. Users often find they don’t need the report or process at all with the new system.

Lack of due diligence
Many times, the IT department is saddled with the job of selection and implementation.

The IT department should not be at the beginning and end of all software upgrades. Instead, its job is to make sure the software can work on the company’s system and can integrate with other systems.

Selection and implementation should happen at the department level. The committee, made up of “super-users” from a variety of departments who are closest to the work, should evaluate software. Then, once the selection is made, super-users become great trainers and troubleshooters. The selection process makes them key advocates.

However, too much autonomy at the department level can cause them to become awestruck by the software’s capabilities and complexities and devote too much time and resources to implementation.

Once the system is in place, it’s important to give feedback to the system vendor. You can help improve the software by telling your vendor about the gaps in how you want to use it. Developers are working on modifications that won’t appear for 12 to 18 months. Find out what they hope to offer in future releases and see if it fits your needs.

Get top-down support
With departments in charge of selection and implementation, the process will only be successful if there is commitment and vision from top management.

Management is most concerned about risk, control, information security and accuracy and user reactions. It hears chatter within the organization about how the systems are performing. Teams selecting and implementing systems must ask users and management the right questions to help them select the best product. Ask thought-provoking questions to help develop a vision:

1.) What is most important to your business? Is it managing costs or controlling risk?

2.) How can automation and technology help? Can it provide greater access to information or overall greater efficiency?

3.) Where is the business heading? Is it becoming decentralized? More customer-focused? Increasingly diversified?

4.) What is the culture of your organization? How do you manage change? Do you tend to be long on vision and short on commitment?

Think about where your company is on the scale of efficiency and operability, compare that to industry best practices, and then decide where you want to be and how quickly. List the steps it will take to get there. Build no more than six to eight objectives and get your team, including management, to sign off on them.

From there, your company can work with a core team to identify systems and begin implementation.

During the selection process and at the beginning of the implementation, it’s better to rely on a few core people. This step is much like looking into a sausage factory – it can be very messy! Bring others in as the system is closer to implementation.

As systems become more complex, implementation is more expensive and harder than ever before. Having super-users at the forefront of the process will give the team confidence and the horsepower to pull off the full implementation.

When looking at systems, balance the flexibility and power of the system with ease-of-use within your organization. Sophisticated users can handle change quickly; less sophisticated users need training and change management to adopt the new software solution.

If you put a system in that’s easy to use but constrains how you manipulate information, you’ll still end up with spreadsheets running the business. But if the new system is powerful and flexible, it may overwhelm users and end up costing the company too much for something that won’t get implemented.

Every case is different; every company identifies different needs and requirements. From the outset, you have to establish where your company is on the continuum and decide what’s best for your organization.

Editor’s note: Christian Burger is  president of Burger Consulting Group, a specialized IT consultancy that works with construction companies. Learn more at www.burgerconsulting.com.

Published in the July/August 2005 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

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