How to overcome obstacles when looking to adopt new systems

23 September 2021

Implementing new systems and processes isn’t easy. It has significant challenges attached that need to be factored into the decision of whether now is the right time to implement change.

But adopting new systems represents a huge opportunity for your business. Whether it’s servicing your customers better, operating more efficiently, increasing the automation… the list goes on.

So how can you tell if the benefits outweigh the challenges?

We’ll explore the key challenges when facing the adoption of new systems here and offer some suggestions as to how you can overcome these challenges.

Resistance from your team

This one point could be split into plenty more challenges linked to people. There’s no getting away from it, though, your team need to understand WHY a new system is needed and HOW the solution is going to make their jobs easier or add value to the business.

One of the key ways to get your team on board is to involve them in every step of the process. Involve them in the brief, helping to define the scope of the project and the key functionality of the new system.

And keep them involved throughout, invite them to demos, shortlisting and then throughout the implementation process, too.

Not only will they add value to the process with their hands-on experience, but if they have been involved in the selection process, they’ll be more likely to support and adopt the new system.

It doesn’t need to be the full team, though. Decisions don’t often get made quickly if there’s a huge committee involved. If you’ve got a large team, or multiple teams involved, assign department champions to lead the project and gather feedback from the rest of the team.

Can we afford it?

This is a question we hear a lot. We find that the easiest way to answer this question is to turn it around; can you afford NOT to?

There’s a reason you’ve started looking at new systems. It may be time wasted, opportunities missed, no visibility of key information; whatever the reason, you’ve already identified that there is a cost involved in standing still.

If you’re questioning whether you can afford to adopt the software, build a cost/benefit analysis to understand when you’ll see a return.

Set a target of how you want to improve (check out this blog for a nice guide on how to put this together) and forecast when you’ll see a return on the investment.

You’ll be surprised how quickly you’ve paid off that initial investment.

We haven’t got the time

This is very similar to the second point about being able to afford the project because we all know that time is money.

As part of your cost analysis and project plan, you should factor in the time it will take to adopt a new system.

Say 2-3 months for design and implementation, a further month for training and adoption as a guide. The point is how much of YOUR time will this take. Will you be required to create or customise the solution, or is this led by the supplier?

If you’re time-poor or have little experience, a more consultancy-led implementation could be the best way forward as they’ll spend the time getting to know your business and tailoring the solution to your needs.

The point is that you should factor in the implementation of the system when scoping out the right type of solution. This will help you to find the right tools for your business.

Conclusion

There’s so much more to consider, and these three points could be explored in much greater detail, but the overarching point is that there’s always a reason not to do something.

With a thorough cost/benefit analysis and implementation strategy, you should be able to take the pain away from your journey, or at least identify where the pain is likely to come from and mitigate the circumstance.

If you’d like to discuss your reservations about a project with us, we’d be happy to give more advice on how you can ensure your new systems are adopted.