We change our tools and then our tools change us.
A key question is how to deal with the change in an organisation, when moving from a ‘traditional’ system to a ‘tool-based’ one.
There are many effective change management methods you can use to best support your employees during the transition process, and to manage any resistance that may arise.
In fact, for an organisation to successfully adopt a crisis management tool, the whole business needs to adapt and evolve together.
To achieve this, we recommend several essential elements:
- Communicate promptly about the upcoming project and the details of any ‘structural’ changes needed to incorporate the tool
- Involve the employees targeted by this change to identify their needs and training requests, and address these through a series of workshops. While it is essential to listen to the needs of your teams, it’s important they understand the parameters of the tool’s capabilities.
- Know how to decide: Be clear on what you’re looking to achieve, so you can decide which functionalities and approaches are most critical to your business”
- Train: Ensure all personnel who may be involved in a potential crisis are trained and kept updated on any tool-related upgrades or developments
- Take the time to define your tool essentials in line with the wider business need – once clear, this will help you identify the right organisational structure.
When it comes to implementing any tool, it can often be beneficial to adopt a three-way approach, involving the organization, the tool’s creators, and an independent consulting company that can support the adoption process.
It goes without saying that the consultancy must already be familiar with the tool. This will help you take a step back from the decision-making process, while also enabling ongoing reviews to determine the roll-out success at every stage, from configuration and set up to pilot runs and final adoption.
It is essential to understand that the transition from a ‘traditional’ to a ‘tool-based’ way of working is reliant on robust adaptation and change management.
Similarly, it’s important to think about how the tool will be administrated. You will need to allocate one, or ideally more, resources to manage your tool to ensure it operates successfully under any condition.
Furthermore, employees will need time to get used to the tool and its design. Don’t forget that this tool may be replacing a well-established work pattern, so employees will need to understand their role within the platform, and its likely use – whether regular or not.
Whilst change management can be done in several stages, involving gradually different scopes, successful implementation will depend on the original strategy.
