Published on:
February 22, 2024
At this point, you’re probably convinced on how a construction management software can benefit your company – whether it’s driving up efficiency or protecting your profits that you are after.
However, you are not Aladdin and you don’t have a magical genie in a lamp that would just magically implement your construction management software in a snap of a finger. Implementing software is not as simple as changing a step in a workflow – it involves a lot of changes that can be difficult and complex to successfully orchestrate.
In many cases, digital implementations fail because of poor change management – not because the software was inadequate or “not working.” Imagine this: you drive to work everyday and then all of a sudden they ban the use of cars in your city. At first, you’d get mad but then realize you need to find another way to get to work (or maybe find a new job?). You then decide to just take the train to work, you study the timetable and train changes, you buy more comfortable shoes so you could walk around, you even shuffle around some scheduled activities – you get the drill. This same scenario is what employees go through when they learn of a new software that is being implemented in the company.
Even the most tech-savvy person in the company would take a deep breath when faced with a new software to use. Again, it’s not because the software isn’t user-friendly or anything, it’s simply because it’s new: a new process, a new user-interface, and maybe even a new set of business rules. Many people are comfortable in having a routine, and new software can disrupt that in varying degrees.
If you’ve previously tried introducing a new software in your company, you know that some people can be resistant to these changes. Therefore, it’s critical to lead your staff to adapt to change and give them everything they need so they won’t feel overwhelmed along the way. This overwhelming feeling creates frustration, which then creates tension among employees, and ultimately can even lead to exits – all of which you don’t want to happen.
As mentioned, even the best software in the world would be rendered useless if user acceptance is not achieved. Here are some tips that would help you ensure successful change management when implementing a construction management software:
You (and your change management team/committee) needs to take a significant amount of time and energy in creating a change management strategy, even before you start implementing the software. Using a model might be helpful in kickstarting the strategy development, examples include: Kotter’s 8-Step Process or Prosci’s ADKARⓇ Model or Lewin’s Change Management Model.
Other than being comprehensive (identifying risks of resistance or other potential problems), your strategy also needs to be flexible, with you and your team constantly revisiting the strategy plan and adjusting short- and long-term objectives and realigning activities as you deem fit.
Oftentimes software implementations are rushed – whether to protect a competitive advantage, or executives underestimating the time and cost it takes to change, or to avoid losing momentum when it comes to employees’ enthusiasm. This is why having a clear and sensible timeline with goals along the way are necessary to manage everyone’s expectations.
True and effective change takes time, and you need to have realistic goals outlined across a clear timeline. This way you will have short- and long-term goals that your team can monitor and flag if tweaks are needed along the way.
Breaking down your strategy into goals also allows employees to buy into change easier simply because it’s less overwhelming – they see week-on-week or month-on-month what needs to happen and what their contributions would be to achieve those goals. Goals paired with training and constant support coming from your change management team or the software provider will make the whole process less scary. Also, having these goals will help you outline your communications and rewards plan better (as you’d see in #4 and #5).
In your planning stage, you need to assess how the introduction of the software into your operations may impact your employees and identify possible points of resistance from them (therefore risks to a successful implementation). Who would most likely be resistant? Why would they resist? How do we ease the use of the software? Are there interim options? These are some of the questions you need to ask early on, instead of just firefighting once you’re already undergoing implementation.
You need to map out how to properly address any fears, anxieties, misunderstandings, and even discomfort that your employees may have because all of these come with any change. They need to feel that you’re actively working with them to make this implementation work – and not just forcing the software into their day-to-day lives.
You probably don’t want to bulldoze your team with a construction management software without proper alignment with all members. This alignment will come from a communication that complement the strategy. The best practice is to plan for these pieces of communication to be short, clear, consistent, and sent constantly. Whether it’s a staff meeting, or an email, or an SMS blast – each of these communication channels presents an opportunity to educate the team why implementing a construction management software is important and how it would benefit them.
That last bit is very important. While employees care about the organization, the fact is they care more about themselves. That’s why you need to clearly identify how the software would help them work faster, reduce errors, make better decisions, etc. Being unable to communicate these individual benefits could lead to employees seeing the initiative as a distraction or an unnecessary addition to their already sizeable workload.
Furthermore, you need to engage your employees and encourage providing constant feedback from them during implementation. This will help bring to light other grievances that may not have been identified earlier. Don’t expect all employees to openly share their concerns with you and your change management team in formal settings like via email or in a general assembly. Employees usually do the “real talk” in the most casual of scenarios – while taking a coffee break in the pantry, waiting for the elevator at the lobby, etc. Make sure you have these casual conversations with them and take note of the points they raise.
Once you have a clearly defined strategy (along with execution and communication plans that directly address risks) and goal posts (both short- and long-term), the last thing you need to do is bake into the timeline a budget and a schedule to incentivize the achievement of goals. This applies to your own change management team, but more importantly to the entire organization.
Recognizing small wins at every step of the change process will create a positive reinforcement on the change that everyone is going through and will also keep the momentum up and sustain enthusiasm among employees. Design company-, team-, and individual-level commendations, as these would communicate that there’s something in it for everyone. If you can gamify the process, even better. From something as simple as going live on a module to something as big as achieving measurable business metrics (like cost reduction).
In light of #5, having quick wins means also starting small in your implementation. ERP-style implementations where the software needs to be rolled out company-wide from day 1 oftentimes yield dismal outcomes, with the process becoming seemingly never-ending to the point that someone pulls the plug and the whole initiative becomes a failure. That’s why we recommend finding a construction management software that can be implemented module by module, project by project. This way, the goal becomes more bite-size and achievable. The next thing you know, your entire company is fully digitized and everyone’s happily using the software.
Define your strategy, break it down into short- and long-term goals to manage expectations, address resistance through engaging communications, and reward achievements every step of the way. These are the key ingredients to a successful change management when implementing a new construction management software.
We designed Steer to be modular that grows with your business, making it easy for your team to adopt it and embrace changes for the better. Learn more about it by visiting www.steerplatform.com and booking an introductory call with us.
