Making the transition to new software within an organisation might be fairly smooth at best, and an absolute disaster at worst. Old habits die hard, and many employees and colleagues may feel quite strongly about how things have always been done whenever new software solutions are proposed, so managing the change must come about with plenty of caution.
When transitioning to new risk management software, proper planning will certainly pay off. Below are some tips to help manage the change:
Plan Well in Advance
If you’re in the position to propose changes to risk management software within your organisation, ask yourself some questions first:
Does the existing software provide all of the features you need?
Does the existing software have any major flaws that would be rectified with a new solution?
How much will it cost for a new risk management software solution?
How much time do you reckon it will take to fully adopt the new solution within the organisation?
Will the new software improve on current software, i.e. better risk reporting, better real-time notifications or alerts, more intuitive user interface?
Allow Your IT Experts to Lead the Transition
IT professionals within your organisation should be notified of the proposed change and perhaps you may wish to have initial meetings with them to ensure that the new software is justifiable.
Ultimately, procuring and installing the software on the workstations and devices of colleagues that require it should be spearheaded by your reliable IT team members. Although some colleagues may be hesitant to try out a new software solution, ALL colleagues will certainly be displeased if the initial setup is botched. Leave the job to your IT team.
Communicate and Take Feedback
It’s always best to communicate early and often with colleagues for this type of transition. Initial issues with using the risk management software may come up, so it’s important that you have a plan to address these issues. Compatibility issues or login issues might happen and it’s important that these are resolved quickly so that your colleagues can do what they do best rather than spending hours on troubleshooting.
During communications with colleagues, try to remain empathetic and take note of all feedback, especially critical feedback. It may be possible to come up with suitable compromises when problems arise regarding the change to the new software.
Employ Change Management Strategies
Leading transition within an organisation always comes with unique challenges to overcome. Risk management software is no different in this regard. Team members may express concerns regarding features and functionality of the software, data privacy issues (e.g. GDPR), or compatibility issues on different IT devices.
If you have planned well in advance, then you should be able to adequately respond to most of the important enquiries your colleagues may have.
Review and Review Again
Perhaps your team has come a long way in trying to adopt the new software and there are still hurdles to overcome. Review the progress frequently to ensure that the adoption process is, well, making progress.
If there are major obstacles that you or your colleagues find about the software later on (that were perhaps unforeseen), a thorough review could indicate that the new software is completely inadequate. Better to know this and to turn back earlier rather than later.
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