Earlier, I wrote...
> >Re the thread started by Steve Harper's inquiry about change management and
> >including Jack Ring's somewhat acerbic comment about ERP in general (which
> >was raised by Steve).
To which Jack Ring replied...
>Fred,
>Sorry about your need to hang labels on my views. Hope you recover.
I'll probably get over it; some kind of bug most likely. And I'm sorry to
hear your skin has gotten so thin. Hope you get over that, too.
>But to the real question Steve posed -- are you saying that
>technology-driven change will be more acceptable simply by thinking about
>your questions? Or must one *do* something, and if so, what?
Yes, one must do something; one must always do something unless one has
determined that deliberate inaction is the appropriate thing to do (or not
do as would seem to be the case). Mostly one must ask and keep asking
questions until the uncertainty regarding what to do is reduced to the
point where action can be taken.
Repeating a portion of my earlier post:
>Who are the user communities?
One must identify them. That usually means asking questions about who uses
the system and for what purposes. This questioning continues until no new
user groups have been identified.
>Where are they? (Physically and organizationally)
One must locate them. Are they all at one site or at several sites? Are
they in one geographic area or several? Are they in one, a few or all
organizational units?
>How are they organized?
One must determine how they all relate to one another. Are they connected
by the kind of work they do? By their profession? By a work process? Or
is their only connection the system they use?
>Who are their leaders?
One must determine how they are led (and managed). Do their bosses speak
for them or are informal leaders the real centers of influence? Do they
stick together or are they easily divided and ruled? Who speaks for the
various subsets of the user community? Officially? Unofficially? Do they
even have any leaders?
(I'm skipping the next few)
>Who are the quiet influencers?
>What are their concerns?
>What is their power base?
>How can we enlist their support?
Will it be enough to go to them with the business case for the new system
(if there is one) or will they require a stronger sell? What benefits
accrue to them from the new system and how can we focus their attention on
these? What do we want from them in the way of support (e.g., timely
notification of glitches, ideas for their resolution, etc.)? What channels
of communication need to be set up to facilitate this communication?
>How can we involve them in truly meaningful ways?
Can we get them to act as "glitch detectors"? Can we make a meaningful
contribution out of finding fault with the system? Can we get them to
volunteer to check out "fixes" to glitches that others have
identified? Can we get them to construct "test cases" to push through the
system as a way of identifying glitches?
>How do we keep them in the loop?
>How will missteps be handled?
One must engage the user community, Jack. How one does that varies with
the system, the company, the user community, the culture, the history of
prior interventions, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
Do you have a particular case in mind?
--
Fred Nickols
The Distance Consulting Company
"Assistance at A Distance"
http://home.att.net/~nickols/distance.htm
nickols@worldnet.att.net
(609) 490-0095