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Project planning software: successfully deploying it every time
Project planning
Change Management

Project planning software: successfully deploying it every time

Estelle
Content manager
June 15, 2022
5 min

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When it comes to implementing project planning software (or any other tool intended for all of your services) within your company, that of change management is not very far away. Dreaded (wrongly) by businesses of all sizes, the deployment of new software leads to many concerns and questions. These questions are also very present in the context of project planning software, since the latter impacts the management of the company at all levels. It can therefore be important to create an internal project team, which will work with the software publisher throughout the deployment.

Without further ado, this article shows you all the steps that businesses need to go through. Happy reading!

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Preparing the ground through initialization & configuration

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The very first step, in order to successfully implement your project planning software, is to prepare well for your arrival. The company in charge of implementing your brand new software must first of all collect the internal data of the company that you want to integrate into your tool. Data recovery includes data related to your customers, employees, projects, etc.

You will then have to ensure the configuration and connection of your planning software, with the rest of your tools: CRM, ERP, SIRH, ATS, etc. Whether carried out by the publisher of your planning tool or by your internal teams, the interfacing must make it possible to implement the new tool in the IT ecosystem without losing data and without the risk of double entry. The second step also involves setting up your software, as well as building a skills framework if you still don't have one. You can also ensure the customization of the tool: creation of dedicated KPIs, platform branding, creation of flows adapted to your internal processes, etc.

In order to finalize the configuration, you will have to go through the customization of the tool: creation of dedicated KPIs, platform branding, creation of flows and processes, etc.

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Adapt the solution to your processes and not the other way around

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Once the initialization and configuration phase is complete, it is now time to focus on the core of your project. Dedicated teams support you on a daily basis in order to help you:

  • Build your dynamic skills mapping, based on an evolving skills framework that will allow you today and tomorrow to identify the most relevant employees for each mission.
  • Build and respect data flows and validation workflows that correspond to your processes. A project planning tool must be constantly renewed in order to stay in line with the goals and needs of your business.

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At the end of this stage, you can choose to test your new software on a small part of your teams. In other words, a group of employees test the platform for a given period of time, in order to provide the publisher with the necessary adjustments before deploying it across your workforce.

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Giving pride of place to onboarding and training

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Probably the most important step: focus on onboarding and training. A company that offers you a quality project planning tool must also provide you with trainers. They will support and train one or more employees within your company.

These ambassadors will participate in the development of the tool in more than one way:

  • Give feedback from the teams on the advantages and obstacles to the project planning software,
  • Report all questions and bugs detected,
  • Follow the completion of your platform,
  • Develop immediate and future needs.

These ambassadors are your best asset, since they are in a position to explain the solution to all of your teams, to highlight the advantages and their daily impact. You have therefore implemented a project planning software that is perfectly highlighted by your employees. It's a win-win solution, as trainers and learners work hand in hand.

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Good to know: do you know the job of talent manager? This profession is increasingly in demand on the web. Among other things, he aims to be the link between the human resources department and managers. He thus knows what the needs of all managers and their teams are, before reporting the needs instantly to HR. Headhunter, he participates with HR in interviews during recruitment and also has the mission of detecting the right profiles (hard skills/soft skills) at first glance.

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Monitoring the project, deployment and use of the platform

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It is essential to provide feedback to your planning software publisher, even after deploying and launching the software. To do this, be sure to schedule regular follow-up points (weekly at first, then monthly), in order to request changes and/or adjustments to use, etc...

The deployment monitoring makes it possible to verify the consistency of the software and the company's problems, to refine the software to make it live at the pace of the company's evolution.

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To remember

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Implementing a new planning tool (or any software) in your business is not a project to be taken lightly. Ensuring its adoption involves all the steps mentioned above. And don't forget: it is the role of your software publisher to support you throughout the deployment (and after)!

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Do you want to go deeper into the subject? We have lots of resources at your disposal to help you go further.

In addition to this subject, find our checklist”Succeed in your digital transformation project every time”.‍

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Also discover our guides, templates and checklists in the Resources tab.

See you soon at Napta!

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