The common scenarios still occur; Maximo Solutions training and change management (CM) are under scoped or not budgeted for. Or a train the trainer approach is decided on, with no consideration to the skills or availability of the in-house training team. The Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CIO survey reports, “Of the top 10 barriers to a successful ERP journey, 5 can be addressed by developing and implementing a structured change management programme”.
You don’t have to spend masses of budget on training and change management, although the recommendation is that 30-50% of the ERP budget should be allocated to training and CM activities.
Gartner clients consistently state that if they could do one thing differently regarding their ERP deployment, they would spend more money and effort on change management and training.
There are some simple and practical activities that are critical and can be managed internally and at low cost. What is important is that there is strong leadership, ownership and expectations are managed.
Train and Coach
Training is a key component of ensuring ROI and long-term value. Our list of training do’s and don’ts is a long one. Here’s a brief summary:
Start with Business Process – Don’t focus on how to use the system – focus on why we do it the way we do and how the system supports your processes.
Role Based Training – Make sure training is relevant. Spend time creating a training matrix and understanding how people need to be supported and what they need to learn for their roles.
Blended Approach – Start with delivering early Awareness sessions (what’s coming and why), followed by system demos, focus workshops, classroom training, eLearning and post go-live coaching. Keep the users engaged and informed throughout the whole process.
Classroom Training – It needs to be interactive and hands on. If you are delivering the training in-house, ensure your training team have proper training delivery experience.
Reference Materials – Empower your people to find follow up support by providing suitable and easy to find ‘how to’ guides and videos.
Practice, Practice, Practice – Have a ‘sandbox’ environment for people to get hands-on experience when they can.
Post go-live coaching – The project does not end at go-live. Coaching and floorwalking activities are normally standard for a few weeks post go-live but integration takes a lot longer, a year, maybe 2, or more.
Ensure you have a sustain plan for supporting users for as long as you want your Maximo Consultant system to be a success.
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