3 stages to gaining BPM adoption in your company

Rolling out a new BPM platform is a logistical minefield, the benefits of using BPM are many, but the potential hurdles you can face from a technical standpoint in launching such a solution are plentiful. To make the transition to BPM significantly easier, it helps to have buy-in from all of the key stakeholders who will be using or encountering the new system.

However change within a business is also something of a minefield, and unless handled correctly, it can add to the already large task of rolling the system out in the first place. However there are some very simple, very practical steps you can take to ensure you achieve buy-in, steps like…

#1 — Accepting change is difficult

Change within a business is one of the largest hurdles to overcome, and it’s important that you recognise this early on in the implementation.

People are naturally averse to change, but it’s not usually the change itself that is the problem, it’s the unknown variables that change brings with it.

It’s important to communicate effectively to staff and to manage their expectations. Are their jobs safe? Will their roles change? How with the implementation of a new system impact them? The same goes for senior level buy-in also, how will the implementation affect them? What effect will it have on their targets and deliverables? In short, what’s in it for them?

Communicate this information to concerned parties to eliminate fear of the unknown. That’s the first step. The next step in minimising any change resistance is to communicate exactly how this change will come about, are you rolling out your system in stages? If so, what are the stages, when will things change and by how much?

Communication is key, and combatting resistance to change is the first and possibly most vital step if you hope to achieve buy-in for your new BPM platform.

#2 — Choosing your champions

The next step to achieving BPM buy-in is to strategically pick “BPM Champions” to fight the good fight for your project.

Champions can be invaluable for your BPM project if they are embedded within the teams that will be impacted by the roll-out of your new platform. They can perform a number of critical functions in the run up to the roll-out, and equally post-live date also. They’ll be able to address any questions or concerns, provide reassurance and of course provide insightful feedback to you and your project team.

Ensure that your champions come from a variety of departments of course, but also ensure they come from a variety of levels within the company too — champions on the shop floor are equally as valuable as executives, and will hear different feedback and encounter different issues amongst the staff.

Champions should be utilised throughout a platform’s lifecycle as an indispensable port of call for feedback and ongoing engagement.

#3 — Providing ongoing training

Another factor in dispelling uncertainty and removing fear is simply allowing people to familiarize themselves with the platform they’ll be using, so ensure you provide thorough training for anyone who might come into contact with the new platform.

Champions can play a large role here too, ensure that your team provide training for your champions — the more comprehensive the better, and they can cascade this training out to their departments to ensure everyone is up to speed, and to avoid messy mass-training exercises.

Ensure that your champions are trained not just in the elements that directly involve them, but in those elements that might involve other members of their department. It’s very easy to overlook key questions or functionality when it isn’t directly involved in your day to day usage of the platform.

The majority, if not all, software providers will offer training when purchasing their platforms. So ensure that when this happens, you come armed with questions and requirements for each team, not just those questions pertinent to you and your own department.

By offering clear, comprehensive guidance on how to use the system, you can dispel the final elements of doubt. Ensure that training is offered on a regular basis going forward, refresher course for existing members of staff and of course full training for new recruits.