An ERP implementation is not just about software. Much more important are the business processes in your organization. A new ERP system can help you work more efficiently, provide better service or gain more insight into the business. But ultimately, you and your colleagues determine how work is done. And that means making choices.
Poor decision-making delays implementation
During ERP implementation, the project group is faced with several choices regarding business processes. Do you go right or left? Each choice has advantages and disadvantages that have a great impact on the day-to-day business. This makes it difficult to take decisions. In the end you will have to, of course it is important to weigh the advantages and disadvantages against each other but it is also important not to take too much time, because no or bad decisions will delay your implementation project. In the absence of a decision regarding the direction to go with a particular process, work cannot continue on the setup, training and testing of the process.
Who makes the decision?
It is wise to discuss important choices together in order to arrive at the best solution for the entire organization. But ultimately, someone must have the mandate to make the final choice. Make clear agreements in advance about which person at which level has which mandate. In this way, you can make quick decisions and it is clear to which persons permission must be requested, so you do not unnecessarily delay the project. The focus can then shift to the actual work in the implementation instead of waiting for decision-making.
Choose the right core users
Mandate to make decisions involves responsibility and makes demands on the qualities and knowledge level of employees. It is likely that you will want to give your core users / key users in the project the mandate to make the decisions related to their specific department. Therefore, select core users who can handle this responsibility and who have sufficient knowledge of the organization and its processes to make the right choice. In doing so, they should not consider only their own department, but rather make the decision that is best for the entire organization based on consideration of all factors. In addition, it is important to consider that not too much responsibility should be taken away from users because of the involvement they should feel in the project.
Adjust where necessary
Is decision-making in the ERP implementation not going well? Make sure you can act on this in consultation with your software partner. For example, in a steering committee meeting with executives from your organization and the software partner. Perhaps decisions need to be made at board level. Or new decision-making agreements are needed. Or the conclusion must be drawn that one of the core users does not have the required level or knowledge and a replacement must be appointed. Do not wait too long with such measures, because it complicates the ERP implementation to the detriment of your entire organization.
Luuk Busschers is a Consultant at Dysel and helps customers achieve their goals by deploying industry-specific ERP software.
