Are you a professional services firm leader struggling with juggling complex projects, implementing new software, or streamlining inefficient processes? You’re not alone. Many firms like yours face these challenges and often feel overwhelmed and unsure of where to begin.
That was certainly the case for many professional services businesses we worked with over 2023. In fact, 2023 was an exceptionally busy year for us at Haile Solutions. Some notable examples were:
- Managed various software implementations, including ERP, CRM, and HR/Payroll software.
- Assisted a business in selecting a new software solution and transitioning to it.
- Assisted businesses in upgrading their existing software.
- Rescued a failing ERP
- Executed process reviews and helped the businesses implement the changes.
- Aided a large group rollout of an ERP.
- Provided data migration support for a group of companies.
I’m not bragging. I listed these to give some context to the advice below. Also, at Haile Solutions, we understand your frustrations. We’ve helped numerous professional services firms navigate these exact situations and achieve remarkable results in 2023. This blog post will give examples and valuable insights from our experience, showcasing how we can help you overcome similar challenges and take your firm to the next level.
Let’s dive in:
Square pegs don't go in round holes
Imagine going to the hospital for a back operation only to find out the surgeon specializes in feet just because she is available, has some relevant knowledge, and is cheaper than paying to bring an expert. How would you feel about that?
Not great, I imagine.
Well, it is surprisingly common. The business thinks, “We need a Project Manager to assist us with our ERP implementation, so we’ll bring in one of our client work PMs to do the job to save a few bucks. It’s managing projects; after all, how different can it be?
We worked with a company that did just that, and the results were the project kept being delayed, the project manager was reactive instead of proactive, and costs spiraled.
At the same time, we landed another client who leveraged our years of ERP implementations. That client launched on time, a little over budget, and the business is already leveraging the new software.
Change Management & Communication is key
Far too many businesses believe they can deliver internal projects without change management. After all, how many architects, accountants, lawyers, or ad agencies have change managers in their teams? Not many!
To be fair, some internal projects don’t need change management, but any project that requires people to do something different or work with new technology – does. If that were not the case, we wouldn’t need the likes of BCG, KPMG, or McKinsey.
I wrote about this in my book, but I once had a boss who scoffed at the need for change management while implementing an HR system. We then spent double the budget implementing it. Coincidence – I think not.
Once again, one of our projects reminded me of the importance of this. We did a stakeholder analysis, categorized the stakeholders, and created a tailored change and communication plan. We were fortunate enough to execute it – for full disclosure, we also managed the project – and it was one of our big success stories for last year.
Implementing Software with no Processes = Building a House with no Foundations
It is no coincidence that we offer process improvement as one of our offerings. We started working on software (specifically) ERP implementations, but the successful ones are in businesses with well-defined, documented processes. Businesses with undefined processes suffer when implementing systems because:
- They don’t know what process they want the ERP to fulfill.
- They typically are wowed by a feature the software has but is not key to their business.
- They spend the implementation learning how the system works but not how they will use it.
We want all our projects to be successful, so we offer process improvement as a service. We also only work with professional services businesses because that’s our niche. Not all our clients last used our process improvement service, but all our software implementations were successful because the client had clearly defined processes. The one rescue we did was problematic because the processes were not defined before the software was selected and implemented so we ended up having to go back to the processes before we could set them back on track.
Are you thinking about changing your ERP? Call us for a complementary process audit.
Software suppliers are in the business of selling software
This may seem like a strange statement, but many businesses we work with fall into the trap of forgetting this and treating the software supplier as unbiased experts. A great example of this is the tendency to do the following while negotiating the commercials:
- The quote has 2 elements: the software and the implementation fee.
- You negotiate both elements down, and the software supplier agrees, but when it comes to the implementation fee they include a caveat that the project is time and materials.
That sounds great until you start the project and find the supplier constantly asking you for change requests to the fee or telling you everything is extra. We were brought in to assist with an implementation when that happened because we were not part of the software selection process.
This is easily avoided by simply doing the following:
- Make sure you get references as part of the system selection process.
- Ask the references how close the final software cost is to the quote.
Don’t get me wrong, there may be many reasons why the final fee differs from the original quote, but you need to understand what they are.
That's a wrap
In this blog post, we shared examples from our successes in 2023 to showcase some of the pitfalls you may encounter if you have a major project to manage, software to implement, or inefficient processes.
We highlighted the importance of:
- Matching the right specialist to the job: Don’t settle for a square peg in a round hole. Make sure your team has specific expertise to navigate whatever complex project you need to get delivered.
- Effective Change Management: Ensure a smooth transition with a tailored change plan to minimize disruption and maximize adoption.
- Solid Process Foundations: Building a house on sand leads to disaster.
- Avoiding Vendor Traps: Avoid falling victim to biased software suppliers. Ask the right questions, negotiate the best deal, and avoid hidden costs.
If that all sounds overwhelming – Schedule your complimentary call today and see how we can transform your business!
