Over the last two weeks we have been discussing the inherent complexity in a Kronos implementation. In the part one of our planning for complexity series, we reviewed how to properly assess your project team’s mix of resources and skills by performing a current state analysis and how to create a resource inventory using that information. In part two of our Kronos Implementation series, we discussed how to start with the end in mind and how to successfully complete a state comparison and analysis for your organization. In the final blog of our three-part series, we are going to discuss the last simplification process: the Post-Project Support Model.
A Post-Project Support Model captures the resources, systems and processes required to support production post-deployment, or the Steady State. The Steady State represents the systems and process landscape after the project is completed, and outlines the support details associated with ongoing delivery of services.
Particularly for projects with staggered deployments, an organization needs to consider if there are sufficient resources and subject matter experts available to support production AND keep the deployment schedule on track. Because the organizational and resource landscape is often changing, it is important to continuously re-assess this throughout each phase of the project.
It is important to facilitate careful transition planning when transferring project support to production support. The transference of support responsibilities is dependent on change management.
Change Management is defined as: the management of change and development within a business or similar organization. Change management for a Kronos implementation addresses one main question: How do we help all the employees deal with this change and use the software correctly? It determines what changes will potentially cause issues within the organization and manages them to achieve the highest level of user adoption.
The three main pieces of change management are Communication, Training and Change. An organization can integrate the system into the culture if those three pieces are addressed and managed. Properly executed change management will create a smooth transition for production support.
During Transition State Planning, two questions that must be considered. The first is: What is the training plan for addressing a user base in varying stages of maturity? In long-term staggered deployment projects, there is often a mixed bag of users, ranging from new to intermediate to advanced, depending on how long the individual user base has been live on the product. Planning for this type of training complexity will help to ensure user-training needs are being met in a timely fashion, and that the user base ever-evolving training needs are continuously addressed.
The second question organizations must address is: Are the Help Desk and Business Owner resources poised to support the product long term?
Production support is usually managed through a Help Desk. Particularly in a large enterprise applications Help Desk Support environment, navigating this change is critical because you may need to provide key metrics and environment-specific knowledge base articles and support resources for each Help Desk employee responsible for a portion of the application,. Knowledge base articles are usually cataloged in a Help Desk Knowledge base that can organize information so that it is easily searchable. Some of the important steps to creating an effective Help Desk model include:
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Create quick self-service options such as answers to frequently asked questions, manuals, product care instructions, and processes
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Make sure the end-users are properly trained or have access to how-to articles, tutorials, whitepapers, etc.
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Equip the Help Desk staff with a database of known errors and fixes
Kronos project management can be complex for any organization, requiring participation from a blended team of decision makers and affecting a very diverse mix of end-users. While the volume of variables can seem overwhelming, following these best practices will help simplify the most complex of implementations. Simplifying a complex IT project requires thorough due diligence to identify and address all of the variables that comprise your project. In short, plan for complexity so you can perform with simplicity.
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