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post go live change management support

Tips for post-go-live change management support.

 

System implementation projects are difficult. They are tedious. They are stressful. And yes, they are costly. Often, we just want to get to the end. Many people think the “end” is go-live, but it is not. Everything you did to get to that imaginary finish line we call go-live just gets you to the starting line of the new way of working for your team. In other words, go-live is the start of the change.

Large-scale change initiatives do take a toll on everyone involved, so it’s understandable that we just want to be done. Many times, organizations begin reducing the project team to save on the remaining budget.

It’s common for the Change Management team to be the first ones asked to leave — immediately following go-live, if not before. After all, the training is done, and you have been “communicating” for months. Why keep the Change Management team?

If you don’t know the answer to this question, talk to projects that released their Change resources at or before go-live. You may get varying responses, but the gist will be, “Don’t release your Change Management support too soon!”

There are critical tasks that should be supported by your Change Management team AFTER go-live. Things like:

  • Post-Go-live Communications
  • Post-Go-live Readiness Assessments
  • Lessons Learned
  • Key Performance Indicators
  • Continuous Education / Training

Remember: Don’t release your Change Management support too soon.

Post-Go-live Communications

Hypercare typically runs for a month after go-live. During this time, users are working in the new system. Occasionally, they might reach out for help. Your Change Management team can help to coordinate the onsite Hypercare resources, monitor project mailboxes for questions, and provide any on-going ad hoc communication requests. They can also help by creating weekly updates to keep the senior leaders engaged as the organization takes its first steps with the new ways of working.

Post-Go-live Readiness Assessments

The most critical goal for change management is employee readiness. To that end, we conduct readiness assessments, both pre- and post-go-live.

  • The results of pre-go-live assessments help you understand what to change before you proceed to go-live to give you the best chance of success. They can be used as a final stage gate; a green light on readiness means you go live.
  • The results of post-go-live assessments tell you how to correct course on your current launch, and how to conduct future releases or phases.

In either case, your Change Management team will be best suited to facilitate the readiness process.

Lessons Learned

Your Change Management team can pull together your core project team, key leaders, and select individuals from your stakeholder community, to discuss lessons learned throughout the project.

This is a critical activity. Not only will these lessons help you in future releases and phases of the same project, but these knowledge nuggets will help you and your organization during future initiatives. It’s the way you retain institutional wisdom, getting smarter and sharper with each project.

The most critical goal for change management is employee readiness.

Key Performance Indicators

It is likely that your Change Management team helped to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) for your project. Facilitating KPI tracking is a good role for Change Management, while other core team members ensure the system is functioning properly and keep the business running.

Continuous Education / Training

Training is usually conducted a few weeks prior to go-live. Once all users have been trained, your Change Management team will support the trainers as users practice in the sandbox leading up to go-live.

  • After go-live, someone must figure out how brand-new users will be trained. What are the courses (related to this new system) new employees should take? Who will function as trainers after the project has ended? What role will HR (Human Resources) play in helping to onboard new employees with this new technology? Your Change Management team can help to develop the approach for post-go-live training.
  • The Change Management team should also identify and support remedial training. Post-go-live is when you really find out how the new systems, processes, and people are functioning together. If something is wrong, indicated by project KPIs, post-go-live assessments, or employee concerns, additional training might be the solution.

So, as you can see, keeping your Change Management team on board for some time AFTER go-live can be beneficial. What you need depends on your project, your organization’s capabilities, and the scope of the change. You might not need to retain your entire team, but having at least one solid Change Management resource on your team after you go live can make a significant difference in your results as your company begins its new chapter.