You’ve selected a tool and now it’s time to start implementing your project management tool. How do you get started? Our expert tips for successful project management tool implementation.
Set clear expectations & goals
First, set a goal. What problems you are trying to solve. Do you need to: Streamline communication? Organize workflows? Gain clarity around workloads? This should be top of mind, since it would have come up as your organization considered its need for a project management tool. Then, document your goals, set success metrics, and establish timelines. Documenting where you’re headed aids with the transition, as it provides clarity, focus, and a place to regularly check for alignment along the way.
Start Small, and Familiar
Our second tip for successful project management tool implementation: pick a familiar process or small project. An Achurch pro tip, select a process or project that touches several parts of the organization or involves several people. This approach lays a foundation for your team to gain muscle memory through repetition, increase engagement (fostering adoption), and build familiarity with the tool.
Examples of familiar processes include end of month accounting, newsletters, or podcast development. Small projects might include a marketing campaign, annual membership renewal, or new job posting. Configure each with as few bells and whistles as possible to allow your team to fully understand the basics before you begin to explore more advanced features, like automations, dependencies, and subtasks.
Plan Before you Leap
Third, map it out. Resist the urge to dive into the tool and add your project or process. Look at prior project or process documentation for guidance. For complicated workflows put your work into a diagram or spreadsheet to ensure you capture all the task details. This creates a visual understanding of the project or process hierarchies and how it will translate to your tool.
Create an “Adoption Alliance”
Our final tip for successful project management tool implementation: create an “Adoption Alliance.” Although adoption occurs after implementation, having a cross functional group involved during implementation ensures success later. You don’t need to look at roles or specific positions in the organization. Instead, lean into strengths. Your adoption alliance should have 3-5 members to carry out the following roles:
- Convention Setter: A big picture thinker to strategically analyze the tools/processes for continued usage improvement. Look for someone in leadership, in the organization or at the project level, who is strong in strategic themes in Clifton Strengths.
- Awareness Builder: An influencer: responsible for continued communication around the change. They help with change management and communication between the “alliance” and staff throughout adoption. Look for someone strong in influence themes in Clifton Strengths
- Champion: Look for someone who encourages other users to follow the new processes with celebrations or gentle nudges of encouragement. These can be contributors at any level of your organization and should be high in relationship building themes in Clifton Strengths.
- Master: This person can be counted on to have a greater knowledge of the tool and help team members accomplish their objectives. They communicate needs to Convention Setters. Look for admins, team leads, or trainers who are high in the executing theme in Clifton Strengths.
Before you can begin collaborating in your project management tool, take the time to prepare the runway. Our tips for successful project management tool implementation prepare your organization to jump from analog task management to digital project management and chart the way to future successful tool adoption.
If you would like to learn more about our services and how Achurch Consulting can assist you in finding or implementing the right tool, schedule a call with Molly today.