Securing buy-in for project management software is vital for it to succeed. There are concrete steps that can be taken to assure buy-in for the application. The timing of the different steps is important as well. Ultimately, buy-in leads to successful implementation.

Project management software will be used by many stakeholders. There may be executives who will access the application to simply view project or program status at a high level and may not input any new information. There may be frequent users who update specific fields on a daily of weekly basis. Other stakeholders, such as project managers, may rely on the application to plan, monitor and control not only their own work but that of other team members.

Project Management Software and Securing Buy-In

Every team or business unit is similar to a small community. If there are members of the community that are not happy word spreads quickly. Some members of the community, who may not have been exposed to what made some people unhappy may well be predisposed to have a negative view to whatever folks talk about that made them unhappy. In the world of “cultural change management” the concept of buy-in is well known. The whole idea of buy-in is to avoid negativity within a community to a new process, structure or application.

Securing buy-in for the project management software is vital for it to succeed. There are concrete steps that can be taken to assure buy-in for the application. The requirements analysis process, in itself, helps because it demonstrates that the needs of the different users have been given importance. The distribution of information on how the software can help make the work easier to perform and document is another good step. If the company has a Help Desk, making sure they are trained to address questions that may come up during the phase in can make a big difference. Using one or more modalities of training on how to use the software is yet another step that can be taken to secure buy-in.

It’s All in the Timing, Project Management Software

The timing of the different steps is important as well. The first step of requirements gathering can be followed by the following elements concurrently: Promulgate information on the benefits of the new application, prepare the Help Desk to field questions from the new users and train the stakeholders.

The implementation phase includes many elements such as loading the software, in some cases installing API code to connect or integrate one application to another, determining how the application will be configured or customized, deciding on frequency of inputs and more. There are many components that form part of the implementation phase, it is vital to bear in mind that buy-in is one of them.

A program to assure comprehensive buy-in will lead to a successful implementation of the project management software.