Who Should You Involve in Your ERP Selection?

How to Build Your Internal ERP Selection Team

ERP selection is complex and will have a massive impact on how a business will function for years to come. The people behind the project are crucial to success, so it is important to involve the right individuals with the right amount of influence at the right time.

In this blog, ERP Advisors Group shares expertise built through hundreds of client projects to summarize each phase of ERP Selection and provide guidance on effectively staffing the project. 

Always Begin with a Staffing Plan

People are essential to executing an ERP project because they are the most familiar with day-to-day operations. That being said, a staffing plan must be in place before kicking off the Selection to ensure your people are properly prepared. Find team members who are knowledgeable, capable, and most importantly, available, because they will carry over into the Implementation.

As you communicate with your team to form a staffing plan, you will hear different perspectives and discover more about each department’s structure and functions. This will also spark conversations to help you establish expectations on why and how changes will occur throughout the project.

Staffing Tips for Project Managers

Find Balance

Your Selection team should be composed of people who are truly interested in discussing process and business changes but are also very in tune with how their departments currently run and what improvements would be of value. Recruit people from mixed functional areas with different personalities and perspectives. They will provide a variety of valuable insights so you can ultimately find the right solution to achieve the organization’s end goals. Two types of people are essential for a successful project task force:

Drivers for Change

These are the innovative thinkers who strive for change and are enthusiastic about viewing the project from all angles.

The Realists

Realistic, highly experienced individuals are just as important. They will keep the team grounded and focused.

Recruit People Who See the Art of the Possible

There is a world of possibility when it comes to ERP, and if your team is unable to see the potential, they will prevent the business from moving forward. When curating your project team, look for people who see the art of the possible. They will envision solutions beyond the limited functionality shown in demos or what they understand in the moment. There will always be unforeseen variables in each phase of the project, like a substitute stepping in for the software demonstrator who knew your business well, or a technical difficulty unrelated to the software. You don’t want to miss out on the best solution for your organization only because it wasn’t shown with the ideal constraints.

The Selection Phases and Who to Involve

Needs Analysis

This is a widespread assessment of your organization’s functional areas, processes, and needs. In this phase, you will be interviewing several people to gather intel on each area of the business. You should include SMEs (subject matter experts) in roles spanning from heavy system users to department managers and even some executive board members.

Initial Vendor Contact

Once needs and goals are established, your team will conduct a broad search for software vendors and implementation partners based on high-level business process information. Since this is less about technical functionality, you don’t want to get in the weeds with too many opinions, so only include core project resources or project leads.

*PRO TIP: If you bring an advisory firm onto your project, your internal team can cut back on time spent in this phase and focus on bigger picture initiatives. The advisor will use their expertise to develop the shortlist.

Mini Demos

Once your team develops a shortlist of potential software vendors and implementation partners for further analysis, typically three to five vendors of interest, each one will provide a mini demo. These demonstrations serve as a preview of high-level functionality, so your team can get an initial feel for each platform and eliminate those missing the mark on core functionality. Only include a few leaders from different functional areas of the organization. It is important not to involve executives or the major decision-makers in mini demos because you could potentially waste their time or make yourself look bad if a product does not meet necessary criteria.

Discovery

Discovery bridges the gap between mini demos and final demos. Your team will dig into complex areas of the business and necessary functionality, gathering more required information from each department. During this phase, include SME leaders alongside the core leadership team.

This is when the project begins to kick into high gear, so be aware that more resources will push to be involved. Instead of unnecessarily adding them to the project team, potentially creating more confusion within the team, provide them with a high-level summary of findings and vendors as you move into final demos. This helps boost morale by allowing these individuals to be heard and feel involved in the process.

Final Demos

This is when you can bring in the larger team to evaluate your narrowed shortlist of the top 2 or 3 vendors. During these demonstrations, these vendors will be present functionality around your company’s specific use cases and requirements. This phase can go on for days and eat up hours of valuable time. To avoid taking your team away from crucial day-to-day tasks, segment the demo schedule by functional area, so people can cycle in when they are needed.

Due Diligence

After selecting your vendor of choice and implementation partner, your team will perform final checks to ensure it is truly the right choice. This is an individualized process that includes contacting references and cross-checking capabilities with the project scope. So, you should only involve the core project team, occasionally bringing in SMEs to validate specific areas of functionality.

Contract Negotiation

This is the final step of Selection, when you will sign contracts to purchase software and review implementation partner services. There will be a lot of back and forth between legal review and approving licensing, statements of work, and terms. Only executive sponsors (1 or 2 members of the core team) should be involved, as well as any essential legal counsel.

*PRO TIP: Bringing in an independent ERP selection consultant for your project could help you save significant money over the life of your new system. They know what levers to pull and special offers or discounts to ask for.

Making the Entire Team Feel Heard

Since almost everyone across the organization will be impacted by the transition to a new ERP, some of your employees will wonder why they are not more involved in the process. However, stuffing too many cooks into the kitchen will prevent tasks from getting done.

At the same time, the nature of any ERP project is people-based. The last thing you want to do is alienate your people, so you must ensure the entire team feels included in the Selection process. This can be accomplished in the planning phase and by communicating with them regularly throughout the project.

1. Explain their role outside of the project:
   When you address the individuals who are not part of the core project team, let them know that you need them focused on the day-to-day aspects of the business, but that you will include their feedback when appropriate.
   
   
2. Send regular updates:
   Update the team on project progress on a regular basis. This can include feedback you received, the next project stage, etc. Creating a plan and executing on team communications will help boost morale and give employees a sense of ownership for their role in these efforts.
   
   
3. Launch a survey:
   Requesting feedback from your team through a brief project survey can help you spot areas where you might run into trouble, whether it’s a technical concern or a potential end-user acceptance issue. Identifying these problems early will keep the project on track and help mitigate potentially detrimental mistakes.
   
   
4. Remember, You Can’t Make Everyone Happy:
   There will always be people who are unhappy or don’t want to adapt to a new system. You may be able to resolve this issue by communicating thoughtfully and clearly, but accept that there will always be resistance to change. Sometimes, you may even lose members of your team who are not fully bought in, and that is okay. It is those who stick it out who will ensure overall success.

Conclusion

Preparing your ERP selection dream team is no easy task, and getting it right could mean the difference between selecting a shiny new ERP and wasting weeks on a fool’s errand. Starting building your foundation for ERP selection success by scheduling a free consultation with one of our experts today!