Previously, we wrote about the initial stages of a fund manager software implementation and how to ensure that process goes smoothly. And we’ve written about the middle stages and steps you can take to improve your effectiveness with the system. But what if things haven’t gone well?
What if you get to the middle stage and realize you didn’t execute the initial stage correctly? That can be a serious problem. And how do you even know if things went well or poorly?
These are important questions.
Let’s talk about when things go bad with a software rollout.
Assess Your Fund Manager Software Implementation
The first metric to look at when assessing how well you and your team are doing is system usage. If your system is Salesforce-based, any admin can see how often everyone is logging in and using the system. And other, non-Salesforce systems surely offer a similar feature. If you’re seeing significant or steady declines in the number of times people are logging in, it’s time to start digging into why that is the case.
It could be that after a period of frequent use while learning the system, activity has naturally dropped down to a lower baseline. However, there could be a more concerning explanation.
It might be that users are frustrated and not getting what they need from the system, and consequently aren’t logging in as often. Or maybe they don’t understand how the system can make them more efficient and productive.
Another bad sign is if people start storing data in places other than your system. One of the primary reasons that companies invest the time, effort, and capital to implement fund manager software in the first place is to move away from maintaining data in spreadsheets or other offline places where it quickly becomes outdated or redundant. They understand that centralized storage and simplified access to data is increasingly essential to success.
If you’ve been using a system for a year or so and notice that people are abandoning established processes and starting to store data elsewhere because “it’s easier” or “that’s just how I’ve always done it,” you likely have a problem that is going to be more and more costly and time-consuming to fix the longer it goes on.
Revisit Your Shared Commitment
What can you do if things are going poorly in the middle stage of a fund manager software rollout?
The first step is to revisit the business drivers that led you and your team to want software to begin with.
Reminding yourself about those pain points and how the system can solve them can be powerful motivation.
You surely understood before you ever kicked off the project that the efficiency and insight that you gain with the right fund manager software is only available after a significant amount of upfront effort. But you also realized that it would be worth it when you find that you’re a better-equipped and more effective fund manager, and that your skills can set you apart from your competition.
If you stress the gains that can be made with the right software and focus on the “why,” your team is more likely to persevere through the parts of the implementation and ramp-up that seem tedious.
Retrain Your Team (or Train Them for the First Time) on Your Fund Manager Software
Retraining can be another great way to hit pause, regroup, and get everyone back on track. Of course, most training takes place during implementation when lots of new information is being presented, so the likelihood that everyone could benefit from a refresher after a year or so is very high.
Also, there are likely to be new team members who never received the original training. Plus, they were not part of the initial decision to implement the fund manager software and may not clearly understand the shared commitment you’ve made. And finally, if you decided against doing training during implementation for reasons of cost or time, it’s never too late to provide your team with some helpful education.
