Implementation
Having redesigned your process you still need to implement the change. Process redesign, on however small a scale, can be a major issue for the actors in the process and you need to be aware that in tandem with your review project you are actually undertaking a change management project.
Changing a process involves many of the same considerations as changing an information system, in particular the need to consider how the change will be introduced. The options are:
Big bang approach
Pilot implementation in a selected area
Phased implementation
The first approach is often effective in the commercial sector but within the education sector more gradual approaches, such as piloting in a single department can be useful in gaining 'champions' of the new way of doing things. This is probably the most common approach taken when implementing a VLE. When selecting a department to pilot you may want to choose an area that:
Is enthusiastic about the change
Has a history of problems with the old process
Is influential in the organisation
Most importantly however you need to ensure that the manager/s of the pilot area are committed to and prepared to drive the change.
Staff development is an important issue, as with any change, and you need to allow time for training and bedding-in of the new processes. Again the success of this relates to management commitment. We have seen well thought-out implementation plans go awry when managers prevent staff attending planned training because a crisis has arisen elsewhere.
The issue of needing to maintain old processes while new ones are introduced is a major one. You can't halt the normal running of the organisation whilst you implement your project so in most cases you need to plan for parallel running for a time. Looking at the information flows in the organisation will help you plan the best time to make the change. The speed of change is a balancing act between ensuring all actors are fully prepared and not dragging the project out so long that it loses momentum.
Embedding change takes time and it is important to undertake evaluation and review following implementation. A good example of the sort of issues that can occur with process change comes from the implementation of an enterprise personnel system in a large institution that had a centralised personnel department and separate payroll function. There was previously dissatisfaction with the lack of a central data source and the need to duplicate records. The new system allowed real time access to all departments. Soon after implementation complaints about the data started to arise. The issue was that although the new process depended on real-time access to data, the vision for the new process had not been properly communicated to staff inputting to the central data source. Those staff were used to a system that was internal to the department and always out of date. If they wanted current data they went to the paper records. Their working practices hadn't changed in line with the new system and they continued to stack up paper documents to be input 'at quiet periods'. By communicating the vision for the system as serving the real-time needs of a new range of clients the institution was able to emphasise the fact that the information system was now the core source of data and had to be up to date at all times.
