Maintaining data during transition to an automated system
Baseline
The first step to developing a comprehensive transition plan is to have a thorough
understanding of the existing conditions. This understanding will provide the project
team with a sound base line from which to plan and to measure the progress of the
project.
During the assessment of the existing conditions, the transition plan development team
must document and measure the process used for record management. Many
organizations maintain a rigorous set of procedures giving the transition plan
development team a great starting point. The plan development team must review and
understand the current procedure and how they impact other external business processes
and applications. Remember the project team is creating a plan to eliminate the current
record maintenance system. Since record maintenance is not done in a business process
vacuum, eliminating the old maintenance process will have a tangible affect on other
external organizational functions.
For a facility records management system this base line can vary greatly. Some utilities
may have fewer than 15,000 customers and may only experience a minimal number of
changes each year. Some utilities may have over a million customers and process over
100,000 changes each year.
Not only do changes occur each year, but also the request for the information occurs on a
daily basis. How often are Utility or City employees asked to provide record
information? Once again this may vary greatly depending on the size of the customer
base and the geographic extent of the service territory.
Once you have completed the base line assessment it is time to consider change
management. A change management plan will provide the project team members with a
clear guide to follow as the transition process is deployed.
Change Management
Change Management is the discipline that ensures the organization and its employees
meet new and existing performance targets effectively and efficiently. This may be
accomplished by creating the right management disciplines and processes, organization
structures, culture, competencies and capability for superior human performance so that
strategic and technological goals are achieved and sustained.
At its essence, Change Management is based on two important concepts:
- That human performance is at the core of
business performance; therefore it is important to build the human
performance in their organization's best practices
- That it's possible to optimize an organization's revenue and profit delivery during
change; therefore it is important to determine ways to manage the change process
effectively to ensure this occurs.
With the implementation of a new automated system, it is necessary to foster a level of
acceptance, understanding, and proper training for the end user. It is only natural for the
end users to resist the change to the new system. The goal of the change management
program should be to achieve and sustain new performance targets and help optimize
delivery by avoiding or reducing the negative outcomes of technological change. Two
main reasons why a Change Management Plan is necessary are the following:
To Drive Human Performance
Typically the operating costs to run a business are tied to its people asset. Through
change management you can improve significantly the return on investments in "human
capital" by targeting and changing the critical variables that influence people's ability to
meet specific business goals and performance targets.
To Manage Change
Rapid, effective technological change can be achieved when disciplines are applied to
change planning and monitoring. It is imperative to determine ways to ensure
productivity stabilizes or improves, costs are eliminated without reducing quality and
service, and employees take action to advance rather than resist change initiatives. The
outcome is the improved ability to meet targets and sustain or improve customer delivery
in the midst of large-scale technological change.
