New systems, same habits? How to bring your team with you
Most finance projects that fail do so for human reasons. The software works; people keep doing it the old way. What helps a team change how it works.
A new system changes people’s daily work. Even when the old way was slow, it was familiar, and people knew how to fix it when it went wrong. Resistance is rarely about the software; it is about losing that confidence.
What helps
- WhySay plainly what will be better for them: fewer chases, less retyping, no month-end late nights.
- InvolveAsk the people who do the work to help design and test the new process.
- ChampionGive one person time to become the expert others go to.
- Switch offOnce the new way works, retire the old spreadsheet or form, so there is one way.
Watch for the quiet workaround
The surest sign of trouble is the shadow process: the spreadsheet someone still keeps just in case, or the approvals still done by message. Ask about them openly, without blame. Usually they point to something the new system does not yet do, which is worth fixing.
Change takes longer than the project plan says. Expect a dip in speed for a few weeks, and celebrate when the new way overtakes the old.
This insight is general information, not advice for your circumstances. Talk to us before acting on it.