ERP project and habit - adapt or adopt?

The introduction of a new ERP system offers many opportunities for a company. But often in the ERP project, the employees and their habits stand in the way. Nevertheless, the ERP project is an opportunity to adapt the processes.

Adjust routine or processes

Initiating change with your own energy is not an easy task. We almost always need an outside influence to break out of our routine. It's not for nothing that they say: The power of habit. And it is very human, says brain researcher Gerhardt Roth in currently. “Confronting new and complicated things requires awareness, attention and focus ? the brain therefore strives to routineize everything”. There is the routine grip on the coffee cup, the routine shopping in always the same supermarket and the routine dealing with our fellow human beings in everyday life. This makes processes tangible and reliable. This behavior is adapted in the working world and is therefore reflected in the work processes.

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So we adjust this processes as far as possible in the way we know and use. However, this does not mean that this way is also the best and most comfortable. We often make things unnecessarily complicated and arduous, but stand in our own way because without the external stimulus we find it difficult to deviate from the usual paths. A good way to create such an incentive is an ERP project.

Habit vs Software

Although one says a good ERP software is characterized by the fact that it can map the existing processes of the respective company. However, this only applies if these processes also work as well as possible. The processes in companies that have worked without or with an outdated system solution are often functional but not optimal.

The developments for process optimization in the digital area, which have now been achieved at a rapid pace, also exceed the imagination of most companies as to what is possible at all. In this train is the ERP consultant in the obligation to present these possibilities and to make recommendations to adapt processes. But what sounds so good and simple must first take on the fight with humans, creatures of habit.

Company and ERP consultant: hand in hand in the ERP project

It's hard to believe, but often it is project Manager to inveterate process defenders in the ERP project. And once the ERP consultant has been convinced of a new variant, the employees tremble at the unfamiliar innovations. However, when management and ERP consulting work hand in hand, those who refuse to accept new processes are quickly mollified. This includes management clearly communicating which processes are changing and why. It makes sense to present the final resolutions as such (final), but to explain exactly how the respective change resolution came about. When making a decision, management is welcome to ask the employees involved in the processes for suggestions for improvement.

The ERP consultant should help both sides. Only for him (and hopefully also for the management) is it clear how the processes ultimately work together. The task of ERP consulting is to make this work comprehensible for everyone. News updates during the project as well as training for all employees are suitable for this.

Replace habits with new ones

But why all the effort? Because it's worth it and the introduction of a new ERP system makes sense in the first place. Even if only small parts of the processes change, ERP software can keep what it promises much better. The big announcements of faster processes, more transparency and higher efficiency can only be fulfilled if the processes are also adapted in the necessary parts. For example, one improves document management only through a better search function if the data is also stored correctly. As long as parts of the information package are missing, this cannot be found.

However, these steps must be understandable for the runner, otherwise he cannot see the way for all the sages. Because only when a sensible alternative is open to us can we let go of our habit and replace it with something else.