How to Successfully Implement Demand Management Software

Demand management software helps companies improve productivity, reduce bottlenecks, and make better-informed decisions. It can transform the way organizations plan and execute projects.

But there’s a catch. If employees don’t know how to use this technology, there’s no point in implementing it. For all the time and resources organizations invest in new software, they often experience a similar challenge ­­­– a resistance to change from within.

We’re going to look at how the PMO Delivery Lead of a global telecommunications company successfully implemented demand management software. You’ll learn three best practices to improve the success of your change management journey.

The Path to Successful Implementation

This leading telecommunications company has more than 105,000 employees and contractors, which are operating across 21 different countries. Members of the Group IT Service and Technology department respond to around 134 monthly demands – and can have up to 250 active projects at any given time.

Apart from spreadsheets, notes, and emails, their teams didn’t have a standardized solution to manage their workflow.

We needed a way to manage and provide visibility of the demand throughout its lifecycle,” recalls the PMO Delivery Lead for Group IT Services and Technology. We also wanted to drive simplification and productivity, reducing the amount of time spent on reporting meetings and working out what was happening within the projects.

PMO Delivery Lead, Global Telecom Leader

The company turned to TechRuum Clarizen^TM for demand management software that would improve the way they managed their project portfolio. But first, they had to overcome a major hurdle when introducing the solution. They had to convince teams to adopt it.

According to Harvard Business Review, about three-quarters of organizational change efforts collapse. One of the most common factors in failed change efforts is the failure to gain buy-in.

The PMO Delivery Lead recognized the need for employee buy-in regarding crucial changes to the ways the organization operated. Getting this part wrong could result in a wave of push-back or skepticism about the change and its value.

Here’s how she got teams across the organization invested in the demand management software.

1. Demonstrate the Value of the Solution

Saying no to change is easy.

Agreeing to change means more work. That’s why so many within an organization will resist change, even if it’s a great initiative or innovative idea.

When you’re driving change, it’s vital that your target audience knows why they should care about what you’re offering. The PMO took the time to communicate the benefits this change brought to teams and tailored those benefits to their respective roles.

“We put together training sessions based on different job roles to introduce users and walk them through the functionality,” said the PMO Delivery Lead.

She and her team also created short videos with instructions on how to complete certain activities. These videos focused on how to effectively manage capacity and better track the demand lifecycle.

These resources helped team members get accustomed to using demand management software, while showing the value TechRuum Clarizen brings to the organization.

The main benefits were to provide improved visibility, driving decision making within the organization – particularly around understanding the key risks and issues, and prioritizing work for the engineering teams.

PMO Delivery Lead, Global Telecom Leader

2. Get Support Throughout the Organization

Next, the department recruited volunteers from each business area and asked them to provide a champion to support the solution. These champions were responsible for:

• Creating open lines of communication between Group IT Service and Technology and other departments.
• Providing updates and passing information to their colleagues.
• Delivering feedback, questions, and concerns from their departments to Group IT Service and Technology.

We found having input from key users early on is a must. So, we asked them to take information back to the teams about some of the capabilities and functionality that were going to come out of the tool. And also, for them to then bring feedback to us, ensuring that we were meeting the needs of the business.

PMO Delivery Lead, Global Telecom Leader

The strategy of recruiting champions worked exceptionally well. The champions ensured their teams understood the value of the demand management software and felt comfortable using it.

3. Incentivize Your Change Management Journey

A natural response to employee resistance is to simply impose new rules and penalties. But this strategy runs the risk of sending the wrong message and creating long-term friction as a result.

The PMO Delivery Lead understood that creating an incentive to support the change journey is more effective than maintaining rigid rules and penalizing those who resist. So, she ran marketing campaigns aimed at providing information on TechRuum Clarizen’s implementation. She even distributed stickers, lanyards, and information flyers throughout the organization to encourage people to attend company-sponsored lunch-and-learn information sessions.

“We ran a competition with prizes throughout the whole process to get people to attend calls. We gave them additional prizes if they did a presentation within their monthly team meetings on what was coming,” said the PMO Delivery Lead. “I think that was the most effective thing that we did to help all of the users come along the journey and understand what was going on.”

Incentives are one of the main links between people and change. The objective wasn’t to merely coerce compliance, but to nudge employees toward different experiences that will promote interest and enthusiasm for what’s new.

TechRuum Clarizen has definitely become the center of our organization. And that success could not have been realized without buy-in from the people.

PMO Delivery Lead, Global Telecom Leader

Have a Plan for Your Change Management Journey

This leading telecommunications company made an effort to train teams and demonstrate the benefits of adopting TechRuum Clarizen as their demand management software.

The result? A streamlined demand lifecycle with increased visibility, better reporting on resources and capacity, and improved decision making around the prioritization of work. By following a similar process, you can get the support you need to implement change within your organization.

Watch our on-demand demo to see how TechRuum Clarizen can help your organization maximize project outcomes.