Digitalizing Source-to-Pay processes cannot deliver results without real adoption by the teams. Even the best tool on the market is just an empty shell without user engagement. How can adoption be ensured? What risks are involved, and how can change management be successfully implemented? Let’s take a closer look.
Is Change Management the Weakest Link in Digital Transformation?
As part of deploying a Source to Pay solution, change management encompasses all actions taken to ensure the sustainable adoption of the new tool.
It represents a strategic aspect of digitalization projects that is often underestimated. And for good reason: task automation and the resulting changes in business processes deeply affect work habits and can create apprehension. Without proper implementation, you risk:
- Users refusing to adopt the solution;
- The use of workarounds, such as Excel files;
- Inefficient use of the tool.
« The best formula to calculate the ROI of a digitalization project? Automation rate × adoption rate. You cannot benefit from a new tool if it is not used. »
Vincent Lounaouci,
COO, Fluxym
Are you implementing a digital Source-to-Pay solution? Avoid these pitfalls by paying close attention to these 4 key points.
I. Engage Your Teams from Day One
To ensure project adoption and successful deployment, involving internal teams from the very beginning is essential.
Integrate stakeholders into the project
Procurement, finance, and accounting departments should be involved at several key stages.
Include them in the scoping workshops that define the project roadmap. Involving them ensures the relevance of target processes and strengthens their belief in the project’s value.
Additionally, integrating them – along with members of management – into the project team, steering committees, user acceptance testing, and hypercare phase helps address real needs and capture business insights. Another benefit? Teams feel heard!
Choose “Key Users”
These ambassadors, identified within the project team, play a crucial role at every stage.
- During the solution‘s assessment: During the evaluation process, make sure to involve them in choosing the solution;
- Before the launch: They validate business requirements during design workshops;
- During the deployment: They act as a bridge between the project team and business units, raising questions and keeping teams informed of project progress.
- After the launch: They support their colleagues in adopting the tool and provide valuable user feedback to the project team.
II. Lay the Groundwork to Overcome Resistance
Anticipating impacts is a cornerstone of change management. Before starting a digitalization project, it is best to establish a clear transition strategy that takes the project team’s schedules into account.
Anticipate the project’s impact on teams
Deployment increases the project team’s workload. Appoint a sponsor from top management to make decisions on this point and determine whether temporary support is needed.
After deployment, the new processes may impact team responsibilities. To address concerns, design the target operating model alongside the new processes: what is the impact on job descriptions, individual workloads, and work habits?
Don’t Forget Your Partners
Your suppliers will be the largest user group of your Source-to-Pay digitalization solution. Do you know their level of maturity on these topics? Do they have the human and technical resources to adapt to your new processes? Focus especially on your strategic suppliers.
III. Foster Users Buy-In Through Regular Communication
Make sure your teams are informed long before the solution goes live.
Promote the Benefits of the Solution from the Early Stages
Anticipate obstacles by demonstrating the value of the solution to your teams from the very beginning.
- Are teams hesitant about the choice of solution? Conduct a Software demo or a proof of concept (POC) to showcase the available features.
- Unsure whether some processes are technically feasible? Use concrete business cases during the scoping phase to address those doubts.
Invest in Internal Communications
Invest in internal communication to foster a sense of involvement and reduce doubts about the upcoming deployment. There are plenty of tools to achieve this: dedicated newsletters, regular intranet posts, or information meetings.
IV. Provide support that reassures users
Adopting and effectively using a new solution can create bottlenecks. Here are our tips to ensure a smooth implementation.
Make Adoption Easy
Roll out training for new digital tools using a variety of formats:
- Tutorials and FAQs
- E-learning platforms
- Webinars and in-person training, etc.
Pay special attention to training your key users. They will act as go-to contacts for different teams, and consider setting up an internal helpdesk.
Your integration partner can support training during deployment (and over time) through CMS.
Stay Agile
Post-deployment adjustments are inevitable: gather user feedback and modify processes and solution settings as needed.
Also, monitor the adoption rate during the first few months after the go-live. If it is low, optimizations or additional training may be required.
Change management is a crucial step in a digital transformation project for Source-to-Pay processes. However, its success depends on many other factors: project scoping, the choice of the implementation partner, and more.
Getting started? Discover our end-to-end methodology and practical tips in our dedicated ebook.