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October 17, 2023
Trapped by the effort it will take to upgrade or change your Print MIS or web-to-print system? by Jane Mugford |
Are you feeling trapped or discouraged by the amount of time and effort it will take to upgrade or change your Print MIS system or other print software technology? Try not to let those feelings stop you from finding a path forward.
The drive to streamline, enhance, optimize and innovate your print operations can often get bulldozed, even derailed, by the amount of effort required to cross the finish line. Whether you are doing a major upgrade on your system or you are transitioning to an entirely new system, the prospect can be daunting. Finding the necessary bandwidth to execute on a significant transition of print software often feels impossible.
However, there are strategic and measured approaches that can get you on a solid path forward allowing you to take advantage of new technology, whether it be an upgrade to a current system or a migration to a new system.
Here are our tips for achieving big goals with your Print MIS and web-to-print technology:
1. Define a roadmap. This is key. It doesn’t have to be fancy but it must be specific. It lays out the “what” in terms of what will be accomplished. On large projects, we often break things down into mini-roadmaps that overlap each other. This makes it easier to identify key milestones and follow up on them. It also allows you to assign these mini-roadmaps to individuals considered subject matter experts on your team.
2. Once roadmaps are laid out, proceed to itemize all of the actions required to accomplish milestones and record them as Action Items. This identifies the “how” and the “who”. Use a good tool to do this; something that isn’t Excel - Excel quickly gets out of hand and runs the risk of not keeping the integrity of the project intact. There are a lot of good options out there and we recommend something simple and straightforward, something not too daunting for all of the users involved. We use Basecamp at Print Innovation. It’s simple, easy to navigate and does an excellent job of keeping us on task. All actionable items get logged and assigned. This gives us a place to keep all communication on each task, including emails received regarding each subject. For projects we are collaborating on with our clients, we can invite them to their project so they can also contribute on actions. Regardless of what you use, you need something simple and interactive that doesn’t require someone to keep custody of a spreadsheet.
3. Have a communication plan for the key stakeholders. The communication plan helps to communicate the “why”. Print companies are running full steam ahead each and every day and these changes are disruptive. Communicating about the project, including the good and the bad, helps to create understanding of why the project is critical and what it will do for the organization. On large projects we opt for weekly (sometimes even daily) meetings to keep things moving. We also generate a biweekly communication that’s a summary of what has been accomplished in the period, what’s coming up in the next biweekly period, and roadblocks encountered internally and externally (ie software vendor). This gives everyone a good “pulse check” and also keeps your team on task and moving things forward. It’s hard to not do anything over a two week period when you commit to providing an update on a regular basis.
4. Create learning opportunities as you go. When we define a new process, workflow or interface change, we publish our content online for all of the users to see and experience. We do a combination of videos, downloadable documents and quizzes to ensure everyone is kept engaged and aware. It also removes the need for repetitive in-person training sessions or webinars which can take a lot of time and may not always end up delivering identical content. There are many online learning technology systems available if you need a place to post your content. We create a course for each project we are working on and invite everyone involved to the course. They are then able to review things in their own time but are accountable for doing so. They can also refer back as needed. Each course is private to the project user base. An example of how such courses can look can be viewed on our public course page available for Pace.
5. Set realistic timelines for deliverables. This defines the “when”. While it’s tempting to be pushed into an aggressive deadline by your boss, a customer, or even yourself, it sets the project up for failure. You’ll start cutting corners because of the pressure to meet a timeline. But don’t be unreasonable the other way by taking luxurious amounts of time “just because”; this isn’t the way to go either. You don’t want to take so long that by the time you complete your major upgrade project, your vendor has another major upgrade out. Calculate an estimated number of hours for each roadmap involved, add a 15% cushion and then decide on the realistic hours per week that can be contributed. If you are working with an outside partner, they should be up-front and realistic about how much time things will take. You then need to determine the resourcing for the hours and how to backfill other work as key resources will be deployed for project time.
It is possible to move your print software technology forward. It takes careful management and planning. Combine this with good tools, disciplined communication and a defined learning path, and you can meet and exceed your project goals.
The drive to streamline, enhance, optimize and innovate your print operations can often get bulldozed, even derailed, by the amount of effort required to cross the finish line. Whether you are doing a major upgrade on your system or you are transitioning to an entirely new system, the prospect can be daunting. Finding the necessary bandwidth to execute on a significant transition of print software often feels impossible.
However, there are strategic and measured approaches that can get you on a solid path forward allowing you to take advantage of new technology, whether it be an upgrade to a current system or a migration to a new system.
Here are our tips for achieving big goals with your Print MIS and web-to-print technology:
1. Define a roadmap. This is key. It doesn’t have to be fancy but it must be specific. It lays out the “what” in terms of what will be accomplished. On large projects, we often break things down into mini-roadmaps that overlap each other. This makes it easier to identify key milestones and follow up on them. It also allows you to assign these mini-roadmaps to individuals considered subject matter experts on your team.
2. Once roadmaps are laid out, proceed to itemize all of the actions required to accomplish milestones and record them as Action Items. This identifies the “how” and the “who”. Use a good tool to do this; something that isn’t Excel - Excel quickly gets out of hand and runs the risk of not keeping the integrity of the project intact. There are a lot of good options out there and we recommend something simple and straightforward, something not too daunting for all of the users involved. We use Basecamp at Print Innovation. It’s simple, easy to navigate and does an excellent job of keeping us on task. All actionable items get logged and assigned. This gives us a place to keep all communication on each task, including emails received regarding each subject. For projects we are collaborating on with our clients, we can invite them to their project so they can also contribute on actions. Regardless of what you use, you need something simple and interactive that doesn’t require someone to keep custody of a spreadsheet.
3. Have a communication plan for the key stakeholders. The communication plan helps to communicate the “why”. Print companies are running full steam ahead each and every day and these changes are disruptive. Communicating about the project, including the good and the bad, helps to create understanding of why the project is critical and what it will do for the organization. On large projects we opt for weekly (sometimes even daily) meetings to keep things moving. We also generate a biweekly communication that’s a summary of what has been accomplished in the period, what’s coming up in the next biweekly period, and roadblocks encountered internally and externally (ie software vendor). This gives everyone a good “pulse check” and also keeps your team on task and moving things forward. It’s hard to not do anything over a two week period when you commit to providing an update on a regular basis.
4. Create learning opportunities as you go. When we define a new process, workflow or interface change, we publish our content online for all of the users to see and experience. We do a combination of videos, downloadable documents and quizzes to ensure everyone is kept engaged and aware. It also removes the need for repetitive in-person training sessions or webinars which can take a lot of time and may not always end up delivering identical content. There are many online learning technology systems available if you need a place to post your content. We create a course for each project we are working on and invite everyone involved to the course. They are then able to review things in their own time but are accountable for doing so. They can also refer back as needed. Each course is private to the project user base. An example of how such courses can look can be viewed on our public course page available for Pace.
5. Set realistic timelines for deliverables. This defines the “when”. While it’s tempting to be pushed into an aggressive deadline by your boss, a customer, or even yourself, it sets the project up for failure. You’ll start cutting corners because of the pressure to meet a timeline. But don’t be unreasonable the other way by taking luxurious amounts of time “just because”; this isn’t the way to go either. You don’t want to take so long that by the time you complete your major upgrade project, your vendor has another major upgrade out. Calculate an estimated number of hours for each roadmap involved, add a 15% cushion and then decide on the realistic hours per week that can be contributed. If you are working with an outside partner, they should be up-front and realistic about how much time things will take. You then need to determine the resourcing for the hours and how to backfill other work as key resources will be deployed for project time.
It is possible to move your print software technology forward. It takes careful management and planning. Combine this with good tools, disciplined communication and a defined learning path, and you can meet and exceed your project goals.